Some work on my A3

[Stereodude]

That is still outside the car. My bike is already too valuable to leave out there (and getting more valuable all the time). I ride every day somewhere, and once I start competing will be travelling over most of central California. Because of all the riding, having the bike in the car at all times makes a lot of sense. Protection from the weather is an added bonus.

Okay, so add this to the mix. Anyone with the motivation, patience, and know how to defeat a decent lock will not think twice about breaking the window on your car and opening the hatch to liberate your bike from your car.

 

[Howell]

I know 3 or 4 people who have totalled their frames in wrecks. I don't know any who have have them stolen from a roof rack. Odds are...

 

[timwhit]

Okay, so add this to the mix. Anyone with the motivation, patience, and know how to defeat a decent lock will not think twice about breaking the window on your car and opening the hatch to liberate your bike from your car.

This will not protect the bike from the elements.

 

[ddrueding]

Okay, so add this to the mix. Anyone with the motivation, patience, and know how to defeat a decent lock will not think twice about breaking the window on your car and opening the hatch to liberate your bike from your car.

Inelegant. Also, my car insurance will cover the contents of my car up to the value of my car, but not anything on the rack.

I know 3 or 4 people who have totalled their frames in wrecks. I don't know any who have have them stolen from a roof rack. Odds are...

It has been over 500,000 miles since I was in any kind of accident. It has been two days since I last saw someone touching my bike while it was on my car. I prefer my odds this way.

This will not protect the bike from the elements.

Indeed.

 

[Stereodude]

Inelegant.

Says the guy who has a really elegant looking car interior.

Also, my car insurance will cover the contents of my car up to the value of my car, but not anything on the rack.

That's what homeowner's insurance is for.

 

[BingBangBop]

When I was younger, I bicycled a lot and had several bicycles stolen.

I had one stolen, when I was in a park reading right beside it. Someone just walked up and got on and rode off, before I could stop him.
Next, I had one locked up on a bike rack while I was in a mall. I came out to find that it was stripped and all that was remaining was the frame.
Then I had one at a locked up at a mall and when I came out it was no longer there. This one was recovered. I reported the serial number to the police and it was sold to a pawn shop.
I've even had one stolen out of my garage.

If a bike looks good (even if it isn't particularly valuable) there is always the possibility that it will be stolen if unattended (or even if it attended see #1).

So I understand why you don't want to use a car rack. I still think a trailer is a valid choice though.

 

[ddrueding]

The Foregestar F14s were installed today with Hankook Ventus V12 Evo tires. The gunmetal powder coat finish looks flawless. The tires are great; very good feel and not much road noise. The wheels seem to be a bit better off the line (with quattro traction was never an issue, so I don't attribute this to the tires) but this was purely a seat-of-the-pants measurement. I'll post some pictures and data logs later.

Also put in a set of LED lights (full interior plus license plate), much better than the yellow that came stock. The only yellow lights now are the fog lamps.

 

[Stereodude]

You seem to misunderstand the order of operations. You're supposed to take pictures first, then post.

Who did you get the LED lighting kit from?

 

[Handruin]

You seem to misunderstand the order of operations. You're supposed to take pictures first, then post.

Who did you get the LED lighting kit from?

This +1

 

[ddrueding]

The car is so far from clean that I'm embarrased to post current pics. Hopefully by tomorrow.

The lights were from Tuner Domes. Just worked out of the box and looks good. The license plate lights threw one error once (bulb out), but hasn't happened since.

 

[Stereodude]

The lights were from Tuner Domes.

I ordered a few LED bulbs from a ebay seller in China to play around with. I haven't gotten them just yet, but I'm looking forward to testing them out. Assuming they are decent I'll be able to convert my S4 to LEDs for about $39 instead of the $90-130 other vendors want for a kit. To Tuner Domes credit they don't seem to be simply putting a kit together of the same made in China "bulbs" everyone is using. Their "bulbs" seem to be unique to them. Of course they're also sold at a premium so it cuts both ways.

 

[ddrueding]

Apparently LED bulbs commonly throw errors in Audis; there are many stories of people putting resistors in parallel with cheaper bulbs to stop the errors. These didn't require that.

 

[Stereodude]

Apparently LED bulbs commonly throw errors in Audis; there are many stories of people putting resistors in parallel with cheaper bulbs to stop the errors. These didn't require that.

No they don't because they have load resistors build into them. Some of the other "bulbs" out there also have load resistors built into them also.

 

[ddrueding]

Part 1 of the pictures...



I really don't deserve to have them look this good. I eyeballed the color from the Forgestar site and matched from memory a stock color based on what color my car is.

 

[ddrueding]

Now for part 2 of the story. This happened 70 miles after I installed the tires and wheels, and is pretty self-explanatory.



Needless to say my replacement tire arrives tomorrow.

 

[Stereodude]

It looks like you have a screw in your tread. How did you nick the wheel though?

BTW, did you weight one of the wheels before getting a tire mounted?

 

[ddrueding]

I didn't have it weighed, but I will when the new tire arrives.

The screw went all the way through the tire and exiting just outside the bead and chipped the wheel. If you look at the first and third picture you can see the exit wound in the tire aligning with the nick in the wheel.

 

[Stereodude]

How big was this screw?

Did you remember to put 5 ball seat lugs with your spare since the conical lugs for the Forgestar aren't appropriate to use with it?

 

[ddrueding]

How big was this screw?

Did you remember to put 5 ball seat lugs with your spare since the conical lugs for the Forgestar aren't appropriate to use with it?

Nope. But they seemed to work ok for the 3 miles I had to drive. Should I be anticipating damage?

 

[Stereodude]

Nope. But they seemed to work ok for the 3 miles I had to drive. Should I be anticipating damage?

Probably not, but ball seat and cone seat lugs are incompatible with each other in terms of properly holding a wheel when torqued down. I'd put 5 of the cone seat variety in a bag / pouch with the spare for next time.

 

[ddrueding]

Probably not, but ball seat and cone seat lugs are incompatible with each other in terms of properly holding a wheel when torqued down. I'd put 5 of the cone seat variety in a bag / pouch with the spare for next time.

Good tip. Thanks!

 

[ddrueding]

Got to test out the foam lance today, that thing is awesome. Just threw some Dawn Ultra and the results were amazing. Getting ready to Opti-Coat 2.0 over the weekend. Trying to make sure I get all the necessary steps in:

1. Wash thoroughly
2. Clay
3. Polish
4. Opti-coat

Did I miss anything? I have some scratches that I just noticed, any recommendations?

 

[Stereodude]

Got to test out the foam lance today, that thing is awesome. Just threw some Dawn Ultra and the results were amazing. Getting ready to Opti-Coat 2.0 over the weekend. Trying to make sure I get all the necessary steps in:

1. Wash thoroughly
2. Clay
3. Polish
4. Opti-coat

Did I miss anything? I have some scratches that I just noticed, any recommendations?

You need to make sure the car is completely clean after the polish before you put on the Opti-coat. That means another thorough strip wash with an APC or Dawn. Don't be a bonehead like me and use an IPA/water solution + microfiber towel on the paint to clean it after the polish. It will put very fine scratches in the paint.

What polishes / polishing method are you going to use?

 

[ddrueding]

For polishing I went with the "Hyper System" from the same people that make Opti-Coat 2.0. Never done any of this before, in fact that was the first time I'd washed the car myself.

 

[Stereodude]

For polishing I went with the "Hyper System" from the same people that make Opti-Coat 2.0. Never done any of this before, in fact that was the first time I'd washed the car myself.

Have you used it yet?

 

[ddrueding]

Nope. I'm thinking Saturday afternoon.

 

[ddrueding]

Played with some of the cleaning stuff. Washed my wife's car, and tried the clay on a couple panels (the actual clay, not the orbital skin thing). Amazing difference.

Some discoloration (likely from bugs/bird droppings being on for a long time) are still visible. Will the polishing take care of that?

 

[Stereodude]

Some discoloration (likely from bugs/bird droppings being on for a long time) are still visible. Will the polishing take care of that?

It should come off with polishing assuming the clear coat isn't heavily damaged.

 

[ddrueding]

All the chrome on my car was bugging me, so I plastidipped it gunmetal grey to match the wheels.


(Photo taken with the new $200 Canon 40mm/2.8 pancake lens)

 

[Handruin]

Looks nice. I like how the trim even matches the car's color. I haven't looked into the pancake lenses. The clarity looks good to me. Are you enjoying the lens?

 

[ddrueding]

The lens is ok. Honestly, there isn't anything it does that isn't done better by either the 50/1.4 or the 17-40/4L, but it is cheap enough to risk with animals and small enough to not intimidate people at events.

 

[ddrueding]

Installed a ProClip phone mount for my Galaxy SIII with built-in charging base. Very clean and sturdy mount. I also have a 3.5mm stereo audio cable routed up that way to get audio out of the phone. The car does have an Aux in already, but it is on the transmission tunnel under the armrest and doesn't seem to be well shielded (some driveline noise comes through the amp). So I want to direct wire the power and audio into the headunit.

Pulled the radio out today, and the Aux in wires are part of some giant complex plug. Tempted to cut the ones I need, install bullet terminals if I ever want to put it back, and then use additional bullet terminals on the 3.5mm to the phone mount.

Of course I also need 2A of power back there somewhere, can I steal that from the stereo itself?

And the part that really makes me cringe; the cleanest way to get the wires into the stereo is to dremel a bit of the trim out behind the mount and sneak them in that way.

Thoughts?

 

[ddrueding]

Oh, and the amber "Passenger Airbag Disabled" light that is on whenever there isn't a passenger was bugging me, so I took it apart and put some electrical tape between the LEDs and the light guide. Similar to this guy.

 

[Stereodude]

Pulled the radio out today, and the Aux in wires are part of some giant complex plug. Tempted to cut the ones I need, install bullet terminals if I ever want to put it back, and then use additional bullet terminals on the 3.5mm to the phone mount.

Of course I also need 2A of power back there somewhere, can I steal that from the stereo itself?

And the part that really makes me cringe; the cleanest way to get the wires into the stereo is to dremel a bit of the trim out behind the mount and sneak them in that way.

Thoughts?

Doesn't your car have an AMI connector that acts as the aux input? Are you looking for a switched power source?

 

[ddrueding]

Nope. It has a 3.5mm stereo jack built into the center console under the armrest. I'm pretty sure I've found the pins on the back of the stereo ("AUX L+", "AUX R+", "AUX GND") but they are part of a large wiring harness connector. I'm pretty sure I can just pull these wires out of the harness and wire my own back in?

For the power, I don't think I care whether it is switched or not. I won't be leaving the phone in the car without it running for any duration, but at the same time the phone can run fine without external power. Thoughts?

 

[ddrueding]

This is the same as mine, note the pins in the top-right.

 

[ddrueding]

Finally did something about my dislike of chrome.

 

[Stereodude]

Plastidip?

 

[ddrueding]

Yup. All the badges on the rest of the car are gunmetal grey, the chrome on the front of the car (including fog light surrounds) is black.

 

[Loust]

Now that my hopes of a 2013 S4 are gone, I'm considering making some changes to my current car to make it a bit quicker.

2011 Audi A3 Premium Quattro
Titanium Sport Package (18" wheels and lower/stiffer suspension)
Cold Weather Package (heated front seats/side mirrors)
Bluetooth Value Package
Open Sky (sunroof in front, moonroof in back)
"Concert" stereo (base model)
Monza Silver Metallic and Luxor Beige Leather
~32k miles

1. Wheel upgrade. According to the folks at OEMPlus, the wheels I have weigh 27lbs each. Stereodude brought my attention to some Forgestar F14s that I really like and are quite light. Of course, they are not available anywhere close to the stock 18x7.5 the car has now, and I'm a little concerned about whether the minimum 18x8.5 would fit. Thoughts?

2. ECU Chip. With all the current hoopla about Audi flagging all chipped cars during practically every service, I feel that having a Stasis authorized dealer perform the upgrade and handle all my services from there forward is the only reasonable option for a car that is still in warranty. Thoughts?

3. Stereo. No GPS, only a single MP3 capable CD in the dash, and speakers that slightly disappoint. I love the steering wheel mounted controls for volume, track selection, and voice control. This makes me think that my only real option is to install a factory GPS unit?

What will be the price?