M1tch

I am still looking at options on this build, I might look to go with a 2.0 TFSi in the 8P chassis, although I have my reservations about the 2.0 TFSi mainly centred around the oil usage issue the engine itself seems to be quite strong with some of the stage 2 tunes running well over 300bhp. I am looking into if its worth going with the 2.0 TFSi powered 8P and also look to rebuild another to swap out the stock (probably slightly higher mileage) engine. The 8P is indeed heavier, but might make up for it due to the additional power the TFSi engine - considering the upgrade from the 1.8T engine is a 2.0 stroker kit.

I will still look into the 2.0TFSi engine as an option, its a newer engine and you can get more power out of them, but there is also the weigh up of a cheaper base car + good value performance parts vs a more expensive base car. I like the idea of being able to simply get another 1.8t engine as there are so many of them out there, plus all of the parts and combos have been tested. The 8L A3 is quite a cheap car to start out with and would be lighter anyway, I have found most first gen models of most cars are lighter before they start adding on extra weight like leather seats, air con etc etc. As this will be a project car and a 2nd car I am not too worried if the car is off the road for weeks at a time, gives me more freedom to be able to try different things and take my time over certain aspects. Due to the lighter weight A3 vs TT it also means that I won't need to go for big power for the same performance AND the A3 is cheaper! I have read that the kerb weight for the 8L is at 1,145kg, I should be able to pull a fair amount of weight out the car by just unbolting a few things and removing items such as air con etc. I do find it quite funny how small the turbos are on some of the cars though, the stock RX7 turbo was probably around a GT35 sized turbo, a GT28 turbo is tiny but is seen as a mild upgrade on the 1.8t. Might look at a few other options for turbos - wonder if anyone has every run a twin turbo setup running 2 K03s or something? Anyway, just researching around different options and ideas, and as the Lotus motto goes - simplify and add lightness!

Hi all, I wanted to start a thread for a possible project I am going to look to start next year, I am looking around for certain car/engine combos for me to base my project on and it would seem that the 1.8t engine would be ideal. Coupled with a 4WD setup for traction I was setting my sights on either the mk1 TT or the 8L A3 - considering the kerb weight on the 8L is much lower than the TT with the same running gear I am leaning towards the A3 instead. I noticed that the S3 has the BAM engine which would be ideal for the project, however due to stripping out the car for weight reduction I didn't really want to remove slightly rarer items so will be looking at a basic 1.8T A3 instead. The plan will be to max out what I can on the stock engine before looking to drop in an uprated engine - basically swapping out rods and pistons, I know that some OEM pistons are already forged and its just the rods that are the weak point. Using a 1/4 mile calculator and dropping in a few stock numbers it would seem that a stock 180bhp powered A3 would run a mid to high 14 second pass, a stage 1 tune (with the K03s @ 210bhp) would theoretically run a high 13 whereas a stage 1 tune plus weight reduction would possibly run a low 13. I need to check the different engine configurations but I know the BAM engine has a forged crank and pistons, need to check which engines in the A3 have the forged crank to ensure that the bottom engine is strong enough. I have heard that the stock rods bend at around 260bhp, however I don't know what the internals are like on the non BAM engines - will have to do more research. Owing to the kerb weight of the A3 being much lower than the TT I won't need to go for such big power to run faster drag times - I was initially trying to go for quite big power but it seems that I might be able to get away with much more modest power levels. The car will still be road legal etc, its not going to be trailered anywhere.

Thanks for that, it will be a long project so will be done over time, the frustrating thing is that my stock FC3S RX7 ran a 14.2 1/4 mile, I can't seem to find anything that really gets close. I guess the good news is that there are lots of 1.8t engines out there plus many parts, I was looking at the 2.0TFSi but not too sure due to all the issues with the oil consumption in stock form. Still working out which combination I want to go with - the good news is that the 8L A3 seems to have a kerb weight of 1,145kg meaning to run a 13 second 1/4 mile I would need 201 bhp (using a calculator). Shaving off weight will mean that I might be able to get into the 13s with just a stage 1 tune on even the lower powered K03 turbo.

Hi everyone, I have joined up to this forum to get some advice and to research into a fun track/drag project next year, I have had an RX7 previously and so far the best power to weight alternative is a 1.8t power A3 or TT as the 1.8t has lots of tuning options. The initial plan was to get a mk1 TT with a BAM engine and swap out the rods, however as I know the 1.8t and the quatro system came in the A3 and the A3 should also be slightly lighter I might go with an A3 as the project base. I do know that the S3 had the BAM engine fitted and would be the ideal choice, issue being is that they are becoming rarer and I don't want to get an S3 to simply strip the interior out. I can see that there are some mid range 1.8t powered A3s with around 180bhp, I will probably look to get one of those once I confirm which engine has a forged crank and then drop in rods and OEM forged pistons to get to the power goals I am after. Anyway, just thought I would say hi!