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From YourSITE.com Technical Features
There comes a time when a project car really starts rolling. Parts start arriving for installation and a real noticeable gain can be seen in the performance of the car. Up until now the A3 has been sporting some nice OEM+ and custom touches but for its next move, something more drastic and performance-oriented was needed. Research for improvement of the A3’s performance began back in May when the car was first purchased. Being a new model to the US, there weren’t many performance upgrades to choose from for the A3. Now some things were available through special shipment from Europe, but much of the upgrades now becoming available weren’t yet readily found at that time.
The 2.0T being such a significant new engine for Audi and now Volkswagen, software was under development and offerings have now begun to pop up from several sources. After a little bit of research and fact-finding, it was discovered that APR’s manufacturing site for exhausts was located in Northern Phoenix – quite near our A3’s home base in sunny AZ. APR is well-known in the chip tuning community, and going that direction for the A3 had certainly been under consideration. As far as we could tell, this was the first A3 to be delivered in the state, which positioned it as a worthwhile candidate for exhaust fitment for the folks at APR. As it turned out, the company was open to using this green Audi as an R&D car and shortly thereafter, a day was arranged for exhaust fitment to get underway.
As far back as June, the car was delivered to APR’s Arizona supplier to fabricate the system and build the jig. After a week at the shop, the car was returned to us with its stock system re-fitted, while prototype exhausts were shipped back to APR’s Alabama headquarters to begin testing and tuning. APR’s plan for the system included a full 3” turbo-back stainless steel exhaust system that would add a more aggressive note to the car and bestow it with the performance they knew it had. Development commenced and a final production system was delivered just prior to Project A3 DSG’s show debut at Dubfest in Southern California, leaving enough time to drive it around and let it heat cycle before making the trek to the coast. Fitment was perfect and no fault codes were thrown.
Installation was relatively straight forward, as with most modern systems on a front-wheel drive car. Some difficulty was encountered in reaching the bolts where the system attaches to the turbo. Performing the process, unhooking the first Oxygen sensor in the engine bay makes removal of the factory system a much easier task. With the factory pipes out, fitment of the APR system is spot on. The bends of the pipes and the welds are all visually perfect, looking great though the importance of looks is out the door once the car’s back down off the lift. Clamps are spot welded to the pipes for extra strength, while “APR Tuned” logos are attractively etched into the two high-polished tips.
No clunks or banging from insufficient clearance have resulted in the first few weeks of installation, a time that has included plenty of hot Arizona heat cycling and the long trip to Dubfest in California. Fitment of the tips within the stock valance is perfect with one fingertip’s width around the radius of the tip to help insure there’ll be no charred bumpers – a telltale sign of an ill-fitting system. As can be seen in the photos, the exhaust’s diameter is significantly larger than stock. The downpipe has a smaller flex area to insure better fitment and the center resonator was made into the muffler. Making this last change in design allowed them to forego the giant pancake muffler as is seen on the stock system and reduce weight at the rear of the car. It’s estimated this saves 10-12 lbs. with the APR system installed.
The new sound of the car is impressive and just like what a turbocharged car with a big exhaust system should sound like. With the DSG transmission in manual mode, you can make it burble and burp on shift just like you can on a manual transmission while sitting in traffic or driving at slow speeds. If you like the burping sound when the DSG tranny shifts in stock form as it holds revs to keep boost up, you will be very pleased at the race car sounds it creates between shifts with this freer flowing setup. A performance gain was noticed, having added just the system but the real power gains are yet to be made once the car is chipped. We’ve been impressed with the reported power gains of APR’s ECU upgrade, so we’re excited to see how those gains add up when matched with this impressive exhaust system. In no short order, APR’s software will be loaded onto Project A3 DSG. In the meantime, a package has arrived from KW’s west coast offices. Look for updates on both ECU and suspension over the next two weeks.
Related Links Project A3 DSG Main Page www.goapr.com
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