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this topic is about my road trip to Belgium including the pre planning. Research is key when driving in Europe as rules and regulations change from country to country. Things you'll need before you go: 1. European breakdown cover - I have found there are too types of cover available. 1. Covers you for recovery like your normal cover. This cost approx £37 for my 5 day trip. 2. Cover that will cover the cost of your repair bills. This cover cost £54 for my 5 day trip. The prices are from the AA of which I am a member. Just be mindful that with the break down cover they only cover you up to the cost of the vehicle. So if you have an old Audi like me you could be at risk of having to fork out extra. 2. Inform your insurance company - I had to pay £17 extra to cover my car for the trip. Again there are 2 options available and are charable regardless of what uk cover you have. 1. 3rd party cover. 2. Fully comprehensive. 3. European kit - for driving in France it is compulsory to have a breatherlizer, warning triangle, GB sticker, a high vid jacket for every occupant, headlight converter stickers. 4. Check French toll roads - 76% of the roads are tolled in France and for which you will need a transponder which you have to pay for from the toll road company managing the roads your travelling on. You also set up an account with them. However the main road to Belgium the a16 is not tolled. 5. Check to see if the EU country you are visiting has any Low Emissions Zones. France requires you to have a sticker when traveling in Paris for example. Belgium hasn't brought any emissions rules into effect yet but will do as of 2018. 6. Don't forget to pay for the Dartford crossing. The crossing consists of a suspension bridge heading towards Dover and a tunnel coming away from Dover. If you have never used the crossing before you can pay before or up to 24 hours after you have made the crossing. Now the trip! Day one: leicester-Dover Calais-Brussels the run from Leicester to Dover was straightforward with no hiccups or traffic delays. But we did leave in plenty of time to avoid most of the bank holiday traffic. We arrived in plenty of time for our P&O ferry and it was a good job we did as it took over an hour to get through boarder control & check in. However I think this was down to Volume of bank holiday traffic. The port has a reasonable terminal with facilities consisting of a Burger King, WH Smith's, Costa and toilets. If you have forgotten any key European items you can get them in smiths. We boarded the ferry which was straightforward and made our way on to the passenger areas. We had decided to go with a premium ticket which proved well worth the extra money. We got free drinks and snacks (fruit, biscuits, crisps, tea, coffee, soft drinks etc) as well as a free glass of champagne on arrival. Papers are also free. The key benefit of premium however is the extra space (far less people) and plenty of seating including private outside space. I would strongly recommend the premium to anyone. It was superb and had a waiter service! Disembarkation was again quick and road signs were easy to follow. We picked up the 16 for Brussels and set into a comfortable cruise. In France the speed limits can change quite often on the motorway so keep an eye out. Oh and obviously they are in kph! We also stopped for fuel in France which thankfully is similar to the U.K. The difference being is that a pre payment system is used. For this you can either put your card in the machine at the start or ask the cashier how much fuel you would like. We encountered heavy traffic near to Ghent and Bruges due to the lanes merging from 3 to 2. But after we got through, we had a clear run to Brussels. Driving in Brussels is entertaining to say the least. Partly as there are hardly any road signs (this is not an exaggeration!). Brussels has its m25 equivalent which is a tunnel system that runs under the city and only pops to the surface for exits. We got lost at this point and came off to find somewhere to park to recalculate our route. The traffic in Brussels is like London. There's a lot of it!! For example a 5 mile drive in Brussels took us 25 minutes. But there are the added risks of trams. Traffic lights only change from red to green and there are hardly any speed limit signs. We finally reached our destination at 6:30pm Belgium time after travelling 12 hours. Total miles covered (including being lost) was 335 miles. Here are some pics. I hope iv not bored you all to death! But stay tuned for the rest of the trip :)

I have read several threads that mention EGR deletes. I am hoping people can add to this thread with their own experiences of EGR deletes. I write it because of the change in ECU technologies on how the EGRs work. Basically, when EGRs were first used introduced, although electronically deployed they are vacuum operated, the less complicated ECU's could not tell if the EGR was actually working or not or even if actually still fitted. However, in more recent years ECU's can tell if they ARE fitted and sense if they ARE working. To try to elaborate a little more. VW on the T5's used a simple EGR system up to 2006 that could be blocked or deleted with ease at home. However, on 2006 onward vehicles, the delete/block would not be accepted by the ECU as it electrically deploys the open/close function and detects the results or now lack of, giving an immision warning light. The two solutions are either SW (SoftWare) delete of EGR function or drilling a hole in the blank, allowing the pressure sensor to be tricked into thinking the EGR is still fully functional. This in turn leads to the point of me starting this thread. I think it would be a useful info resource for each type of car A1 - Q7 if just the blocking delete worked or not. Be interesting to see if certain models had the change at different years etc. My own personal opinion on an EGR delete/blank is only useful if the EGR is actually causing an issue. I do not see how the blanking etc significantly increases performance (mainly relating to turbo's here). As they are only open on idle or on cruising (I am happy to be corrected on the latter btw) and closed on acceleration!!! A closed EGR is the same as a blank.

Hi my name is John I own a modified Audi A4 ltd edition 170bhp 2.0ltr tdi Quattro running a estimated 260bhp I own a garage down in Essex called JK Motorservices I am interested in having my car on a stand at vag tuner live if that's possible can any one point me in the right direction please.

Hi Gareth, Both 'keys' are the wireless box remote with an emergency key inside. The spare emergency key will unlock & lock the door but then the alarm goes off. Trýing the start/stop button just brings up the dash message 'key not recognised...." placing the key on the wireless point and pressing the brake and start/stop button (as per manual) dies nothing. Thanks for the assist M

Would then suggest trying to source a pump from somewhere else and getting an independent garage to fit it....would be a lot cheaper in the long run

Hi JoHanna...welcome to the Forum I would have thought it would be a warranty item as it is emissions related and not something that should break in normal service. Let us know how you get on with it Cheers, Trevor

i would definitely persevere with trying to find an independent as the dealerships are charging way over the odds for the service

Thank you Trevor, Il get it looked at next week I think.

Very much due to the car!! its like sitting in a rather fast lounge

That is a lovely colour and not one you see often. Lovely drive on the M25 was that because of the car or the lack of traffic jams? :-)

Hi Trevor, For me the design is great, I'd prefer it if the top sticky layer were removeable too so it just left the decal behind and not the clear surround, maybe serveral colour options too like white, black, chrome etc. What does everyone else think? 😎

Welcome to the forum John :) great audi you have there! What mods have you done to it? And yes, we'd be more than happy to have your car on the display! Il add you to the list. Cheers steve

Hey everyone. New to the site as I have just bought my second Audi. anywsys can't wait to catch up with everyone and here's a pic of my new Audi.

Day 3 Today was more unusual as we spared the car and took the train to Disney Land Paris for the day. I appreciate this isn't everyone's cup of tea so stay tuned tomorrow as we're planning to go to Spa race circuit! This meant a very early start as It took us 3 hours travelling on 3 trains and a taxi each way but was so worth it! Just like the uk the train system in France and Belgium is very busy and on parts of France they use double decker trains to cater for the volume of people. Despite the train network being busy all the trains were on time. Disney Land Paris is a great theme park and isn't just geared towards children. Some of the rollercoasters and other rides would be unsuitable for little ones. But just like most theme parks the queues are long but luckily fast passes are available on the more popular rides. If you are limited for time in the park, then the rides I'd strongly recommend are: Main park hyperspace mountain rollercoaster, star tours (Star Wars), buzz lightyear lazer blast, phantom manor, big thunder mountain rollercoaster, pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana jones temple of peril rollercoaster, studio park Rock and roller rollercoaster, vehicle stunt show, the twilight zone tower of terror (massive drop tower), studio tram tour. After we had finished the rides we got dinner at planet Hollywood before heading back on the train system home.

Well finally I worked it out lol!!! its the f**ing intercooler pipes, not used to working on turbo cars so did not occur to me, at least e wry tho g now looks OK to continue with the repairs

Welcome to the forum Tony! Glad your pleased with your a4 and the 3.0tdi is a good engine :) hope you didn't have too long a wait to collect her! :) when you get a chance, by all means show us some pics of your new pride and joy. When your not too busy enjoying driving her that is! :) cheers steve

Day 2 So until 2:30pm we were trapped at our accommodation due to a marathon taking place in Brussels! The marathon was the Belgium equivalent to the London marathon. And as such thousands of people took part! The morning wasn't wasted as we decided to have a BBQ for lunch as the weather is gorgeous here. It's reaching mid to high 30s (degrees) each day! We finally left at 2:30 and decided to travel the 1:40 minutes to Yepre. Yepre saw a lot of the fighting during WW1 and was completely rebuilt to its 14th century design after the war. This has allowed the town to keep a true Belgium feel with cobbled streets and Gothic architecture. As well as the traditional chocolate shops and bars. We also visited the Menin Gate, a war memorial built to show the names of the missing servicemen and women from WW1. We then also visited Yepres war cemetery which was a somber experience. Yepre is a town well worth visiting and not far from the French border. Parking was straightforward and thankfully we did not need to pay. Stay tuned for day 3. However, I must warn you as there won't be any driving involved as my siblings and I are going to Disney land Paris by Eurostar. We are big kids really. My sister and I are in our 20s and my brother is in his teens! There are still plenty of adult rides i.e. Rollercoasters there! Oh and by the way, the a6 has just clocked over 322,000 miles!!

I just did my fronts this week. If you look on the chassis label either in the boot by the spare wheel, or in the handbook you'll see a 3 digit code, 1ZL or 1LG. If it says 1ZL then they are 347mm, if 1LG then 321mm. Hope that helps.

Stuck my stickers on yesterday after cleaning the a6 for the road trip! Iv fitted on to each rear side window and one on the boot :) personally I didn't find the stickers too bad. They peeled off nicely and the lettering all stayed intact. This is unlike other long stickers iv had previously. Cheers steve

Lovely looking a7! :) you don't see that colour too often :)

Collected my A7 today, first couple of picts...expect more and maybe some questions. Best drive I have had on the M25!!

Correct. Most modern cars need a software delete as a minimum and some need the physical delete too. I did mine as a precaution, it was free with the remap anyway. It's not about performance, it's about your engines health. It's about fuel consumption and after many miles you are teetering on performance, unless you enjoy cleaning egrs and manifolds full of solid carbon

Hi all, an update on my car - the engine noise is horrific 24/7 now. No mechanic can tell me what is wrong with my car. I've had 2 test drives with Audi technicians. One of them admitted that the emissions update is known by Audi to change the sound an engine makes (despite Audi UK repeatedly telling people it has no impact on this...). More interesting for those who have had the EGR valve problem - the service manager of Swansea Audi, David Jones, admitted that Audi UK know that the update does break some EGR valves - this is due to an underlying issue with the valves which is then triggered by the update. So anyone fighting Audi on this front please feel free to use this admission against them as you shouldn't have to pay a single penny to put this right.

Hello Peter, I'm sure others more up to date on this will come to your rescue with perhaps a more informative answer, but I too believe the true answer may be as vague as you have already received. If this car as being used on say a 12 to 15k mileage per annum then the service light might come up at about 15 to 18k. However, at your lower mileage, it's unlikely that you will get to that mileage before the light does come on, since the system is logging the distances travelled, average speeds, time etc. , so indeed it is difficult to predict, but perhaps around 18 months from the start - ? Personally, I believe you can trust VAG's technology to let you know when it's due, but it is that important to you then perhaps you can talk with your dealer and get this off the "longlife" service interval it is probably set on, and arrange to have it serviced say, annually. Kind regards, Gareth.

isnt the s sitting on lowered 30mm sport springs. might be somthing to check out

Poorboys is all i use

how does that song go... If it ain't one thing it's a mother fuc... glad the situation has improved mate. too rich or lean on a modern fuel injected car is a pain. what i would do is drive the car a few days, clear the code, then see if it comes back. if it doesn't then great, if it does, try driving the car with the EGR vac pipe removed and blocked. what you really need now is someone with vag-com to see what is going on

Thanks Trevor, I will give the company a call tomorrow, I received the standard one year warranty when I got the clutch & flywheel changed. Expiry date is mid July.

Good article Trevor :)