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McKenzie's Project Page - 2008 2.0 TFSI Coupe

68K views 228 replies 61 participants last post by  h4wki 
#1 ·
I have owned my TT from new in 2008 and over the years I have modified the car in various ways and am continuing to do so. Since recently it has become more of a project being my development car for some carbon fibre products I have been making. Since it has been changing over the years and will be doing so more rapidly from now onwards I thought it might be of some interest to show where the car has come from and the reasons why I have chosen the various makes of aftermarket parts. Hopefully it will make an interesting read and give more insight to those looking into changing or modifying various aspects or your TT.

The current list of modifications!:

Suspension:
Whiteline Poly bushed
Eibach springs
Adjustable Whiteline rear droplinks
Autotech lightweight rear anti roll bar
Front Ultra Racing strut bar
Full THS engine mounts
Whiteline Anti-lift kit
Geometry set-up

Gearbox:
Forge short shift
THS short shift
Quaife LSD differential
Sachs Performance Clutch
Sachs flywheel
42Draft Designs solid linkages

Brakes:
TTS OEM brake callipers, pads and discs
Hel Performance Braided Brake lines
Super Blue Racing Brake fluid

Engine:
3" Turbo back BCS Powervalve exhaust with oversized cat
ITG Induction kit
Neuspeed Hi-Flo throttle body pipe
Neuspeed power pulley kit
Stage 2 Remap
Go Fast Bits DV+
Plasma Direct Ignition coils

Styling (exterior):
Team Dynamics 19" mesh III wheels in gloss black
Oettinger side skirts
Ingo Noak front bumper
Ingo Noak rear spoiler
Audi OEM TTS rear diffuser
Carbon fibre wing mirrors
Carbon fibre wing mirror stalks
Carbon fibre front splitter
Carbon fibre front grille
Carbon fibre engine bay surround
Carbon fibre fuel flap cover
Aluminium oil,coolant and dipstick caps
Forge metal carbon canister cover
Lamborghini washer fluid cap
Audi LED DRL lights
Tinted windows
various LED bulb upgrades
De-badged
Painted callipers

Styling (Interior):
LED bulbs
Neon footwell lights
Aluminium seat adjusters
Aluminium seat belt covers
Carbon fibre wrap steering controls
Liquid TT monitor guage
Carbon fibre tax disc holder
Custom embroiled carpet mats
Stainless steel gear knob with LED lighting
Suede gear gaitor
Blackvue 380G In car Camera

I picked up my TT on March 01 2008 here are some pictures of what she looked like standard!





It wasn't too long until I put some new wheels on. I went for Team Dynamics Mesh III in 19" with 255/35 tyres. These wheels saved about 1KG per corner over the 17" standard wheels and tyres.

In 2008 I spent a lot of time abroad for weeks at a time and I did loose touch of the widths of the car. As the pictures show I did make a small error while driving around a small fountain at a friend's house. This is when the first aftermarket body part went on the car. At the time there wasn't many aftermarket side skirts but did like the look of the Oettinger body kit so went for them and was bought, painted and fitted by the TT shop.

In late 2008 the TTS came out and the craze for TTS aluminium/chrome mirror's came out so I jumped on that band wagon pretty quickly. I decided to go for a silver and blue theme from then onwards.

I didn't like the grey callipers which is a factory feature when you spec magnetic ride. I decided to go red as I wasn't too sure what other colours would go with blue and silver.





Some new Forge motorsport pieces were coming out into the market and I fancied doing my first engine mod which was the Forge Blow off valve atmospheric spacer and Forge Upgraded diverter valve. The reason for upgrading the diverter valve is that I intended to remap the engine and with remap's came the issue of a failing DV. This was an issue on the rubber diaphragm type DV which was later replaced by a piston type by the VAG group in 2009. I don't have any pictures of the Forge parts install but added some photo's of the parts anyway.



After a couple of months enjoying the blow off turbo sound I fancied changing the intake. I didn't really know what option's were out at the time but liked the look of the BMC CDA kit which took away the filter in the engine cover and situated itself between the slam panel and the entry to the engine cover. I was quite unimpressed by the results as I didn't notice any sound difference or any performance gains. However if the car was remapped the gain would become more obvious.



After a few months I got bored of the BMC CDA intake and decided to go with another route that I had found. I put on the Neuspeed P-Flo intake instead which was cheap and effective. It removed the engine cover completely for the pipe to fit. I altered and painted the engine cover myself so it could fit. I took a video of the Neuspeed intake to show the noise. It was an easy thing to fit and it really tarts the engine bay up.




The engine bay was something I wanted to work on in making it look a lot smarter. Osir also do some engine bay carbon that surround the front slam panel and neaten the whole look up. The standard plastic caps also looked a bit plain so these were changed to aluminium caps instead. I got the seat recliner toggle in aluminium too.





The rear valance always looked dull with just a black plastic look to it so I painted it silver to match the mirrors. At the same time I painted the fog light grills to complete the silver theme. While the fog light grilles were out I added a cold air feed for the Neuspeed intake to help with some of the heat soak with an open filter in the engine bay. The main front grille also looked a bit dull to me so I changed to a black FK automotive grille with LED's.





The exhaust was the next thing on the list to be done and I was lucky enough to find Blueflame exhausts were looking for a MK2 2.0 tfsi TT for an exhaust fit. I managed to get a decent deal and get a complete 3" turbo back system fitted. It has increased performance with the racing cat and 3" design. The problem I had is now the ECU was not remapped and is running a standard map which meant I would not be able to use the new exhausts full potential. The new exhaust is about 5-7KG lighter with fewer silencers on the pipe and a less dense Cat. I took a video of the exhaust.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7UArs1o ... rofilepage

Another new item out that I heard of at the time was the Neuspeed power pulley kit. This replaces the crankshaft pulley to a light weight version. The weight difference between the two was massive and however I wasn't expecting massive performance gains I did notice a decrease in fuel consumption which was a nice little surprise. On average I get about 2MPG better from this little mod, and supposedly this adds a few HP's too.


I wanted a slightly better stance with the car, and since I have magnetic ride suspension Coilovers weren't and option at the time as errors would read out. I decided to go with Eibach as they have a great reputation and I also could get a mega deal with them.

The interior lighting pack was something I missed off the option list so I went about getting some footwell lighting done to come on with the rest of the interior lights. At this time I also changed the yellow looking DRL bulb to an LED kind with an external resistor to fool the DIS into thinking the bulb hadn't blow due to the lack of wattage being drawn from the LED. While on the lights I changed all of the interior bulbs to LED's and also the number plate bulbs too. Every bulb on the car is LED bar the brake lights and the xenon headlights.




I did some more interior work with some add on air vent cover's which stop misting the car on wet and cold starts. I carbon fibre wrapped these along with the steering wheel controls to look smarter. I also fancied a different gear knob, Osir design came out with a few replacements and decided to go for the stainless steel edition. I added an Osir gaitor in alcantara while I was at it. The gear knob top also light's up when the other interior dials light up at night. The extra weight of the steel knob smoothes shifts out too.





With the TTS and TTRS out the exterior was looking pretty tame. I decided to splash out on a lot of exterior work with some new bits, Osir Carbon fibre grille, Ingo Noak front bumper and lower front spoiler, Ingo Noak rear wing, TID fuel flap painted in body colour and Audi rear diffuser. I also got the front end resprayed completely while I was at it. The rear wing is pretty damn big but has served its purpose in keeping the rear end more stable at higher speed corners. The front fogs are mounted behind the mesh for an ultra stealth look and also still help me out when it's foggy!








One of the more recent upgrades was the Liquid TT monitor which I got as soon as it was made available for the Mk2 TT. This was really easy to install and looks great. It's nice to be able to look at all the ecu/engine parameters and also delete error codes that come up.



I fancied a sportier gear change even though I have the Audi short shifter I felt this was an area that would make driving the car quicker a bit easier. I went for the Forge side to side shifter and THS performance front to back shifter. The reason was I could get the THS shifter for 25% less and is exactly the same design. While this work was being done I changed the lower engine mount to a solid insert which was also a THS part. The lower engine mount does cause some cabin vibrations but really does stop the engine movement a lot, worth it but borderline on track set-up to road use. The Short shift linkages work like a treat and have reduced shift movement a decent amount, was well worth the money.


A few months ago I wanted to add some more carbon fibre pieces to my addiction but wanted a few unique things. I then decided I could make and sell my own Carbon parts and could create anything I wanted, I have been wanting to set-up my own small company in the automotive world for some time and this works nicely alongside my normal profession. Since then I have made up some Carbon fibre mirrors, mirror stalks, some headlight masks that go with the grille and a one off lower front spoiler to go with the aftermarket front bumper. This is just the start of many CF parts for the TT and other Audi models. I also at the same sort of time added some more engine bay bling with the Forge Charcoal canist cover, this is just a stainless steel cover to smarten up the black plastic canister.





That pretty much sums the car up to date. I now want to take things to the next level as this is a show car for me and intend on getting some serious power out of the engine, improving the handling+braking and tweaking the looks as I go.

I will be looking into handling modifications after for the next upcoming month's which will include; Complete new suspension bushes, Anti lift kit, bump steer correction kit, Upgraded anti roll bars and a full fast road/track geometry set-up.
 
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#2 ·
This morning I have placed an order for some Neuspeed Rear sway bar links. These are a heavy duty solid version that increase the roll bar stiffness. I will post up my finding when these arrive and are tested, I hope these will stiffen the rear end up slightly. You can see the difference between the stock and aftermarket links in these pictures.


 
#3 ·
Brilliant write up Dan. Nice to see how your TT has progressed from standard to its modified version now with still more things to come :) :)

Paul
 
#6 ·
sorry to say it; and I'm guessing others are thinking the same given the reads vs comments - but you've ruined what was a good looking car to start with.

The alloys dont work on the car, the red trimming look out of place under the hood and the silver bits on the front/rear bumpers must be a dare....? The spoiler and filer cap look equally out of place. IMO you should rip all the tat off and go back to what you had in the first pictures. it's leaps better.

Sorry; your ride though.
 
#7 ·
Redscouse said:
Brilliant write up Dan. Nice to see how your TT has progressed from standard to its modified version now with still more things to come :) :)

Paul
Cheers mate, hopefully before to long it will look more similar to your RS :)
DB9506 said:
Interesting stuff and I came see you have spent some considerable time and money on the car.

Always good to see pics from a passoinate enthusiast. Thanks for sharing. :)
langlord said:
fantastic write up and I am looking forward to your future plans on the carbon front especially as you are going to work on TTRS items as I think I will be changing to an RS in 6 months.
Cheers guys, I will update with regards to the RS carbon work. Things are well underway :D
 
#8 ·
msnttf10 said:
sorry to say it; and I'm guessing others are thinking the same given the reads vs comments - but you've ruined what was a good looking car to start with.

The alloys dont work on the car, the red trimming look out of place in under the hood and the silver bits on the bumpers must be a dare.... The spoiler and filer cap look equally out of place. IMO you should rip all the tat off and go back to what you had in the first pictures. it's leaps better.

Sorry; you ride though.
Many thanks for your opinion :)

The alloys I loved for many years and am getting bored of them so is something that will be changing. The Filler cap will be back to the original but in carbon fibre before long and with regards to the silver and blue theme I like it, however it will be black carbon and blue soon instead. It certainly is my ride and I modified it to look different and to my own taste. Thanks for your insight however lots of love x
 
#9 ·
Nice list there McKenzie! Tastefully done too with aftermarket mods and got to say I really like them wheels and them mirrors, they any closer to being finished with prices?

Will be interested to know how the new links make the car handle, I'm still trying to work out how to get the balance right on the V6 and dial out the understear from the heavy front!

Also, how did you do the footwells? I noticed all the holes are there for the holders but not the wiring?
 
#10 ·
sixdoublesix said:
Nice list there McKenzie! Tastefully done too with aftermarket mods and got to say I really like them wheels and them mirrors, they any closer to being finished with prices?

Will be interested to know how the new links make the car handle, I'm still trying to work out how to get the balance right on the V6 and dial out the understear from the heavy front!

Also, how did you do the footwells? I noticed all the holes are there for the holders but not the wiring?
Cheer's Simon, the wheels do look nice but are a pain to keep clean. I also fancy something slightly more subtle. The mirror's are all lacquered but are being hand finished this week so hopefully the guys will get them looking super glossy in a mater of days, I am also working on getting the website updated so I can trade through it. I will be becoming a site sponsor soon enough and will post some prices up etc then. I have been a tad busy over the last couple weeks and haven't managed to get everything in order but am working on it all in these up coming weeks while I have some time.

I can imagine the big V6 lump in the TT makes it feel a bit lazy, have you upgraded the anti roll bars? The drop links being solid should really help increase the rear anti roll bar's stiffness. I will up date when they arrive :)

I looked into retro fitting the LED interior light pack but it's extremely difficult and time consuming. What I decided to do was get some 12" neons or you can use LED strips, bolt them in place and wire them to the interior lights so when the door is open or you unlock the car the footwell's come on at the same time. I also got the guy to wire in a switch so I can turn them on manually too, I can't say I really use that much any more though. It's a simple enough job and quite cost effective, must of cost about ÂŁ30 for the neons and about ÂŁ30 for the electrician to wire them up as only took an hour or so.
 
#16 ·
Nice little write up there buddy, the only dodgy pick is the one outside the pub - those silver bits on the front weren't a great look and I was never a fan of the silver mirrors so glad to see they're gone, the carbon fibre looks fantastic!

Looking forward to seeing some more carbon... New wheels too hey? Interesting, any sneak peaks into what you fancy?

Good luck with it all.
 
#17 ·
I love your car McKenzie. It's tasteful, but utterly outrageous. I spent ages looking at it at EvenTT11.

I just wish I had the bottle to get one of those rear spoilers! The photographs don't show how it widens and lengthens the car.

Do you have a paint code for the flat aluminium?
 
#19 ·
Digi said:
Lovin your enthusiasm, aslo like the way you have paint the engine cover red.
You have a nice car there, thanks for sharing your work.

Out of curiosity what did it cost to paint the front bumper?
Thank you very much :) . Well I got the bumper, bonnet, front arches, front lower spoiler, rear spoiler and rear diffuser painted all for about ÂŁ450 but my friend works at a body shop so that helps. Paint is very cheap but it's just the labour that takes you to the cleaners!
 
#20 ·
richieshore said:
Nice little write up there buddy, the only dodgy pick is the one outside the pub - those silver bits on the front weren't a great look and I was never a fan of the silver mirrors so glad to see they're gone, the carbon fibre looks fantastic!

Looking forward to seeing some more carbon... New wheels too hey? Interesting, any sneak peaks into what you fancy?

Good luck with it all.
I think the Silver and Blue theme is something some like and some don't, I liked it but it does stand quite a lot. I should of showed you the car at Silvo, the Carbon mirror's etc were on then!

Well I am looking into some super lightweight forged wheels but trying to get hold of them is a complete nightmare! I would have to import them from the states or Australia and at $1,000 per wheel the tax would cripple me! I'm looking at getting them from a non duty/tax source. This is a long term plan though..
 
#21 ·
wja96 said:
I love your car McKenzie. It's tasteful, but utterly outrageous. I spent ages looking at it at EvenTT11.

I just wish I had the bottle to get one of those rear spoilers! The photographs don't show how it widens and lengthens the car.

Do you have a paint code for the flat aluminium?
:lol: tastefully outrageous sounds like a back handed complement but I will take it in a good way. I will be reinforcing the wing in the boot area soon as I don't know I would be too confident on the autobahn with it!

Unfortunately I don't have the paint code as it was a special colour made up as a one off. It's very hard to get a aluminium colour as the original Audi colour is from a chrome paint method applied to the parts and then lacquered to get a matt or gloss finish to it.

robokn said:
Hi Dan looking good my friend any news on my Matte carbon??
Cheers buddy, well hopefully I will have some samples in the next week. It's been major busy for both me and the guys but I will get some samples to Rob.
 
#23 ·
wja96 said:
There was absolutely nothing backhanded intended I assure you. Just pure compliment.

As I say, I wish I had the nerve to get one of those spoilers!
I'm just joking around don't worry about it :D I appreciate your honesty. Well the spoiler is a big decision, normally if you didn't like something on the car you could revert back but with the spoiler you have to drill through the boot lid which certainly make this mod not for the faint hearted! I think on a TTRS it may be able to pull the look off better, I guess having a more aggressive bodykit will keep things in proportion.
 
#24 ·
Dans just a posh Chav, and he knows it :lol: :lol: :lol: :p

You can have your tea and a few pints on that spoiler 8)

Only messing mate, i love your ride and you know it :-* :-*

Paul
 
#25 ·
Redscouse said:
Dans just a posh Chav, and he knows it :lol: :lol: :lol: :p

You can have your tea and a few pints on that spoiler 8)

Only messing mate, i love your ride and you know it :-* :-*

Paul
:lol: You can iron clothing well on that thing, would make an interesting extreme ironing challenge! I will remember these comments for future reference too Paul. :D
 
#26 ·
Great write up, i always admire someone with the guts to get on with some serious alterations.

Any chance of a pm on the liquid installation ie prices/where from/installation.

Does the Forge make a big difference to the sound when blowing off?

Again good stuff, keep it going :mrgreen:

jontymo
 
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