Tuning the Audi SQ2

"Thank you for reading my Audi SQ2 tuning tips."

The S3 has donated much of it's tech and engine tweaks to the SQ2 and it works really well in the SQ2 package.

So this gives a sporty S3 ride and handling whilst offering a more practical ride height and interior cabin area. We are sure the SQ2 will be a big hit and we are already seeing people snapping them up and starting to ask us about modifying and tuning them.

The SQ2 is a great project car to have. The key to SQ2 tuning is doing it right you can waste loads of money if you do it wrong. There were 3 models offered in the UK at launch.

• SQ2 TFSI S tronic
• SQ2 Black Edition TFSI S tronic
• SQ2 Vorsprung TFSI S tronic

The engine is a 2.0 TFSi producing 295lbft of torque and 296bhp a willing engine, that responds well to tuning mods and upgrades.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Handling modifications are high on most peoples lists for the SQ2 but we have to concede that Audi have done a pretty good job at setting this up, it rides 20mm lower than it's Q2 brother.

The suspension does feel hard thanks to the stiffer springs, and whilst this makes for an engaging drive, it can diminish comfort on the daily commute. A set of coilovers can set a similar ride height but provide a more progressive spring.

Putting a little negative camber at the front wheels and around 1 to 1.7 degrees of toe in to improve stability or toe out for better cornering, will usually enhance your SQ2 in handling and cornering.

We suggest that you fit uprated suspension and lower the car by 14mm - 24 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with motorsport suspension.

A nice wide torque band and sweet spot of peak power at one third of your RPM range is optimum.

Smaller engines do not provide much of a return in terms of power so start with a bigger engine. Engine swaps are a good option if you have a small engine size.

Engine tuning mods.

Typically these motorsport kits are usually installed by our members, decide how far you wish to go in your tuning project before you start.

Getting the right sports modifications for your planned usage of the car is vital. Stage 3 motor sport parts just don't work well on the road hard to control in slow traffic.

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Modifying to Stage 1:

 Suspension upgrade (drop 14mm - 24 mm.), Panel air filter, Sports exhaust, Remap, Lighter flywheel, Alloy wheels.

Modifying to Stage 2:

 Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injector, fuel pump upgrades, Power/Sport clutch, Fast road cam.

Modifying to Stage 3:

 Competition cam, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Sports gearbox, Engine balancing.

Your aim when tuning should be a wide torque curve. You don't want all the torque to be at the top end of the rev range unless you are creating a competition car.

In this article we shall give a brief overview to the best modifications for your car, but we'd encourage you to spend some time on the site looking into the details of each type of performance modification.One of the best mechanical motorsport mods you can do on your NASP engine is to fit a fast road cam .

It improves the intake and exhaust durations and pushes up the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a reflashed ECU. We'd also caution you not to go with a motor sports profile cam as this upsets the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to uprate the fuelling.

Frequently power losses, flat spots and erratic idling after sports upgrades are done can usually be traced to fuelling or timing issues. Improved injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine.

If you are increasing your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Breathing mods are usually next up. Induction kits will only help to boost power if the air intake is restricted! Adding an induction kit to most small engines will see NO LOW END POWER GAIN AT ALL. If you have heavily modified your engine and it's need for air INCREASES DRAMATICALLY then an induction kit is the answer and will help remove this restriction.

Induction kits can work well on turbo engines and larger engines (if supplied with a suitable cold air feed or air box), generally though we'd just recommend for SQ2 engines you should just fit a sports panel air filter preferably made from cotton.

Sports exhausts can usually air flow from the engine but do not go too large or you may end up will reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches as a rule of thumb.

Airflow through the head can be dramatically increased with some professional gas flowing. These should match and be setup to take into account any other engine mods. When you tune up your SQ2 you will usally see that the standard clutch starts to slip so get an uprated clutch. The best mods in our opinion for your SQ2 are Remapping or piggy back ecu, fast road cam and air intake and exhaust.

A remapped turbo will give phenomenal power gains and take full advantage of the strength of the block.

We've also come across some owners experimenting with twincharging applications and making some very high power gains.

Adding forced induction will see significant power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective. It is often simpler to bolt on a supercharger than it is to install a second turbo. Turbos give boost in exponential proportion to rising engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.

The nice correlating boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them more straightforward to map. Alternatively you could install water injection to control knock.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

The benefits of alloy wheels include lowering your unsprung weight and more efficient brake cooling via the extra air flow they allow. Pay attention to your choice of tyres (tires) for your car, a good directional tread pattern tire can really enhance your cars handling. Large SQ2 alloys can decrease performance. If you get big alloys you will be changing your final drive ratio.

Due to this fact endeavour to keep the overall rolling diameter of the wheel the same as supplied from the factory. In all cases without going larger than 18 inches.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss SQ2 options in more detail with our SQ2 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Audi tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below.

We love to hear what our visitors have got up to and which mods work best for them on each model of car. Comments are used to improve the accuracy of these articles which are continually updated.

This article was written by Waynne Smith on TorqueCars, and I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Audi. You can leave a response below or join TorqueCars forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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