newbie needs suggestions on his 97 AWD TSI

[FuelInjected]

Hi all, I have a 1997 eagle talon TSI AWD. It is stock. I am new to the whole modified car theme, but I like it a lot. My friend is learning to be a mechanic, so I guess i picked it up off of him slowly. Anyhow, I am looking to modify my car, and keep it as a daily driver. I will list things I have in mind so far, and what I am looking for. Any of you guys have any comments or suggestions, please let me know. I am tottaly new to all this, and I bought my car only a year ago.

I am looking to kick my power up to about 350hp at the motor, maybe 400.
Here are the things I am looking to get for now.

My budget is $5000 for now. by end of winter, i will most likely have another 5 that i will save up slowly, for car spendings.

I have pretty bad grinds in my tranny, so I have finally decided to go with a rebuild from either one of these shops: jackstransmissions, teamrip, shepracing. I think jacks stage 2 is a good value, and offers 4 spider center diff as well, as others dont (well for that price I mean). If I go with jacks, since I am in Canada, it will cost me roughly around 1250(tranny) + 500 (shipping) + 400 (taking out old, and putting in new tranny) = 2150. So i am rounding it off to 2500, plus minus other expenses, I don't knwo exactly how much it will cost me yet, but roughly that. So i am left with another 2500 to spend.
I need to fix my shocks, rear shock is blown, and rear pads, I will get stocks for now.
I will also need to get new clutch kit for my new rebuilt tranny, I have no idea what I should get, and where is a good place.

So with that money, what are the things I can get to increase my power? not all the way to 350hp, but just to get me around right now.
What I was thinking, and please keep in mind i am a total newb to this.
- turboback exhaust
- coldair intake
- fuel pressure regulator
- flasher or some cpu system, + tune

I am guessing those are the only things I can get for my 5000, not sure at all.
Anyone there have any suggestions, or comments or ideas, please I would be happy to listen and learn. I love my talon.


Oh, later on I was thinking to do my fuel system, new pump, and all things to go with it, and get an intercooler, and maybe an evo 16G turbo. + rebuilt my engine

 

[MelloEclipse]

So with that money, what are the things I can get to increase my power? not all the way to 350hp, but just to get me around right now.
What I was thinking, and please keep in mind i am a total newb to this.
- turboback exhaust
- coldair intake
- fuel pressure regulator
- flasher or some cpu system, + tune

I am guessing those are the only things I can get for my 5000, not sure at all.

Oh, later on I was thinking to do my fuel system, new pump, and all things to go with it, and get an intercooler, and maybe an evo 16G turbo. + rebuilt my engine

Hm...before you start throwing stuff on, you need to go ahead and spend the 100ish bucks for a boost gauge, a pillar to put it in, and a MBC.

Those are 2 of the most important and easiest things you need to keep. oh i forgot one...BOOST LEAK TESTER.

Mine cost me around $12, do a search on here, there's an excellent write up on it, and check AND FIX any boost leaks your car might have before you start upgrades...

I would also check for any belts wear and tear, especially the timing belt, if you don't know much on that READ. you do NOT want that to break on you.

Doing all that would cost $200ish, so that leaves you with 2300....hm...turbo back exhaust is good, might want to check into a exhaust mani and 02 elbow as well, those are the final 2 exhaust parts people tend to overlook (mainly because we're broke) And before you start doing anything boost wise, you'll need to get a new BOV, that 2g stocker SUCKS. You can pick up a good 1g BOV which hold boost great for $60 with flange if you shop right, even cheaper. if you did all those, it'd run you dry probably.

Now if you don't want to get the exhaust mani and 02 elbow, you could spend that (1000ish) on some cool stuff, () pick up a datalogger (100 bucks) you're intake will run about the same (although i bought the 50 buck ebay intake and it's JUST AS GOOD - a steel pipe is a steel pipe!)

Above all I'd probably go ahead and check into your turbo you're wanting, you'll hate that t25 =P

just my .02...sorry so long, hope i helped, .

 

[1g_tsi_awd]

-Do ALL basic maintenance before modding
-Do boost leak test, and maybe even leakdown
-Check compression
-Get a boost gauge.

 

[93clips]

repairing before modding is a very good idea. you can have all the mods in the world but what good does that do u if you car doesnt even run good to begin with.i personaly had a grinding transmission on my 93 and it turned out that my clutch needed to be bled. id say look into tranny problems before you spend half your money that way you could save some money and have more mods . as for first mods i would go with an upper intercooler pipe upgrade and maybe a 1st gen bov and an intake. the upper intercooler upgrade all depends on whether or not you want a front mount intercooler or just sticking with your sidemount intercooler. as for exhausts, go with a 3 inch since you are planning to go around 350hp. a boost guage and an mbc are also good ideas like Melloweclipse said. just make sure you do all your servicing too (i.e. oil change). hope i helped

 

[FuelInjected]

Thanks guys.

I got my timing belt changed about 15k ago. no performance stuff or nothing. stock belt.
Quick question. I most likely will get a bigger turbo, but not right now. Will it be a big problem/or wrong to do, if i get 3inch exhaust all the way? cold air intake the same. or should i go with something smaller? Not exactly sure.

Also if i get intake, exhaust, mani and o2 bolt ons, should i do anything to my fuel system? or no? stock setup is fine for those bolt ones? well a tune, but parts wise do I need anyting else?

 

[1g_tsi_awd]

Thanks guys.

I got my timing belt changed about 15k ago. no performance stuff or nothing. stock belt.
Quick question. I most likely will get a bigger turbo, but not right now. Will it be a big problem/or wrong to do, if i get 3inch exhaust all the way? cold air intake the same. or should i go with something smaller? Not exactly sure.

Also if i get intake, exhaust, mani and o2 bolt ons, should i do anything to my fuel system? or no? stock setup is fine for those bolt ones? well a tune, but parts wise do I need anyting else?

A CAI? Just get a regular dejon tool intake and a FMIC with the bigger turbo. 3 inch is good, the more your exhaust flows the more efficiently your turbo runs because it runs off exhaust gases. The fuel will be fine but a new turbo will most likely require at least a walbro 190 and 550cc inj. Well, that's what I'd do anyways.

 

[FuelInjected]

well as far as tranny goes. everyone has been telling me it is my clutch that needs to be bled. I did that with my friend. Hasn't solved the grinding. I grind in 2nd gear, I have learned to shift very smoothly, and with a bit of delay to not ge the grind, but every once in a while i still do. Mainly in 2nd gear. Sometimes it's hard to put it into 1st as well, and forget about downshifting to 2nd, sounds like i am down a clutchless shift with my stock tranny. So i don't even downshift anymore to 2nd.

I am planning to get this car to 350hp roughly maybe 400, eventually. not right now. So i am looking mainly to start off with mods that will benefit me now, but I can keep when I get my bigger turbo. which will probably be in half a year, maybe even a year. I could get it now. But after I do my tranny, I was thinking to fix up my whole suspension, and get a full engine rebuilt with performance stuff, and then do the turbo and other things.

Yes I do plan to get a front mount intercooler eventually.

 

[HaveSomeJoe]

You really just need to sit back and do a lot of reading, this site has been around for so long that almost any question has already been answered a million times. Just do your research. The 2g upgrade path is right in the tech articles and will help you the whole way.

 

[SwitchSkier]

Deffinetly the best advice here. I have been here for a couple years and still have a low post count because you can almost always find what you're looking for by searching and reading. I hardly ever need to ask because everything has been said before. It's amazing what I have learned just from reading around on this site.

You really just need to sit back and do a lot of reading, this site has been around for so long that almost any question has already been answered a million times. Just do your research. The 2g upgrade path is right in the tech articles and will help you the whole way.

 

[FuelInjected]

guys, i appreciate the feedback. however i mentioned in the first post, I have read through it. I read the upgrade path, and I know it. i know what mods to get everything. my question was totally different, and i know how to use search, i do all the time, i am on this site like every single day looking for info. I just simple need to know what parts/mods I can install without having to tune. I need to know for sure. I don't want to get a cold air intake just to find out later i can't install it without having the car tuned.
So if anyone here knows specifically which parts I can install without having to tune the car, that would be great.

 

[dSmgs-T]

were you asleep for a year?! WTF

 

[hiimnotcool]

Its been nearly a year and you still haven't figured out the first things you need to do?

 

[whitetsi95]

I am almost positive you just posted this same thing on another thread. But anyways, you can install numerous parts with out needing to tune. Some are CAI, Cat Back, MBC, Hard IC piping, Front mount, even a 16G. Just as long as you keep the boost down. Just do some reading around. But good luck with it.

 

[Twistaye]

Damn I figured that thing would have been done by now =/

 

[joyfil2001]

i thought we answered this question in your other thread? the only time you will need to get into tuning is when you change your fuel injectors. get a turboback exhaust - 2.75" at the O2 housing opening up to 3". <---that will save you some boost creep headaches. Make sure you get a high flow cat too. get an Injen or dejon intake with recirculating tube. definately replace your crappy stock BOV. the T25 on the car wont get you anywhere near the power you are looking to achieve, so plan your mods around replacing your turbo. also, definately re-wire your fuel pump as soon as possible.

 

[FuelInjected]

thanks guys. no i wasn't alseep for a year, i did some upgrades to my car. and just building it up, and doing maintance before i start adding some serious power. Reason i asked which mods i can do at this time without needing a tune, is because every single person I know who owns a turbo car, told me that i would need a tune, or a chip or something, even after adding a cold-air intake. So it made a whole lot of confussion in my mind, as I am new to turbo cars.
That's why i wanted to double check on here first. Everyone I know with turbo cars, have some kind of chips, and maps preset, and stuff, and use it everytime they add mods.
I just simply want to add few mods for now, which will be good with my 16G which I plan to get int he future as well, without needing a tune.


anyways thanks for everything guys. i'll be getting these within next few months:
-cold air intake
-3in catback
-3in downpipe
-o2housing
-high flow cat
-blow off valve

 

[joyfil2001]

thats the great thing about these cars. they respond well to mods. tunning is more of a mod than an actuall requirement.

 

[95redturboawd]

thanks guys. no i wasn't alseep for a year, i did some upgrades to my car. and just building it up, and doing maintance before i start adding some serious power. Reason i asked which mods i can do at this time without needing a tune, is because every single person I know who owns a turbo car, told me that i would need a tune, or a chip or something, even after adding a cold-air intake. So it made a whole lot of confussion in my mind, as I am new to turbo cars.
That's why i wanted to double check on here first. Everyone I know with turbo cars, have some kind of chips, and maps preset, and stuff, and use it everytime they add mods.
I just simply want to add few mods for now, which will be good with my 16G which I plan to get int he future as well, without needing a tune.


anyways thanks for everything guys. i'll be getting these within next few months:
-cold air intake
-3in catback
-3in downpipe
-o2housing
-high flow cat
-blow off valve

What maintenance did you do?

 

[FuelInjected]

the maintance i did:
-spark plugs, wires
-pcv valve
-fuel filter
-all fluids changed
-new air filter (about 25000km ago), probably time for a new one soon
-cooland flush
-any other upgrades i probably did that i forgot, and mods i did that are in my list (profile)

I have another question, sorry its an ongoing threat, didn;t want to to make a new threat for a stupid question.

Anyways i kind of been reading up about fuel cut and such. I am getting a cold -air intake soon. do i have to worry about fuel cut, or anything else? stock turbo, everything else stock, besides drivetrain. After that i am going to get a full exhaust done.
can i just drop the intake in, no worries about anything?

 

[gsxpj6428]

make sure the car is properly running and everything. then you should take a look at the dsm hp path in the tech artlcles. shows all the right steps to get ## dsm up in hp. good luck