so i finally got my carbon clean done, replaced the coils, plugs, fuel injectors, all filters, water pump/belt, etc. and installed the phenolic intake spacers and lightweight crank pulley…and oh man this is a totally different car, drive mode is almost like what sport used to be and sport is insane - when i get on the gas the exhaust makes a loud raspy noise at each upshift and the car just pulls like it never did before. i got the car with about 88k miles and have put about 35k on it since, so i have no idea if a carbon clean had ever been done, but my mechanic said it was pretty bad - i had asked him to get me a picture but he never did…anyway, not sure what to attribute the exhaust noise to, maybe the intake spacers? or is that just what it sounds like when clean? there is also no lag in acceleration like there used to be, power is always there - which was mostly evident in drive mode. was going to change the transmission fluid, but i didn’t realize you have to remove the exhaust to do so and the mechanic said the flex joints were looking brittle and might require replacement if done, so figured i’d hold off until i can swing getting jhm’s exhaust. only annoying thing is the headlight out warning light keeps coming on intermittently but then goes away later on - all lights are functioning so i’m wondering if one of the connections is loose after they put the front end together
The loud rasp at up shifts is audis sequential ignition cut which gives it that awesome staccato flutter sound.