# Project TTS/SF: Audi Accessories Spoiler and Custom Silver Optics Package



## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

__
Image uploading. Refresh page to view










Words: Jason Crouch, Photography by Cole Kelly & Jason Crouch

In our previous installment, we rolled down to the San Diego suburb of Vista, California to watch a new set of HRE wheels get built and fit along with a set of Goodyear Eagle F1’s to our project car.

For this installment we’re going full circle in the modding game and heading back to the dealership to install some premium pieces from the Audi Accessories catalog. If you are a fan of modding like me, you are always on the lookout for tasty bits from your favorite aftermarket companies. In my view, outside of a few select companies, it’s always best to try and use official Audi approved body enhancements. The two most obvious reasons are that Audi themselves will generally build parts that compliment the original lines that the cars designer had in mind. The second reason is that Audi uses OEM quality materials on all of their aftermarket accessories.


__
Image uploading. Refresh page to view









So let’s be honest about rear deck spoilers. They’re not for everyone, and I recognize that. It was established earlier on that this build will focus 75% on power and 25% in the style department. After spending quite a bit of time pondering the decision, I made my mind up to order the TTRS spoiler from overseas. Somewhere between the day I made my mind up and the day I was going to pull the trigger and place that order, the new Audi Accessories catalog showed up at my house with their standard rear spoiler gracing the front cover. Again the gears in my head started churning and I wondered how that spoiler would look as a two-tone. Sprint Blue upper and the silver matte aluminum look on the bottom half and struts.

I rang up the parts department at the local Audi Dealership, Rector Motors in Burlingame and ordered up the spoiler and an extra front lip. We sourced out exactly the paint scheme I was after locally and I also got the replacement front lip re-sprayed in the same satin aluminum silver. The look mimicked the aggressive purposeful look of the TT RS “Aluminum Package” option but from a slightly different approach.


__
Image uploading. Refresh page to view









The look of the front lip look was fairly simple to achieve and really only required re-shooting a new front lip, in the Matte Aluminum Silver finish and then replacing the stock piece. It was really just a matter of creating a nice balance of color highlights from the sliver strip on the rear valance, side mirror caps and now the rear spoiler as well. My theory is that when you modify something make sure that the adjustments are made to bring the design back to it’s center.

The fixed rear spoiler is a slightly more involved piece to install, simply because you’re dealing with the automated factory rear wing motor. So to get to the heart of the matter, the interior panels on the hatch gate had to be removed. Once that was out of the way you can get to the bolts that will need to be undone so that the rear spoiler assembly can be removed from the car. The motor and spoiler assembly is actually 7 lbs. heavier than the upcoming fixed rear wing.


__
Image uploading. Refresh page to view









A new weather seal needs to be applied, then the rear motor harness gets this looping circuit to prevent CEL codes popping up. Going back underneath, all of the bolts are torqued up and then the interior panels are re-installed. This was all completed in about an hour.

This official Audi spoiler in my opinion (and most that have seen it in the metal) really rounds off the aggressive look. It all comes down to taste but there is no longer a question as to whether a car of this shape is “coming or going.”


__
Image uploading. Refresh page to view









Watch the latest episode of Project TTS/SF Below...



* Project TTS/SF Photo Gallery *

* Project TTS-SF Index Page *

NEXT INSTALLMENT: Coils, oils & more


----------



## Fissues (Nov 6, 2008)

Damn nice!


----------



## TheSandeman (Jan 12, 2011)

Fissues said:


> Damn nice!


agreed! the spoiler looks amazing, Audi does a nice job making it look sub par in the accessories catalog, but looking at Jasons pics, the thing looks top notch!! :thumbup: I like the little silver pieces here and there, really ties in the interior aluminum trims and console, side mirrors and gas cap that come in aluminum from factory! great idea jason!:thumbup:


----------



## iMod.:R (Nov 14, 2005)

Fissues said:


> Damn nice!


Thanks my man. BTW, when I show people that "Blue ICE" car audio thread everyone cracks up at that random ass pic of you straddling the giant Tuna. It is a Tuna correct? Either way Classic stuff man, what an unforgettable image!




TheSandeman said:


> agreed! the spoiler looks amazing, Audi does a nice job making it look sub par in the accessories catalog, but looking at Jasons pics, the thing looks top notch!! :thumbup: I like the little silver pieces here and there, really ties in the interior aluminum trims and console, side mirrors and gas cap that come in aluminum from factory! great idea jason!:thumbup:


Thanks TJ, but to be frank with you the idea was something George Achorn threw out there one time when we were talking. I said I'd like a matte front lip and he came up with the idea of a two tone rear wing and it took me all of two undecided days to arrive at the conclusion that somehow it really works! So George if you're reading this thanks for the brainstorming on this mod


----------



## [email protected] (Apr 9, 2004)

Thanks man. I agree. It came out really well.


----------



## SprintA3 (Jan 11, 2007)

This really looks good. I wouldn't have ever thought that changing the stock wing would make an improvement in the looks department, but this really did. 

The car looks so aggressive now, but still subdued enough that it isn't garish. Great work with this project Jason!


----------



## hamiltonia (Oct 11, 2010)

When the rear spoiler was installed did the kit come with everything that was needed to remove the old wing (including the looping circuit for the removal of the motor)? 

I'm curious if this same circuit can be purchased separately in case of buying a different after market wing (like the TT-RS version). 

As I understand it the rear wing is only available through the dealer - I'm curious why this can't be bought and installed outside of the dealership - any idea?


----------



## mk_ca (Sep 4, 2009)

Good job! I am panning to install the TTRS rear spoiler. Hope it will be nice on my tt


----------



## [email protected] (Dec 12, 2001)

hamiltonia said:


> As I understand it the rear wing is only available through the dealer - I'm curious why this can't be bought and installed outside of the dealership - any idea?


 Which wing do you mean? The Audi Accessories one on the car here, or the TTRS one? I would think that either one should be sourceable from any number of places that can order Audi parts. 



mk_ca said:


> Good job! I am panning to install the TTRS rear spoiler. Hope it will be nice on my tt


 It should look pretty good. The only differences between the spoiler here and the TTRS one are the uprights. The Accessories one shown here has three single uprights, and the RS one has two split uprights, one at each end of the spoiler. 

I am not always a huge fan of wing spoilers, but the way that both of these are designed just really compliments the lines of the car in a nice, aggressive, but not overdone way. 

-Tim


----------



## iMod.:R (Nov 14, 2005)

hamiltonia said:


> When the rear spoiler was installed did the kit come with everything that was needed to remove the old wing (including the looping circuit for the removal of the motor)?
> 
> I'm curious if this same circuit can be purchased separately in case of buying a different after market wing (like the TT-RS version).
> 
> As I understand it the rear wing is only available through the dealer - I'm curious why this can't be bought and installed outside of the dealership - any idea?


 Yes it comes with the looping circuit and instructions. All you will need is basic hand tools and sealing compound to make the wing weather tight to the boot lid. 

The reason why you will need to se the dealer is to alter the settings for which wing is on the car. It will no longer need to send a signal at 75mph to the rear motorized wing so that will need to be disabled. If you have a good relationship with your dealer perhaps they would take care of you on it no charge? I recommend bringing the service dept squad a box of Godiva chocolates to ease the tension of your request! 

I don't believe that you can disable the rear wing through VAG-COM or similar devices, but I don't have much hands on experience with them so I can't say no for certain. Anyone care to chime in and help clear that up?


----------



## hamiltonia (Oct 11, 2010)

[email protected] said:


> Which wing do you mean? The Audi Accessories one on the car here, or the TTRS one? I would think that either one should be sourceable from any number of places that can order Audi parts.


 Sorry - I'm truly a newb here. Which sites are generally the best for ordering OEM Audi parts? 



iModTTS said:


> The reason why you will need to se the dealer is to alter the settings for which wing is on the car. It will no longer need to send a signal at 75mph to the rear motorized wing so that will need to be disabled. If you have a good relationship with your dealer perhaps they would take care of you on it no charge? I recommend bringing the service dept squad a box of Godiva chocolates to ease the tension of your request!
> 
> I don't believe that you can disable the rear wing through VAG-COM or similar devices, but I don't have much hands on experience with them so I can't say no for certain. Anyone care to chime in and help clear that up?


 I will check it out - there has to be a hacker somewhere that's figured it out! I don't really have a relationship with my dealer. To be fair my car hasn't even arrived yet so I'm just planning ahead. If I can do it myself - why not right? 

Thanks for the info!


----------



## MaXius (May 20, 2009)

Default mode for the TTS spoiler mechanism is actually 'up'. If it has any error or malfunction (or fuse pulling from the owner), up it goes. 

I think rather than the signal telling it "we're going fast, put up the spoiler", it's more like the signal says "_we're not going fast yet, keep the spoiler down_".


----------



## mk_ca (Sep 4, 2009)

iModTTS said:


> Yes it comes with the looping circuit and instructions. All you will need is basic hand tools and sealing compound to make the wing weather tight to the boot lid.
> 
> The reason why you will need to se the dealer is to alter the settings for which wing is on the car. It will no longer need to send a signal at 75mph to the rear motorized wing so that will need to be disabled. If you have a good relationship with your dealer perhaps they would take care of you on it no charge? I recommend bringing the service dept squad a box of Godiva chocolates to ease the tension of your request!
> 
> I don't believe that you can disable the rear wing through VAG-COM or similar devices, but I don't have much hands on experience with them so I can't say no for certain. Anyone care to chime in and help clear that up?


Can body shop disable the wing? or only dealer can do it? 

Because I ordered the TTRS rear wing, not sure if my dealer is willing to disable it for me.


----------



## OhBoyKittens (Feb 7, 2017)

What did you have to do to loop the harness to not throw any codes?


----------



## RipGroove (Dec 5, 2017)

[email protected] said:


> __
> Image uploading. Refresh page to view
> 
> 
> ...


Can anyone PLEASE tell me the part number of the weather seal that is mentioned here? My standard motorized spoiler is letting a bit of rain water through and I can't find any info online about how this is supposed to be sealed, surely there must be some kind of rubber seal/gasket that can be bought from Audi?


----------



## TTeflon (Jun 8, 2017)

RipGroove said:


> Can anyone PLEASE tell me the part number of the weather seal that is mentioned here? My standard motorized spoiler is letting a bit of rain water through and I can't find any info online about how this is supposed to be sealed, surely there must be some kind of rubber seal/gasket that can be bought from Audi?


The "weather seal" is simply a seal strip made of solid rubber. It's about an 1/8 inch thick. I would find a replacement from an automotive or hardware store. Or you could use clear silicone sealant over the existing rubber seal. I use a dab of clear silicone because my rubber seal was about an inch short when I had removed my wing. 

If you're so inclined, it's not that difficult to remove the automatic wing to get to the strip. First remove the cover under the trunk lid. There are two screws inside the hand grab (whatever you call that depression) and a screw on the emergency truck release. The cover then snaps off from there. This might be year dependent. Mine is a 2013 Roadster. There are then a couple of plastic guides to get out of the way. Then you have about a dozen 10mm nuts that hold the wing in place. Most are real easy to get to. The ones on the far left and right are a bit harder. Disconnect the motor. The entire wing lifts up and out, motor and all.

The reason I know this is because I bought an Audi fixed wing for my 2013 TTS Roadster. The wing is the same one shown, except it's Phantom Black. As it turned out, I wasn't crazy about the way it looked on the Roadster. I think it looks a lot better on the Coupe. It's for sale on another site. PM me if interested.

And so that I'm not completely hijacking this thread, the OP's car looks awesome. I especially love the blue color.


----------

