Tuning the Audi TTRS

"Tuning guide to the most effective Audi TTRS modifications."

The original TT showed that a fun performance can also be reliable and cheap to maintain.

In 2009 we saw the release of the mighty TTRS, where Audi put all of their experience into a compact sports car.

It took another year before Audi started shipping the car to the US, thanks in part to an online petition and much lobbying.

A new engine was devised and setup, using 5 cylinders and seriously over engineered became a hit with car tuners the world over.

We then saw an exciting new TTRS Plus version launch in 2012, further pushing the performance enveloped offering more power and with a higher limited top speed.

The TTRS is a awesome car tuning project to try. The key to TTRS tuning is getting your choice of modification right - a lot of money can be wasted if you do it wrong.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Handling modifications are a good place to start for the TTRS.

Fully adjustable suspension allows you to fine tune the handling of you TTRS dramatically benefitting your drive.

The magnetic ride is one of the best setups we've ever driven, but if you haven't opted for the mag ride there is still much you can do to improve handling.

We suggest that you fit sports suspension and lower the car by 27mm - 42 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with uprated suspension.

Don't just look at the peak power figures, you need to see the whole torque curve when determining if a mod is right for you TTRS.

Engine Tuning.

Typically these sports upgrades are usually carried out by our members, decide how far you want to push your car before you start.

We have a full and comprehensive guide to the 2.5 TFSi tuning mods we recommend for the TTRS, but this article will continue and give a brief overview of the best mods and upgrades for your car.

Getting the correct grade of uprated modifications for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 (competition) mods just won't work well on the road making the car difficult to drive.

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Modifying to Stage 1:

 Suspension upgrade (drop 27mm - 42 mm.), Sports exhaust, Alloy wheels, Panel air filter, Remap, Lighter flywheel.

Modifying to Stage 2:

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

Modifying to Stage 3:

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

You need to keep as much low end torque as you can and aim to achieve a wide power band rather than a narrow top end power hike.

In this article we shall give your a good starting base to the best performance parts for your car, but we'd encourage you to spend some time on the site looking into the details of each type of performance upgrade.One of the best mechanical sports mods you can do to your NASP engine is to fit a fast road camshaft .

It maximises 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 competition cam as this upsets the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

When pushing up the power you will need to pay attention to to the fuelling. More power needs more fuel.

If you find you have flat spots and power surges after your uprated parts you should check the fuelling and try a higher octane fuel as well. Higher capacity injectors will enable you to supply sufficient fuel to the engine.

If you've uprated your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Air induction kits only help to add power if the air intake is restricted! Adding an induction kit to most standard engines will see ZERO 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 TTRS engines you should go with a sports panel air filter preferably made from cotton.

Do not go with the biggest exhaust you can buy this will slow up the exhaust flow rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Airflow through the head can be dramatically increased with some professional head porting and polishing. These should match and be setup to take into account any other engine mods. A good triple plate fast road performance clutch will help to keep that power going where it should. Never cut corners or assume a standard clutch to cope. The best mods that we recommend for your TTRS are fast road camshaft, remap, induction and exhaust, suspension.

Turbo engines are just asking to be remapped. You will see phenomenal power gains on most modern turbo charged cars including diesels making a remap one of the most cost effective and phenomenal modifications for your money.

Alloy wheel upgrades.

The benefits of alloy wheels include lowering your unsprung weight and better brake cooling via the extra air flow they allow. If you are serious about performance then you will need to carefully choose your tires - ideally with a soft compound tire. Large TTRS alloys can decrease performance. If you get big alloys you will be changing your final drive ratio.

Due to this we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 18 inches, although we know some of our members have fitted larger wheels with no problems. The 19's look good and perform ok but we found both the 19's and 20's to be a little crashy and hampered the cars everyday great driving appeal.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss TTRS options in more detail with our TTRS 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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