This is an enthusiast's guide for those who enjoy their 8L A3. Some aspects of the guide may apply to Volkswagen's Mk4 Golf and Bora as well as Audi's Mk1 TT.

My name is Raymond and I frequent a number of forums both local to Australia and global as rayray086. I've created this blog for me, as I'm a bit OCD in keeping all the info I need in one package. As of July 2011, my A3T is my daily driver and it is stock standard. I came out of an 8V Mk3 so there's plenty of power for me from the stock 1.8T. I'm mainly interested in the suspension and aesthetics side of things currently. I'm a part-time student currently and have no mechanical qualifications, just a passion in all things automobile.

I'll eventually use this as an outlet to document my build, so I'll be using the appropriate tags/labels to make them easy to find.

As I add info/articles/blogposts on, I hope you guys who make their way to my blog will find the information helpful! Don't be afraid to comment away either - I like getting feedback and knowing that people are reading this.

19 August, 2011

003 - 160,000km oil change

Now that I'm owning an Audi turbo, I want to take the utmost care when it comes to the maintenance and servicing side of things.  My plan at the moment is to send it in to a reputed VW specialist every 10,000km or year (whichever comes first) and do my own oil and oil filter changes every 5,000km or half-year.  It may be a bit excessive seeing as I'm looking into buying a decent, VW approved oil and also a larger oil filter, but I'll see how it goes.  If all's well, I may extend the services to every 15,000km and an oil change every 7,500km.

So my 160,000km oil change is coming up.  I've been looking at what engine oil to use and even oil filters too.  I've spent a ridiculous amount of time (for something as "trivial" as engine oil) researching what's out there and ultimately what decision to make.

The proliferation of VWs and Audis in Australia for the last 10 years really have contributed to the type of oils being stocked by my local auto stores.  I found close to 10 different oils with the VW 502.00 standard approval, and they range from $37.99 for Shell Helix HX7 to Mobil 1 for $95.  As of 19th August, I haven't bought anything yet but I'm very keen on trying out Motul 8100 X-Cess (or X-Lite if they have it - it's ester-based as opposed to PAO-based for the X-Cess) and the cheapest I found was at Repco for $75.  I've read and heard nothing but good things about it.



As for oil filters, I've placed an order for 10 x Mann 950/4 oil filters (one of the big kahunas) from Western Filters in Blacktown (emailed Dave and he's been great handling my questions).  They're retailing at $16 + GST so they're not cheap, but I don't know anywhere else that sells Mann filters besides possibly the VW dealer (I'm quite sure they won't have the 950/4 but the will have the 068 equivalent instead).

I've also placed an order through GAP for a magnetic drain plug as well:



I had one for my Mk3 2.0L 8V previously and it worked great - I did a camshaft and lifter upgrade and the magnet caught some very fine filings on the subsequent oil change.

Another thing I was considering was one of those oil filter magnet wraps.  They are basically a band of strong magnets that you attach to the curved surface of your oil filter.  Like the magnetic drain plug, it catches any fine metal filings that the oil filter cannot trap, providing an extra level of protection for your engine.  At $61 for the FilterMag product, it may be a good investment as it can be reused over and over. 

Oh, and I bought wheels :P








They are Work wheels (not sure what model), 17x9 ET38, 17x10 ET45.  No buckles as far as the seller is concerned, but finish is a bit shoddy.  All good though, scored for less than $400 :D
Posted by rayray086 at 3:39 PM
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