johnspackman
New member
Hi everyone,
I have a 1996 A4 1.8TSport that I've owned since 1997; 15 years and 130,000 miles later my g/f and I have done a few of track days in it and want to do more but it needs some improvement...and we don't know what changes would give the best results. We want to keep spending to a minimum (we want to be sure we really like it before investing heavily) and concentrate on getting the best fun.
The two things I notice are power and understeer.
It's frustrating always having to pull over *all* the time so I'm thinking of chipping it; that should get me around 210bhp (up from 150bhp) but I've heard there are different models, and that some are smoother/more controllable power than others. Are some better than others? Are some better for novices than others?
For handling, I find that especially on long, sweeping corners the tires are squeeling a lot the time to keep up - I don't think I can go any faster through the corners and I'm using as much of the road as I can (I think - feel free to tell me I must be wrong). There's lots of advice about mod'ing for handling but a lot of it revolves around expensive suspension replacement or similar with vague promises of making it "better"; I don't want to spend lots money right now, particularly when I can't tell which (if any) of Google's advice is going to be worth it.
Are there any minor things I can do? Strut bars or other bracing? If you had the choice would you/in what order would you (a) have more training (b) get a whole new set of tires (c) fit a strut bar (d) give in and think seriously about that new suspension.
I'm also planning to rip out the carpets, headlining, and anything that isn't welded to the cabin.
BTW, this isn't a road car anymore - we might keep it insured for the next month or two but 3rd party insurance just went up £100/year today so a trailer is probably in the works.
Thanks for your help
John & Katie
I have a 1996 A4 1.8TSport that I've owned since 1997; 15 years and 130,000 miles later my g/f and I have done a few of track days in it and want to do more but it needs some improvement...and we don't know what changes would give the best results. We want to keep spending to a minimum (we want to be sure we really like it before investing heavily) and concentrate on getting the best fun.
The two things I notice are power and understeer.
It's frustrating always having to pull over *all* the time so I'm thinking of chipping it; that should get me around 210bhp (up from 150bhp) but I've heard there are different models, and that some are smoother/more controllable power than others. Are some better than others? Are some better for novices than others?
For handling, I find that especially on long, sweeping corners the tires are squeeling a lot the time to keep up - I don't think I can go any faster through the corners and I'm using as much of the road as I can (I think - feel free to tell me I must be wrong). There's lots of advice about mod'ing for handling but a lot of it revolves around expensive suspension replacement or similar with vague promises of making it "better"; I don't want to spend lots money right now, particularly when I can't tell which (if any) of Google's advice is going to be worth it.
Are there any minor things I can do? Strut bars or other bracing? If you had the choice would you/in what order would you (a) have more training (b) get a whole new set of tires (c) fit a strut bar (d) give in and think seriously about that new suspension.
I'm also planning to rip out the carpets, headlining, and anything that isn't welded to the cabin.
BTW, this isn't a road car anymore - we might keep it insured for the next month or two but 3rd party insurance just went up £100/year today so a trailer is probably in the works.
Thanks for your help
John & Katie