The latest featured ride belongs to my good friend Brian McCauley, who is an Audi specialist at Audi North Scottsdale and sold me my S4 – he’s been a big influence on my car as well as my knowledge and passion for the Audi brand, so it’s an honor to have his car featured here. Brian has had dozen of modified Audis and VWs over the years and was modifying cars before many readers of this site even had their driver’s license – and his builds keep getting better and better. His latest creation you’ll see here is a 2015 Audi S3 in Sepang Blue that is the full package of show and go.
The first thing you’ll notice about the car is the stance, so let’s start there. Brian has a full Air Lift Performance suspension that he carried over from his previous A3. This “Performance” air ride system by Air Lift is oriented towards people who want the adjustability of air ride, but still want the performance of a more traditional spring/coilover setup. It’s a great system and one that Brian hopes to keep for his next car, too. Brian then added Emmanuele Design rear sway bars and end links to get the suspension perfectly dialed in.
You can’t have bags and not have the wheels to finish the look, so Brian called up his friends at Fifteen52 Wheels and got a custom set of 3 piece 19×9 ET42 TourenSC wheels with Pearl grey centers – there are only two sets of these in existence. They’re for sale, so leave a comment on this post and I’ll put you in touch if you’re interested. Behind the wheels site upgraded TTRS brakes that save weight and improve performance, not to mention look great too.
The Audi S3 is surprisingly quick from factory, but us car guys don’t leave anything “good enough” from the factory do we? Brian has a GIAC Stage 2 tune, Billy Boat 3″ turboback exhaust, HF Motorsports intercooler, and a CTS Turbo intake and blowoff valve to bring the car to full “Stage 2” status. These performance mods bring the S3 up to about 400 horsepower and torque making it wicked fast for its size! To go along with the extra power Brian added BFI motor and trans mounts makes shifting the DSG a little smoother and quicker, along with a P3Cars digital vent gauge to monitor performance from the drivers seat.
Mod List:
- Air Lift Performance suspension
- 19×9″ et42 fifteen52 TourenSC wheels with Pearl grey centers
- 235/35/19 Toyo T1 Sport tires
- TTRS front brakes
- GIAC Stage2 software
- Billy Boat turboback 3″ exhaust
- HF Motorsports intercooler
- CTS Turbo: intake, BOV, and all of their replacement hoses
- Emmanuele Design: RS Style front grill with quattro script, rear sway bar, sway bar end links
- Far East front splitter
- Black Forest Industries motor and trans mounts
- P3Cars digital vent gauge
Last but not least, it’s the little touches that can really complete a build – Brian added an Emmanuele Design RS front grille with the quattro script and a Far East front splitter to make the front end more aggressive, then had a local vinyl shop create “Sqwatro” logos for the rear doors to match the car’s theme, along with a matching license plate to boot.
A big thanks goes out to Parts Score who did the build, David Venezia for the photos, Pit Stop Auto Detailing, Toyo Tires, Air Lift Performance, and Fifteen52.
