[Fivepotfan]

Well after finally taking the plunge to buy the FL model and saying goodbye to my PFL car, I thought I would put together some comments based purely on my own perspective of old versus new.

My new FL car has covered almost 1,000 miles now.

So, let’s start with the ‘elephant in the room’ and get that out of the way. I’m talking about the exhaust noise comparisons. There is a lot of talk of the pops and bangs missing from the FL car and the exhaust not being as sonorous. Well it’s true but not quite as bad as you may think.

My PFL car had the sports exhaust and would make the customary pops and bangs. If I am being honest, I really missed this on the new car at first, and although the FL car does not have such pronounced and easy to induce popping and banging, it definitely still makes a good sound. It’s better with high octane fuel (99ron) and is improving as the carbon starts to build up in the exhaust. The strangest thing is when you are inside the car it does not sound that loud, however, people on the outside have said it sounds great as I drive away. I have now removed the backbox valve connectors and fitted a set of the blanking plugs, this has made a much louder sound at lower rpm but cold start is a bit anti-social.

 

Engine performance:                                                                                                            

Now that I have put a few miles on the new car I have to say that it feels quicker than the PFL car. It’s more noticeable when using higher revs as the FL engine just seems to keep pulling hard right up to the red line, most likely down to the larger turbo. To me, it feels almost as if it has had a mild stage 1 tune in comparison to a stock PFL car.

 

Gearbox:                                                                                                                                                            

Audi appear to have made some improvements to how the DSG shifts, it seems slightly quicker to swap cogs and using the manual paddles is really enjoyable, especially coming back down through the gears. Maybe it’s just the slicker changes but I also think some of the gear ratios may have been revised?

 

Brakes:                                                                                                                                                                  

The old PFL wavy discs have been replaced with some chunky looking drilled round discs on the new car. So far, they have been squeal free and feel better than the poor experience I had with PFL brakes/pads when they got too hot. Time will tell if the round ones are an improvement, but I will most likely be upgrading these as part of a tuning package anyway.

 

Handling:                                                                                                                                                              

The PFL car could be provoked into some understeer when pushing hard, the OEM Pirelli’s seemed to get a bit ‘marshmallow’ when they got beyond a certain temperature range and would spoil a spirited B road drive on a warm day. The same Pirelli’s are fitted to the FL car but the good news is that the weight reduction and changes to the drivetrain/suspension settings has transformed the new car with decent turn in and a distinct lack of understeer. Its no Honda Type R (amazing chassis on these things) but is a great improvement over the PFL car. The car feels much more nimble through the bendy bits now.

 

Tech upgrades:                                                                                                                                                        

The virtual cockpit is good to use and also has a few other party tricks and settings for you to play about with. I really like the central sports rev counter/speed/gear indictor and the various other settings that can be tailored to suit your personal preference. I especially like the addition of a coolant temperature gauge with the oil temperature display above it. You can now also opt for the tyre pressure and temperatures to be displayed as part of the many other VC options. Only gripe is that the font size is just a bit small on some of the VC gauges and an old fart like me struggles to see the smaller numbers. Other nice tech is Apple car play and voice control/recognition seem to work really well in the new car. Some of the switchgear (indicator stalks for example) do not feel as sturdy as the parts used in the PFL model.

 

Finally, the strange rattle or ticking noise when starting the car from cold. Yes there is a strange noise from cold start which goes away after about 20 secs or so, but overall it doesn’t really bother me now and seems to be getting less noticeable as the miles pile on. Overall, Audi have put together some good improvements in the FL car and so far I am really pleased with it.

 

I will shortly be starting to add some upgraded parts, tuning packages, dyno sessions and doing some drag strip events to see how this new car performs. 

Edited by Fivepotfan, 19 May 2018 - 08:27 PM.

[terminator x]

So which one do you prefer?

TX.

Sent from my BBB100-2 using Tapatalk

[Fivepotfan]

So which one do you prefer?

TX.

Sent from my BBB100-2 using Tapatalk

I'll take the FL car thanks. As an all round package it is a step up over the previous model, if it wasn't for owning or being familiar with the decatted sound of a PFL car, then anyone would be more than happy with it.

[Ozmosis]

Nice balanced write-up Fivepotfan.

Can't believe they actually made improvements on the FL, eh TX?! How very dare they...

It does sound like the VC is a good piece of kit, maybe one day I'll think about a retro-fit...

Edit: Ooh and MRC stage 2 goodness!!

Edited by Ozmosis, 20 May 2018 - 06:27 AM.

[RS777]

Hi Fivepotfan, can you please tell me where you got your blanking plugs from and how they work? I assume they provide a loop to stop faults and if correct wondered if this can be picked up by Audi or not? I like the rack plugs are easy to revert back and I’m happy to be valves fully open all the time.

[Fivepotfan]

Hi Fivepotfan, can you please tell me where you got your blanking plugs from and how they work? I assume they provide a loop to stop faults and if correct wondered if this can be picked up by Audi or not? I like the rack plugs are easy to revert back and I’m happy to be valves fully open all the time.

I bought the blanking plugs from VW Parts International. You will need the blanking plug and terminator delete plug, not cheap for what it is but they are very good quality and very easy to fit. Link below. The FL car has a four pin connector so make sure you order the right parts.

https://vwpartsinter...&post_type=page

 

You could save some money and just disconnect the cables and tape the ends over, but I didn't want to chance exposing the connections and find I couldn't connect them back up again. You will need to cable tie the blanked ends up to the tethered parts of the main wiring (just above the exhaust) or they will flap about.

Be aware that if you disconnect the valves you will not be able to change the sound of the exhaust using the ADS. The only difference is between D and S drive modes where the exhaust makes a really nice burble in 'S' up to the point where it would normally open at around 4k rpm and you get the usual noise. Cold start is LOUD and there is a small drone that you notice at first at around 2.5k rpm but after a couple of days I didn't seem to notice it anymore.

This mod is no substitute for the sound made by a PFL car with Milltek secondary decat (mine are for sale if anyone wants them) but it does add an extra bit of noise if that's what floats your boat. 

[terminator x]

Nice balanced write-up Fivepotfan.

Can't believe they actually made improvements on the FL, eh TX?! How very dare they...

It does sound like the VC is a good piece of kit, maybe one day I'll think about a retro-fit...

Edit: Ooh and MRC stage 2 goodness!!

Bloody disgrace Oz

TX.

Sent from my BBB100-2 using Tapatalk

[T-800]

Hi Fivepotfan, can you please tell me where you got your blanking plugs from and how they work? I assume they provide a loop to stop faults and if correct wondered if this can be picked up by Audi or not? I like the rack plugs are easy to revert back and I’m happy to be valves fully open all the time.

As Brian said.

Just make sure you get the 18 MY ones.

Mine came a few week back.

As Brian said you need a set of valve blanking plugs @ £26 and a set of terminator delete plugs @ £36

Edited by T-800, 20 May 2018 - 11:27 AM.

[Roy]

Where is you write up Sean now you have had yours a bit longer ?

[T-800]

Where is you write up Sean now you have had yours a bit longer ?

[T-800]

Where is you write up Sean now you have had yours a bit longer ?

I echo Brian’s points......

The FL RS3 is an improved car for sure...

The handling is improved a lot I feel and much of this is from it’s weight reduction from the engine / gearbox diet it’s had....
However I also feel the haldex has had some tweaks / improvements to its reaction time, you can really feel the car ‘biting’ down as you push on through the twisty bits, possibly having the quattro setting now available on the MMI settings is much akin to the AWD ‘increased traction’ VCDS tweak, which I found quite noticeable on the G7.5R I had.

The new engine is a peach if you ask me, so flexible throughout the entire Rev range, the way the Rev counter flies around the dial when you need that sudden burst of acceleration is frightening, it just revs so freely which in a way reminds me of the Type R’s I used to own.
You’ve only gotta view the Carwow drag race on YT to see how fast this car is vs most performance hatch’s.

The DSG box seems to have been modified in the fact it’s far more quicker to react (than my PFL was anyway) in fact it’s that quick it’ll drop multiple gears if you hold onto the paddle too long, which is entertaining to hear the noise the car makes whilst doing this.......

What I’ve noticed now is there’s no manual mode to D/S mode over ride from the paddle now, which seems an odd move by Audi...


Brakes ere we go...

Round discs are not handed anymore inside the vanes, what they are is substantially thicker on both faces with the middle ‘cooling’ section being thinner....

What I have noticed is the OEM pads after a few hard stops seem to loose their ‘bite’ and I have some low speed squealing, weirdly it happens on hotter days, whereas on my PFL I started to get it on damp/wet days...of course I’ll be fitting the Ferodo DS Pads imminently as they offer far better bite and get better the more they are used.....
The squeal disappears with wheel cleaning / Jet washing as yesterday I had it and after cleaning the car this morning I now don’t have it.

Interior is great as standard with Audi....
VC is a welcome addition and for me that central dial has everything I need and looks the nuts, especially in its ‘Traffic’ light / change the F**king gear panic mode

Steering wheel with the dinky airbag looks and feels great, if Audi carry on reducing the airbag soon there won’t be room for the four rings but the wheel looks all the better for it, the Alcantara is a downside for me, no place on a steering wheel, especially where big sweaty palms are concerned
I’ve been toying with a wheel from another RS model which is all leather and solves the issue as it’s a straight swap........

Pano Roof has been known to cause people issues with noise etc, however I’ve found it to be great and very useful for 1) burning ones bonce 2) being able to get the full Dolby effect of the sports exhaust, particularly when about to enter a tunnel/ under a bridge, so addictive if you ask me.....the noise is fantastic..

The revised MMI structure is a little convoluted in my opinion, too many menus / sub menus and as good as having Apple car play is, I kinda get the feeling that it’s been put on there as an after thought simply cause ‘all the other Manufactures’ are rolling it out, I’ve noticed a bug that if you have the Radio on then connect your phone via usb, Car Play becomes the dominant ‘input’ so to speak and won’t allow you to switch back to the Radio.......

Reversing camera has an issue in that the sensor overlay effectively makes the camera image too squished, why Audi haven’t followed VW’s lead where the 2 work in harmony I’ll never know.......

Same with the steering * button, tends to go missing on some start ups why ? I’ve no idea...

Styling wise I like the revised front end and it’s grill, the quattro lettering looks better where it is and the grill isn’t as cluttered for it, I do wonder though if over time the lettering would be susceptible to stone chips and would need touching in maybe.

The rear looks as great as ever, however I’ve noticed a new trend with Audi of starting to ‘frame’ things with black plastic, ie the stepped ridges on the outside of both diffuser edges where it meets the coloured bumper section, look at the new RS4/5 and you’ll see they’ve started to do it on the front and rear light clusters, honeycomb black inserts that do ‘nothing’ but to me look like they got the light cluster dimensions wrong, then thought s**t we better fill those gaps


Oh and noise,

I’ve noticed it has a right old gurgle /warble type noise when you drive off on a cold start, accompanied by burbling / popping every time it changes down.

Once warmed up the noise it makes changing up/down from 2-3 3-2 in the 2-3500rpm range is quite frankly addictive and although not my priority (why judge a car on how much it pops?) the FL does make the noise if you catch the downshifts right in Individual / Dynamic Modes.

Tyres I’ve had no issues with at all....and believe you me the roads around where I live are full of caverns but the Pirelli’s have taken it all in their stride.

[RS777]

Great right ups guys and thanks for the exhaust valve advice, units on order. 😁👍🏻

Edited by StuW13, 20 May 2018 - 10:24 PM.