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Road Trip in Upper New York, Vermont and New Hampshire

Posted on October 5, 2014 by andre-martin hobbs

Ok, I admit it… I’ve been lazy in the couple past months… My last post dates from April! Truth being said, the TT stayed in the garage most of all summer. I did not have much time to do work on it neither to take it out & ride it. But hey, better late than never!

Living in Montreal, Canada, gives me the opportunity to do road trips in Quebec, Ontario and the US. This time, I chose northern US states for a 3 day road trip. With about 4 hours of driving per day on very nice roads, it seemed like the best choice possible. Also, this period of September is best to admire the great bright colors of tree leaves changing color. Perfect match for the TT’s new blood-orange paint! Could it be any better?

I selected a few pics that I think could be of interest for you guys. I’d be interested to get your own road trip pics! Send them over!

At the lodge

Are these roads nice of what?

Barn finds #bringatrailer!

Lizzy vs TT lol (video here)

Ferry from New York State to Vermont

Can you belileve this? 33L/Km on track 3.7L/Km @ 152 Km/h on Highway 🙂

This is the only time we’re that close guys…

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Audi TT, Road Trip | 5 Comments

Audi TT MK3 – it’s all about the digital era

Posted on April 9, 2014 by andre-martin hobbs

As you will all agree, the first TT was nothing short of a stroke of genius. It broke with a number of stylistic conventions, including the assumed wedge shape, it displayed incredible focus on detail, and it brought interior design to an entirely new level. And now Audi’s icon enters its third generation. aka MK3.

New design is clearly evolution rather than revolution

This time around, the TT’s design is packed with more angles than ever, the grille now features a hexagonal shape, and the details again beg to be lingered over. The fuel cap is silver, as it was on the MK1; the head- and taillight signatures are angular and modern; and the rear lights are connected by a third brake light that spans the width of the rear end. The rear spoiler is hidden until the TT reaches 75 mph. The standard TT features two exhaust outlets, while the more powerful TTS is fitted with quad finishers.

At 164.6 inches long, 72.1 inches wide, and just 53.3 inches tall, the TT will still be viewed as a compact, low sports car; but its wheelbase has been elongated to 98.6 inches. The MK3 is a lightweight among sports cars, tipping the scales at a mere 2712 pounds. That’s roughly 100 pounds fewer than its PQ35-based predecessor—and that car was already 200 pounds lighter than the MK1, which used the Volkswagen Golf MkIV’s PQ34 platform. (but that, you already knew)

The MK3 will be offered with a 230-hp, 2.0-liter turbo four that produces 273 lb-ft of torque. According to Audi, front-drive TTs equipped with a stick can run from standstill to 62 mph in six seconds flat, while Quattro versions fitted with the six-speed dual-clutch automatic (DSG) can do the deed in 5.3 seconds. The TTS will be propelled by the same turbo four, although it’s been tuned to make 310 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque delivering a 0-to-62-mph time of 4.7 seconds (with the S-tronic transmission). All versions will TT top out at 155 mph.

Audi TT MK3 – it’s all about the digital era

So far, so good. However, by far the coolest feature is the next-generation of Audi’s Multi-Media Interface, or MMI. The centre-console MMI knob takes care of sounds, phone, navigation and connections to the outside world.

Gone is the Mk2 stand-alone screen in favour of a hi-def 1440-pixel screen beyond the steering wheel. It not only looks after all of the instrumentation, warning lights, trip computer and so on, it also incorporates all of the infotainment information as well. As it stands, there are two main looks, which are accessed through the view button on the steering wheel. In the normal mode (Classic in Audi speak), the usual instrumentation, with red pointers and white numbers, is given the place of prominence with the other information/menus sitting in a smaller area in the centre of the screen. It also displays the view from the back-up camera. Switching to the Infotainment mode sees the map or other menus consume most of the screen, while the speedometer and tachometer are reduced in size and sit in the lower outer corners. The TTS features a third view called Sport mode — here the display is dominated by a large tachometer. (see image)

MK3 TT

TTS at the Geneva Auto Show (March 2014)

MK3 TTS

Posted in Audi TT MK3 | Tagged Audi TT MK3 | 2 Comments

Chrome Wrapped Audi TT – imotion

Posted on April 7, 2014 by andre-martin hobbs

Hey followers!

Here are a few pics of an interesting TT as displayed at the last Wekfest in Texas, baptised iMotion. I hadn’t seen any chrome wrapped TTs yet, so this is my first look at one. Not my taste at all, but kudos to Dung Le for trying something different. Stop now, I heard you thinking! Dung Le… = Rice box? Stop that. 🙂

Reiger body kit, Air suspension, aftermarket audio, 20 inch wheels, new front & rear R8 type lights…. He’s put some cash on his TT and regardless of taste, he took a stand and was committed to his project. For that, he deserves to be respected.

Here’s a post Dung “Eric” Le posted a while back on some Audi Forum.

On a personal note: It’s awkward to read how he’s defending himself for trying something different. I feel sad when I first saw his post. Here’s a guy who went all in and is now used to get judged by other TT enthusiasts! True, if you post a pic of your modified TT on UK’s ttforum, you’ll get blasted rapidly. But who’s right and who’s wrong? In my opinion, the only wrong here is the judgment people put on others.

I know my car isn’t everyone taste but i just wanted to share. I didn’t just slap on random parts, i really put a lot of thought into it and have a reason for everything i did.
The reason my car is this way is because i got into the Import car scene 15 years ago and the style was very different back then. I guess some of it still stuck with me. I kept my other cars clean and tried to stay as clean as i could with the Audi while still grab a lot of attention.
I love the silver on the Audi but i needed a color with more pop. I really couldn’t decide so i just went with chrome wrap. It still kept the same feel of the car and i always wanted a chrome car since i chromed all of my RC cars. I didn’t want to be just another bling chrome car so i tried to break it up the best i could with some blacks and reds.
I used to have 18s and 19s on my car with a lip but they always looked small on the TT for some reason. i love how concept cars look and noticed that non of them had lips on the wheels. It was always flush or concave so that’s what i did.
My wheels don’t match because i run my cars 2face. You can’t see both sides at the same time so why not? I kept one side more sport luxury and the other side more tuner look. I did the red pin strip on the wheels to give it a little pop and put my car club logo on the side to tie it all in together.
When Reiger came out with the new body kit i love the sides and rear but wanted to show the FMIC. That’s why i went with the original Reiger lip. It was a little higher then the side skirts so i added the Cupra lip. I figured since the Reiger lip looked like a stretched out version of the OEM bumper, adding a lip wouldn’t hurt. It leveled out the lines on the bottom of the car very nicely.
I smoked my taillights because my first car had a lot of amber lights on it and i hated that. It just stuck with me so all of my cars have either smoked or clear lights.
I smoked my headlights because i love how the TT head and tail lights has the same shape from the side profile. I just smoked both to make it look the same.
Some of the R8 style lights looks really ricer but i picked out some decent ones and smoked them out to hide the rice. When the lights turn on it has a nice look to it.
Black roof is just clean imo and make the car look lower from the side. Since the TT has a small back window i painted the top half of the hatch to make the black roof flow into the hatch.
Since my other car’s audio system is more SQ i wanted to go loud on the Audi. i just didn’t realize that it needed so much airspace so i deleted my back seats for the air suspension components. I used to always hide those parts but on the Audi i wanted to show it off so i chromed it all out and spent months on the hardlines. Its not the best but its my own work of art. I wanted it to be clean so i ran the electrical wires inside the air lines too.

I’m pretty sure not many people read this. I just wanted to explain myself before being labeled as rice LOL.

Now, most importantly, here are pics and vids. Enjoy!

Andre

Pics

Vids

I Love the way Dung Le filmed this first video. Well done!

Posted in Audi TT MK1 | Tagged Paint, wrap | 2 Comments

Steering Wheel Swap on my Audi TT / Flat Bottom Mk2 fitted on a Mk1

Posted on February 20, 2014 by andre-martin hobbs

Not too long ago, I decided I had enough with the original steering wheel… So I checked my options and my first question was: What can I fit? An OEM Audi steering from another model? Mono? (The name came back from my young tuning days…) Any other manufacturers out there? One thing was for sure, I wanted an air bag & safety on my side.

After a lot of searching on many TT forums, I found out that it is possible to replace the OEM by many other wheels, but it comes at a price and needs technical skills. Not too hard, but definitively not a plug and play. That’s why I don’t see many out there I thought.

But hey, my mind was set and I had decided to change it. So I looked at what others had installed and none fit my taste aside from Nexon models. So I wrote to Izzy (Nexon Motors @ Facebook) and he confirmed he already had one customer installing a custom wheel in his TT. What? Who? Do you have a name I asked him? “Steve / V6RUL” answered! Really? Anyone who follows ttforum.uk has read one of Steve’s posts. So I wrote to Steve who sent me a few pics and confirmed Nexon was worthy of my trust.

A few days later, I confirmed to Izzy I had found the model that I wanted and gave him a 25% deposit. And then I waited, waited and… waited. I wrote to Izzy a couple of times and was told the wheel was being made. A few days later, he sent me pics and two weeks later… ding-doongg! The bell rung and Brown was here with a delivery from half way around the globe.

Installation

The next step was installation… Not sure exactly how I would do this, I searched the web and found a way, some pics here and there but no real tutorial. “Let’s make one” I thought. So this is it! I am using pics from several websites + my own. Oh and BTW, no the radio buttons won’t work. I’ve had this question many times. There is a way and I will explore it later. (The OEM MK1 radio is very simple and does not require CANBUS, unlike the MK2)

– Step 1 –

Remove the + connector from the car battery. Take off the old steering wheel.

Cut the yellow plug off the MK1 airbag loom

As you look at the yellow MK1 plug, the colours are as follows

1 – Black (green paint dot) – Airbag
2 – Black – Airbag
3 – Brown – Horn Switch
4 – Black – Horn/ chassis GND

Next cut the plug off the MK2 loom and separate the unused part of the loom for the black plug.

This is the bit you don’t need and want to remove

Next you need to connect the horn wiring to the MK1 plug

Brown from the MK2 Loom to the single black on the MK1 plug for the GND – Pin 4 on the yellow MK1 plug

Yellow from the MK2 Loom to the brown on the MK1 Plug for Horn switch – Pin 3 on the yellow MK1 plug

This is the change from picture below as you only want to connect one of the airbag plugs

Green on the MK2 Loom to the black on the MK1 plug (next to the brown) Pin 2 on the yellow MK1 plug

Black on the MK2 Loom to the black on the MK1 plug (closest the edge & has green paint in the pic) Pin 1 on the yellow MK1 plug

Individually insulate both the blue and white as you don’t want to accidentally trigger that stage!!!!

I wound the protective cloth back onto the loom to keep everything tidy. Also, make sure you dress the loom back into the retainers on the back of the airbag as if its not tidy, it will foul as you try to mount the bag in the wheel.

Wired like this, the orange airbag plug will NEVER fire but the green airbag plug will.

– Step 2 –

DSG Paddles. Made a loom adapter today and removed the canbus logic for the DSG paddles.

Thats just the DSG paddles. In the MKi wheel there are 3 wires.

+gear up switch line
-gear down switch line
Common

In the MK2 wheel, there is canbus logic on the board under the right coverplate as the MK2 TT uses a single wire canbus connection to the DSG. On the MK1 the logic is external to the wheel and so uses the discrete button presses. I’ve just removed the canbus PCB and connected the wiring to work like the original switches. Of the 3 pin connections to the paddles. the middle pin is the common. then I just used a meter to work out which was the correct one for the switchline.

– Step 3 –

The horn is just another switch that is part of the original wheel loom, I just extended the wire as required.

After install Pics

Posted in My Audi TT RS Project | Tagged Nexon Motors, Steering Wheel | 43 Comments

It’s back!

Posted on February 1, 2014 by andre-martin hobbs

Well, the Montreal Auto Show is now over. So the TT was sent home, so she can rest in the garage for a few months still. I took a few shots of the car while parked on the snowed out streets. The Blood Orange / White colors contrast strongly. Just 4 fun, here are the pics.

Andre

Posted in My Audi TT RS Project | 9 Comments

2014 Montreal Auto Show

Posted on January 21, 2014 by andre-martin hobbs

Hello peeps!

I’m particularly in a good mood these days. Although my TT project is not completely finished, (will it ever be?) I was offered a very nice opportunity… To display the TT in the Performance Zone at the 2014 Montreal International Auto Show!

Not too shabby for a premiere… Especially that I didn’t put more than 50km on it since the new body kit and paint job! So for its first official time out, the TT will be on the 5^th floor, alongside other show cars. 🙂

Thought I’d take a few pics and post’em for you guys. Cheers!

Andre

montreal-auto-show-2014-buick-performance-zone

Posted in Audi TT MK1 | Tagged Audi TT, auto show, Tuning Shows | Leave a comment

Photoshoot / Audi TT MK1 Posters – Part 2

Posted on December 20, 2013 by andre-martin hobbs

Part 2! After about 2 hours into the photoshoot, we were done with the pile-o-metal-scrap-parts. So we knew we were moving on to another spot, but where? We decided to take a wander through the pit and wait for the spot to come to us. A few minutes later, we found a stadium like building, well a small half-building that is, but very interesting for our next round of pictures.

My friends idea was to let the car shine, very bright in the photo, but black out the sides. We were in broad daylight, so this was easily feasible. I know I wanted a straight front shot and a front 3/4 too. So we started by the front and took a few shots. Looking at them on the camera made me think we should start the car and have the LED DRLs light-up with their angel eyes. What a difference! If you look carefully, you’ll see that my yellow high beams produce a slight yellow reflection in the headlamp … cool!

For the 3/4 shot, we decided to open-up the doors in their Lambo style. BTW, the Lambo Vertical Doors Kit (50010002) by LSD-Doors allows you to open the doors regularly or Lambo style. I think it does well for that pic.

Awesome pics, great half day with a friend and 3 incredible shots. Poster worthy IMO. Enjoy and feel free to use them!

Andre

Posted in Audi TT MK1 | 4 Comments

Photoshoot / Audi TT MK1 Posters – Part 1

Posted on December 10, 2013 by andre-martin hobbs

A few week-ends ago, a friend and I had in mind to take pictures of my new paint + wide body combination. Off we went!

We had 2-3 places in mind and since the first spot turned out very busy, we turned around in direction of the second one. As I was driving the TT, my friend and I had a discussion about how it would be nice to shoot the TT in a quarry / mine or a place of that nature. I knew of a similar place a just a minute away and we were driving towards it! So that was it, the local excavation pit was our next stop.

As we turned in, there was this huge pile of scrap metal on my left… It’s the only thing I was seeing, we had to stop. So I parked the car about 20 feet away and started walking towards it. Right away, lots of images came to my mind. At first, it made me think of two movies: Christine and Transformers. As I was getting close, I was struck by the contrast of old scrap metal parts, some made of the same metal that the TT is made of. Kind of a before and after thing, where the TT, in many years from now will also become scrap metal… Beauty and the beast. Anyway, you get my draft. When I was finally just next to it, I realised that the ground was filled with screws, nails, sharp metal parts… Ready to punch holes in my brand new tires! So we very slowly brought the TT to the base of the metal pile, making sure we were taking “most” of the sharp parts in its path.

Here’s the final result. I believe it’s simply incredible and if you look at it in an artistic way, you’ll see more than just a nice wide body TT. The photo was not modified with any software, this is it. We only used good flashes.

Thoughts? Drop me a line below…

Andre

Posted in Audi TT MK1 | 6 Comments

Custom Loma Wheels – Installed!

Posted on December 6, 2013 by andre-martin hobbs

Dear followers,

The Loma custom wheels have been shipped and installed! The project is now complete as far as the exterior goes! Yahooo!

Here are the first pics, taken at the tuning shop after the wheel install!

Enjoy!

Andre

Posted in Audi TT MK1, Black/Orange Look, Paint | Tagged wheel, Wide Body Kit | 10 Comments

Windshield Tint

Posted on December 5, 2013 by andre-martin hobbs

Windshield Tint? Yeah, you read right!

I went for a windshield tint a few days ago. I have seen many cars with tinted windshields, many in southern US States and always loved it. I also noticed that all TV commercials show us cars with tinted windshields and IMO it makes them look better.

My wish was to have it tinted for look purposes and not glare reduction/UV protection/heat repellency. I live in Canada folks, heat is always welcome. J Anyhow, I was left with two main questions:

1) is it legal?

2) will I see something through the windshield?

Depending on where you live, it may be possible to tint your front glass and still be legal. For instance, many new car manufacturers already tint the windshield, usually over 90%+ light allowance. The question is are you allowed less? You should check your local Department of Transportation regulations. I’m doomed, as the Quebec DMV does not allow any tint aside from factory. Then again, that is if you get caught… And I’m willing to take the risk! All in for the look.

Next step was to find someone that would answer positively to my question on the phone, as they all know it’s illegal. But I finally came across one guy a few minutes away from my house that said “yeah, sure bring it in on Saturday”. Oh yeah! So there I was, anxious to see the final result.

I had searched throughout the web to decide on the tint ratio. Some have 90% (why would you… anyways) down to 5% all black tints. The majority of all the tips I read had an average tint ratio between 50% and 35%. Since I have a black interior and 20% sides and back glass, I stopped my choice to 50%.

I’m very happy with my choice! It reflects enough to make it hard to see inside from some angles but also allows you to see inside out perfectly fine. Thoughts? Post below.

Pics

Before

after

Bedore and after

On the road

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