Tuning the Audi TTS

"Thanks for reading this Audi TTS tuning guide."

The TTS was released in 2008 and was the first S model in the TT lineup. The 2.0 TFSi engine had a new head, better injectors and revised cylinder head to offer an impressive 268bhp.

It was also 1cm lower and had the awesome magnetic ride setup. It was great fun to drive and won many supporters, and inspired a later higher performance version the TTRS in 2012.

The TTS is a awesome car modification project to play with. Sit down first and research TTS tuning to spare yourself making the usual tuning slip ups we often hear about.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Improving the handling for many tuners first priority in your TTS tuning project. The mag ride setup is actually quite well done and hard to beat.

We found that most TTS factory suspension setups need tweaking, a few degrees of toe out for cornering or toe in for stability, , and slight negative camber will dramatically benefit your cornering and handling.

We suggest that you fit modified suspension and lower the car by 19mm - 25 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with motorsport suspension.

Our aim in engine tuning should be to increase peak bhp at the top end.

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.

Power mods.

These are the uprated upgrades are usually installed by our members, decide how far you want to push your car before you begin. You'll gain around 59bhp with a remap alone on the EA888,

Getting the correct grade of motorsport mods for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 motor sport parts just don't work well on the road making the car difficult to drive.

• 2.0 TFSi inline-4 16v DOHC (EA113: CDL) 268bhp @6000rpm, 258lbft @2500-5000rpm

From 2012

• 2.0 TFSi inline-4 16v DOHC (EA888: CJXG) 306bhp @6000rpm, 280lbft @2500-5000rpm

We have seen the following kits used to good effect to go beyond the K04 but getting the power delivery where you want it is important when choosing a turbo upgrade.

• TTE420, TTE480, Borg warner EFR7164

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Modifying to Stage 1:

 Suspension upgrade (drop 19mm - 25 mm.), Remap, Sports exhaust, Panel air filter, Alloy wheels, Lighter flywheel.

Modifying to Stage 2:

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

Modifying to Stage 3:

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

You really need to keep as much low end torque as you can and aim for a long power band across the rev range rather than a narrow top end power spike.

Fast road cams tend to boost the power throughout the rev range on the 2.0TFSI engines but you may sacrifice a little low end bhp although the high end rpm power will be lifted.

In this article we shall give your a good starting base to the best upgrades 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.Fast road cams offer one of the biggest power gains for your money as far as a bolt on performance upgrades goes on a NASP engine.

The intake and exhaust flow play a large part in your cars power band, but be careful here, getting this wrong can upset the idle and make the car hard to drive in traffic. You'd need to follow a camshaft upgrade with other mods and finish with a performance chip to fully realise your gains.

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

If you find you have flat spots and power surges after your modified modifications you should check the fuelling and try a higher octane fuel as well. To get sufficient fuel you may need to uprate the injectors on your engine. Stock TTS injectors on the EA888 are reportedly good for 500hp and there are upgrades options around.

Any change to the injectors on a TFSi will require a new map to take them into account.

A fuel pump will only deliver a finite amount of fuel, so you may need to uprate this if your injectors are demanding more fuel.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Induction kits only help to boost power if your air intake is struggling! Adding an induction kit to most small 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 TTS engines you should settle for a high performance panel air filter preferably made from cotton.

Sports exhausts can help increase the flow of air through the engine. But if your exhaust pipe is too big, ie: it's over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a great deal of the flow rate and end up losing power and torque.

Head work including a gas flow (ported and polished) and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the engine. Your clutch can fail if it starts to suffer and the standard clutches are only ever good for power gains of up to 46%. Fit a performance clutch to avoid power leak through the transmission. The best mods we would do for your TTS are fast road camshaft, remap, induction and exhaust, suspension.

With turbocharged engines this is another story. A remapped turbo will give large power gains and fully release the potential power of the engine. The most phenomenal power gains for NASP engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. Turbos are generally harder to add than a supercharger. It is harder to map a turbo as the boost comes on exponentially with revs.

The nice proportional boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them easier to map. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the engines compression ratio .

Alloy wheel upgrades.

The benefits of alloy wheels include a lower unsprung weight and more efficient 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 track legal slick tire. It is worth noting that although they can look cool on the TTS large alloys will actually decrease your performance. The larger you go the lower your acceleration will be - this to the change in your effective final drive ratio.

Because of this we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 19 inches, although we know some of our members have installed larger rims with no problems.

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