In reply to klork :
Thanks! Honestly, I don't think they're too terrible to maintain. Most of the mechanical bits of the car are really robust, but they're prone to some electrical gremlins like any older German car. The worst part is the lack of support from Audi North America. A good chunk of the mechanical parts are still available, but certain sensors, hoses, etc are all NLA. There are a handful of people in the community from Canada and Europe that will facilitate orders through Audi Tradition for American fans, though.
Really, I can't say enough about the community around these cars. One of the most helpful and knowledgeable groups I've been a part of.
In reply to Paris Van Gorder :
Thanks! It feels like things have really come together quick in the last few months. I've got a handful of little things to sort out once the rear coilovers are on, but after that I really just wanna start putting miles on it. The rough goal is to have it ready for Alpine Volks Fair in May(?)
Even if I don't make it this year, it at least gives me a date to keep motivated. I'm getting tired of only having pictures of the car in my garage and driveway haha.
Long term, other than just basic refinement-type stuff, I want to get the AC working, build the bottom end for a bigger turbo, convert to a Volvo EPAS system, and maybe look into MK60e5 ABS just for fun.
In reply to iansane :
Same here, honestly! We'll see how it actually works on the road, but it all came together pretty painlessly, even with my mistakes with the first set of uprights.
To do it totally right, I'd need to cut and lower the steering arms to correct the geometry. There's a chance I'll have to deal with a bit of bump steer as it sits now. Annoying, but without a welder, this is the best I can do for the moment. Plenty of other guys run them as-is too, so I'm hoping it'll be fine
A really interesting build, but I am still waiting for the proper wrap job...
In reply to Turbine :
Working towards a goal date is how I keep myself motivated too. Even if you don't make it, you still tried and will get more done. Plus, if you do make it, that feeling of success? Ugh, you just can't beat it.
Do you have a specific turbo in mind once you built out the bottom end?
In reply to pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) :
Dude, yeah me too haha. One of my best friends worked in a shop that did graphics work for emergency vehicles. If I'd have gotten the car done when I'd originally planned, we were gonna piece together a tribute livery to that car or the 5000 Talledega. He's since moved jobs, so that's all kinda up in the air
In reply to Paris Van Gorder :
Yeah! Hitting that deadline, then making the 10ish hour drive to Georgia Roadkill-Style would be incredible.
Turbo wise, the dream is an EFR 7163 still, but I need to check out the newer Garret G series and possibly Xona stuff. Really, I'm only looking for something in the 450whp range, which is a pretty modest build in the grand scheme of things. I really just want something reliable and fun, and that seems to be the sweet spot. Anything beyond that and I'm looking at some major driveline upgrades and head work, and at this point, I'd rather just enjoy the car
Turbine said:
In reply to Paris Van Gorder :
Yeah! Hitting that deadline, then making the 10ish hour drive to Georgia Roadkill-Style would be incredible.
Turbo wise, the dream is an EFR 7163 still, but I need to check out the newer Garret G series and possibly Xona stuff. Really, I'm only looking for something in the 450whp range, which is a pretty modest build in the grand scheme of things. I really just want something reliable and fun, and that seems to be the sweet spot. Anything beyond that and I'm looking at some major driveline upgrades and head work, and at this point, I'd rather just enjoy the car
This is the first time I read about AVF, and I kind of want to go now.
Let's make a plan, you me and Steve, and we can all meet there to do dumb Audi stuff in 2026.
Turbine said:
In reply to Jehannum :
I'm in! Let's do it
Its a great weekend, lots of cool cars and we (the old timers) are REALLY trying to keep it under control.
If you make it down, Thursday will be a big meet day, then Satruday is the main event. I'll be there early on Thrusday to get ready to host the mk4 meet along with checking out as many other meets as possible.
In reply to fouckhest :
Yeah, I heard there were some issues last year unfortunately. I'm in my 30s now with two kids, so any ideas of showing off or being cool are well behind me lol. Just looking to drive some fun roads, see some cool cars, and hang out with other enthusiasts.
I didn't get to experience the best years of H20i before it got out of control, and I'd hate to see events like AVF and WITW go the same way.
Turbine said:
In reply to Paris Van Gorder :
The rough goal is to have it ready for Alpine Volks Fair in May(?)
Are the dates for AVF set? My buddy just made friends with a local VW group that evidently flies down there every year and invited me this year. I've just been waiting to buy plane tickets. Sounds like a hell of a gathering!
In reply to iansane :
Looking at their site, I'm not actually seeing the dates. I guess I was just going off of when it was in the past. Based on what fouckhest said and what I'm seeing on the website, they're being a lot more selective about who all can register a car for the event, which is a bummer, but understandable. Maybe going through the registration process would show the details
Rear coilovers install started with a bit of a mishap.
This was with the height maxed out on the 6" springs and tenders. 18 year old Aaron would've been thrilled about this fitment, but 32 year old Aaron's a little bit more responsible. Definitely glad I maxed the camber out as a precaution, otherwise I would've wrecked the fender liners when I set the car down. Ordered a set of 8" springs (Eibach 0800-250-0450)
And installed. Yeah, that'll do.
Haven't had a chance to drive it yet due to yet another round of illness in the house, but I'm loving the look.
I also might have solved my rev limit issue without getting rid of launch control. I "borrowed" the speed signal wire from the radio and ran it to pin 50 of the ECU. This wire would've been used for speed sensitive volume control (GALA in Audi speak, I think), but my headunit doesn't use it. Again, haven't had a chance to drive the car to see if this worked, but I have high hopes.
Here's some low-quality pictures for reference
Update time:
First, the good news. The wiring trick worked! No more 4k RPM redline. The car pulls great to its actual redline now. Got my first experience with the Volvo turbo and it's awesome. I saw 17psi of boost a handful of times, which is about what it should be making I think? Need to verify this.
Next in good news, I'm loving the coilovers. I'm sure a big part of it is just getting off the blown B8's in the front, but it rides well, the spring rates feel appropriate, and I can feel the rear swaybar and the v8 diff doing their thing now. Need to play with the damping a little bit more. And get a proper alignment. Also, as a bonus, my ABS works now.
I also gave it a decent wash. Just to knock the garage dust off. Still needs a full detail treatment just to get the junk out of the paint, but I want a driver, not a concourse winner
And now, the not so good. I got a visit from the genie
Lots of reasons why this might've happened, but I've got a few thoughts. First, the oil return hose is slightly pinched due to the routing. A slight restriction might be causing the oil level to go slightly low after a drive? It could also be from the oil cooler-it sat open to the elements while the car was in the junkyard. I also need to drop the oil pan and check the pickup. Last, it's just an old engine. Maybe my oil's too thin. Running 5w40 at the moment, but this is a 250k-ish mile engine. Maybe stepping up to a 50wt oil would help.
Regardless, I've got my work cut out for me. I ran out of time yesterday, but I'd like to get a mechanical gauge on it to verify, as this could also just be a bad sender. Then drain and check the old oil and filter and all the other diagnostic steps. If there's one reason to be optimistic about all of this it's that the oil gauge never actually shows 0, just slightly below the low warning indicator of 0.3bar, and only at idle with the engine warm. While driving, it's in the normal 2-5 bar (throttle dependent) range, and any amount of throttle over idle makes the warning go away.
de80q
Reader
4/5/25 3:14 a.m.
Nice to see things coming together! Looks pretty nice sitting the way it does now
As for the oil, I was always recommended 15w50 for turbo i5's.
In reply to de80q :
Thanks man! I'll give that a shot.
