Stevey Y

Hi from experience I have observed that aftermarket remaps can lead down a dark and dangerous path if you consider the fact that as you quite rightly put it both engines are the same and the only difference is in the mapping, consider this Audi as a producer employ the world supply of software writers during development these guys are tasked to write mapping software that employs subtle changes within torque curves to eliminate extra thermal stress on the engine and protect the integrity of the built in reliability factor, this process costs millions and believe me the motor manufacturer would not be leaving power gains on the table that could be bought for a few hundred pounds, indeed not if they thought they could develop their own reliable remaps they would be selling them. If you work into the equation the extra insurance and the fact at some point you may develop a problem caused by the mapping it then beggars the question is it worth it, these remap engineers have little or no knowledge of the platforms used by Audi software writers to achieve the results required. It all comes down to the old saying, if you want fast buy fast.

I fully appreciate where your coming from Thomas my passion was the old Alfasuds and I would agree that those along with the Landys were a vocation rather than a hobby, I always remember taking the engine cover off of my first modern Mondeo and standing there looking down at all the pipes, wires and sensors almost dumb with shock, thank the lord for youtube because as soon as you get your head round the fact that sensors rather than cables and sprung actuators now control the functions you are half way there. I did the first service on the back of a video on youtube that I kept watching until I had memorised it, if as you obviously do you understand the dynamics of servicing the modern cars are actually more simple to service than the older ones, you are not messing about with feeler gauges with tappets which are now hydraulic and everything else is operated by canbus communications , I actually amazed myself and got into various diagnostic platforms I now have VCDS and have replaced a couple of sensors on the Audi and re learned their values, As my sarcastic daughter put it after I put out the EML on her Alfa Mito, at last dad has been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century, she who knows everything about phones snapchat Facebook etc but bugger all about cars, life is strange but don't be terrorised by what you own if you have worked on cars before I would asses that you are more than capable you just don't know it yet.

Hi I looked at a lot of these before I bought my 190 ultra and having driven both types the 150/190 and can honestly say the 150 is under powered if you want to go play on occasions, not saying that they are a bad car but if you like a brisk drive they don't quite cut it I had a Mondeo titanium x sport before and with 200 hp and 420nm of torque it was a real beast when pressed but not as well built or reliable as the Audi hence the change. With regard to the two vehicles described I would definitely walk away from the first one with all thats wrong cosmetically and no service history you could be buying a burial plot for your bank account.

Hi I am new to this forum and type of vehicle but with all my previous cabs I have used the following rule of thumb, change the brake fluid every 30k or three years which ever occurs first, with regard to the rest of the service items I would change the oil air and pollen filter at whatever service interval you are pegged at, in my case 9k I was on 15k but changed that as I honestly believe leaving the oil and filters does the car a disservice, the fluids and filters I removed from my car when I serviced it at the 15k interval were well and truly shot, we did a fluids discipline at college and were taken to a company that blended additives for all the major motor oil Manufacturers and the result of some of the tests could be regarded as frightening, most of the regular long life oils when analysed at their change interval were showing signs of rapid molecular deconstruction at this point that is where accelerated mechanical wear occurs, so the conclusion was that changing oil earlier won't cure a problem but may well prevent that problem from occurring. I am fortunate enough to be able to do my own servicing but when it falls due in the depths of winter I am at that age now where freezing my cods off on the drive is not an attractive proposition, therefore I buy all my own parts and oil from either eBay or the local motor factors and launch the whole bundle at my local garage who are quite happy to do the job for the labour price only, buying your own parts saves you a fortune and is all I ever buy are branded parts Bosch, Blueprint,Wix as all these companies supply the manufacturers anyway, I guarantee if you buy dealer parts that they will come in a nice box printed with the Audi/Vag logo on it but what is inside will have Mahle or Bosch stamped on it.

Hi fellow isolators, I am new to this site and this brand of car, I bought the Audi last July and have been using it as a taxi on a circuit in my local town having had Ford Mondeos as my last three cabs and I have racked up best part of 820,000 miles between them, the Audi has been a bit of a revelation, its far more reliable than the Fords ever were I now come to my first problem, last week when coming home from a friends house I noticed that the nearside beam was illuminating the floor about ten feet in front of me whilst the other offside beam was normal, when I got home I parked at a suitable distance from the garage door and noticed that only the offside lamp was going through the levelling routine the other light remained stuck in the downward position this is where it all gets confusing. Having done extensive trawling on the net only made it worse, some say its. the light range control module under the dash glove box so pulled the Dash apart that side only to find just the airbag canister and nothing more, tried the other side as well and there was nothing remotely like a light range control module with a blue plug, then onward to the levelling sensors on the back and front, I found the rear sensor ok all attached and correct, then off to the front which did not seem to have a sensor on either side, had the splash guard off to see if the previous owner had disconnected it and slung the connector under the engine again nothing. In the end after multiple scans with VCDS, Snap on, Delphi and Maxiscan, still no codes!, I finally got round it [Bodge] by using the VCDS headlight position relearn and adjusting the unit manually then doing new values function but again its only the offside unit that does the self alignment sweep but at least the beams are level, when I first bought the car I enquired which main beam bulbs were fitted to my car and was told D5S these bulbs have the ballast built in which negates the need for a separate ballast control, on inspecting the offending light there is a ballast control unit bolted to the side of it, again research has two conflicting theories some say it must be a D3S set up others say its there for the DRL, oh well just have to skip the back cover off and read the bulb rating off the back. so does anyone out there know what propels the levelling absent a front sensor, does it all work off of the rear sensor?, I have another theory that it may be the stepper motor in the unit playing up, deep joy if its that as either way the front bumper comes off and I can't seem to find a part number for the motor and the bumper removal looks a daunting task, any advice greatfully received