kuthair

My car: 00 1.8T qts, black w/ ecru/onyx interior. APR installed at 8k miles.

I got my APR chip and K&N filter yesterday. I took a half day off, went home and installed it. Installing the chip took no time at all. A little tip: for the fifth screw of the ECU housing (you know the one), I used a really small 8mm wrench. It took a couple of minutes to get that damn screw tight, but it was easy.

I didn't install the K&N air filter yet. Boy, they really don't want you tinkering with the stock filter. Every possible wire/hose/pipe is connected to the air filter housing. This is more than a 5-10 minute job (atleast for me). Decided to wait until the weekend. BTW, I found it easy to use a piece of string to get the 4th clip (behind the heat shield) back on. Hold both ends of the string with one hand and grab the clip with the U end of the string and pull.

After reconnecting the battery ground, auto-up/down on windows did not work. Held each window control up for a second to turn back on. BUT.. I did NOT have to enter my security code to get the radio to work. When I turned on the radio, it spit out a cd, and everything was fine. The presets were still there too. Could there be something wrong with my radio? Or is this a 2000 thing? MY2000, Symphony radio w/ Bose.

The test drive. WOW! I think I'm gonna need to get bigger brakes. It's like I let the cat out of the bag. The RPMs climb A LOT faster than before! The car just wants to go go go. There is a lot more pull than before. I new the gains were gonna be big, but wow, this was surprising. The turbo spools up ALL the time. I have to relearn how to drive this car.

Sometimes there is a bit of hesitation as it shifts. The car is more temperamental than stock. I think this is all due to the chip relearning my driving habits. I'll start to get worried after a week or two.

Next steps: exhaust! Exhaust is a must. I'm thinking about Borla. Any suggestions/opinions?

Mobil-1 goes in at next service.

Sorry to keep rambling on and on...

-Kuthair
00 1.8T qts APR

CP

As for the filter install: Leave all that stuff on the housing. Just pull the top of the box up to access the filter. It takes a few tries to get enough space to pull out the old and slide in the new (sounds like a dirty song lyric). And the window up/down will reset after a few starts.

Enjoy!<p>Cy...Pearl '97 1.8TQMS, APR, Neuspeed, H&R Sport, Neuspeed/Bilstein, ATE Powerdisc, Mintex, SuperBlue, Autometer, BFG VR4, K&N, Air Box Mod, Clears, PIAA, Alpine, Red Domes and Readings, Sport Grill, Aluminum Trim FAQ, Debadged...

Andy Hedin

....the dealer should have coded your headunit with the security code before you took delivery of the car. You can either have the dealer do this for you or follow the instructions that came along with the radio (at least my '97 Delta radio had instructions).<p>Andy Hedin
'97 A4 1.8Tqms, Garrett, Borla, Abt, H&R/Bilstein, E-Codes