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Monday 9am - 6:30pm Tuesday 9am - 6:30pm Wednesday 9am - 6:30pm Thursday 9am - 6:30pm Friday 9am - 6:30pm

AR Performance

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AR Performance

Welcome to AR Performance

Just a little bit of what we do here,
Diagnostics
Servicing
Engine Builds
Remapping
Custom fabrication

25/03/2026

One poorly Audi RS3 with only 30,000 miles on the clock!!

Crazy because we found lots of issues. First being gearbox very jumpy and flashing up gearbox failure and a ticky sound on idle when cold.

On inspection we found a gearbox leak coming from inside the gearbox area which was the cover plate that seals the gearbox from the clutch packs. Quote an easy fix but gearbox needs to be removed.

We removed the gearbox and just thought we would take a look at the clutch packs at the same time just because why not. At this point it was obvious the gearbox ran low on oil hence the jumpiness and only 2 - 3 litres drained out when it’s meant to have around 6 - 7 litres. Pulled the clutch packs out to see lots of hot spots between the plates so new clutch ordered, installed etc with new oil and cover plate all genuine of course.

Onto the next problem the ticky sound which was a blown manifold gasket on the turbo. While subframe was removed we decided it was the best time to do it. Didn’t come in for this but to save abit of labour time no point removing it twice. Changed the manifold gasket along with new studs and nuts due to the old studs being bent and is good practice.

Car now runs silky smooth customer is over the moon! And is running 10/10 again. Just can’t believe a 30k motor can be so trashed! Customer hasn’t had it long so just goes to show you to be careful what you buy!

07/02/2026

BMW M4 S55 engine we rebuilt recently.

Customer bought the engine to us after a big failure of the camshaft bolt snapping and valves meeting piston 😵 .

Seen quite a few with same issue recently seems to be a common problem. Had a M2 come in with the same problem last year but owner opted for a second hand replacement engine on that one.

Anyhow the customer decided to refresh the bottom end with new ACL bearings (caught just in time) and all new genuine bolts, fresh headgasket and top end rebuild.

While we were there we done the crank hub mod for peace of mind as these love to spin at high rpm (another common issue)

With all that the engine went off to the customer ready for him to re install in his M4 👌👌

24/01/2026

🔥 WE ARE HIRING – MECHANIC WANTED 🔧
AR Performance | Bedford Area

We’re looking for a skilled mechanic to join the AR Performance team.

✅ Employed or self-employed options available
✅ Must take pride in their work
✅ Clean, tidy & organised
✅ Own toolbox essential
✅ Relevant mechanical experience required

💷 Up to £39,000 per year (employed)
⏰ 40 hours – Monday to Friday
🚫 No weekends
💰 Opportunity to earn more if you’re happy to stay later

🌴 21 days holiday + bank holidays (employed role)
Join a professional, performance-focused workshop with a strong reputation and growing workload.

📩 Message us to apply or for more info

17/11/2025

Little sneak peak of one of our good customers Fabia we have been doing in our spare time.

With only 80k miles and from Scotland she was clean on the outside but the underside not so much.

We made a complete rip out of the underneath. Full strip down every nut & bolt replaced with genuine, everything we could save blasted and powder coated, new brake pipes, new stub axles, new Bilstein suspension, power flex bushes. List goes on.

Not only all the underside will be immaculate but the engine will be to. Freshly built diamond piston 600+ hp capable mounted with a gtd30 side winder & 2 stage nitrous.

Keep a look out for upcoming updates as we plan to have this finished before Christmas.

This post is also to show what we now can do in house with powder coating side of things. We will be opening very soon to the public “AR Powdercoating” where we can powder coat your suspension components, Alloys, engine blocks, calipers. basically anything that is made of metal that you want to make look pretty. We have been creating a room at the back of the workshop with some very good equipment to do all this. Very excited about it all!

If any of this is something you are looking for please get in contact

📞 07767256212

13/11/2025

Another caddy another pd130 swap 😎

This one with an 1856 and all the goodies!

130 ASZ engine converted
130 injectors
1856JW
4 bar map sensor
6 puk clutch kit
Custom 3 inch intake + AEM filter
Custom 2.5 inch boost pipes and cooler
New headgasket + 150 headbolts
Refurbished cylinder head
Genuine timing belt kit
New gaskets and seals all round
Remap

I like to call this the way we really like to do it “properly” not slapped together and certainly not bodged. Looks good aswell as make very good power for a work van. Delivering around 250hp so he can tow his diggers while hitting the limiter 😎 scroll across to see video.

12/10/2025

Good customer of ours, we used to look after his old Audi A6 with over 300k miles until it got stolen one day in broad daylight. Had to buy another A6 1.9tdi ASZ to replace it. But since buying it he hasn’t had time to bring it in to us to be checked or have any work done on it.

Unfortunately he got unlucky once again and got a phone call from him saying his car is cutting out. Started for a few seconds then cut out. Automatically said to him to stop trying to start it just incase it’s timing related.

Recovered it from him got it on the ramp to notice he had EVERY SINGLE TOOTH MISSING from the belt! Water pump had seized up which caused all the teeth to go.

I had a belt and a water pump laying around just to throw on and test to make sure the engine still fired up as the top end still felt fine after rotating it. I always find the top end feels knotchy if it’s contacted a valve.

This customer got very lucky! Put it together timed it up and it fired right away. Compression checked it which come back perfect so I recommended a genuine cambelt and waterpump to be put on while we were there we installed an SDI camshaft kit and 150 headbolts.

Car now runs flawless and didn’t need a top end rebuild 👍 very lucky!

If you want to be booked in give us a call or message on 07767256212

01/10/2025

Sam’s very clean example of a Skoda Fabia VRS 😍😍

Not many Fabia’s we see nowadays where the bodywork is clean and the body lines actually marry up.

Sam left it with us while he was on holiday for a week or so while we got to work on this beauty!

The spec he opted for was a
JW1756
2.5 inch turbo back exhaust
4 bar map sensor
Pd150 headbolts
Custom 2.5 inch boost pipes
Dark side twin pass cooler
Custom 3 inch intake
Switchables maps

While we was doing all the above we did a fresh headgasket, check over of the whole engine to make sure it was in good condition which it was 👍 genuine cambelt & waterpump, fresh coolant, oil and so on to give it a new lease of life.

Map 1 we call it a valet / MOT map so nobody can thrash your car while it’s out of your hands or the obvious 👀

Map 2 a little power but not all of it. less smoke ect.

Map 3 POWERRRRR

Torque was bought in a little smoother due to the stock clutch but we estimate it to be around 230hp - 460nm.

30/09/2025

👌👌

28/09/2025

A lovely example of an Audi A4 ppd170 came into us the other week with a big problem!

On his way home from the Nurburgring, his cambelt tensioner stud decided to snap while he was in Belgium. Not ideal! Tensioner actually bounced underneath the car down the dual carriage way 😂 funny enough when we got it on the ramp we found the stud upside down dangling through a little hole in his under tray 😂.

Sucks for the customer but he got it recovered straight to us for an investigation and top end rebuild. Upon investigation it bent all 16 valves and even bent the rockers! Absolute carnage!

We removed the head and it got worse. Massive cracks in the stock head so we advised the customer we needed a new head which we supplied with all new rockers 16 new valves, new lifters, you name it, it got it.

Put it all back together with a fresh cambelt and waterpump but this time we drilled the head to allow for the m10 stud so it didn’t happen again. Not sure why on the 2.0 they decided to use an M8 thread all the way when the older engines use an M10. Very silly!

Car runs smooth back to its former glory running perfect again ready for its trip back to the nurburg in a couple weeks 👌

24/09/2025

500hp capable Caddy we finished this week 😍😍

Not one to mess around with on the road that’s for sure!

Came into our workshop with no engine, no gearbox, hacked up wiring loom, immobilised, abs pump issues, bolts missing, fuses missing you name it something was wrong! But didn’t scare us away!

Let’s just say his now left with a fully built engine, gearbox, custom fabrication, starts on the key with no faults on the dash everything working as it should with every nut and bolt possibly replaced where it was needed. I must admit this one got my head thumping but we got there in the end 💪🏻. Customer loves it that much his dropped his work caddy off for a pd130 swap and 1856 turbo upgrade with supporting mods 😎

Full spec of van -

AR built engine
Forged rods
Stock pistons
42mm bowls
New bearings and seals throughout
Pd130 converted to work with 105 ecu
New headgasket
New timing belt kit
Ported head
Uprated valve springs
160 firads injectors
JW2871 high flow turbo
Ported inlet manifold

AR built gearbox 02m 6 speed
Converted 5 speed box
Big 4th gear upgrade
Steel forks
Quaiff L*D
4th gear support

AR custom fabrication
2.5 inch boost pipes to single pass cooler
3 inch exhaust turbo back
3 inch intake
AEM dry flow filter

Other upgrades
1 stage nitrous ZEX
AEM methanol injection
Revin short shifter

Maybe we can say this customer is abit crazy? 😂 that much hp in a caddy but we think it’s great! 😍😍

17/09/2025

Ben’s VW Golf 1.8 Turbo Anniversary we had in recently.

New Spec -
AUM engine forged
Super tech valves and springs
630cc injectors
Uprated fuel pump
Custom intake
Custom boost pipes and cooler
2.0tfsi hybrid turbo
AR Tuned

Came in wanting a supplied engine fitted, which we done some checks over prior to fitting, installed a new cambelt & waterpump, injectors were tested and installed new seals, new studs and nuts, R8 coil packs, iridium plugs, new gaskets.

Customer also supplied a big intercooler kit but unfortunately this wasn’t going to fit behind the stock bumper without cutting and turning it into a chav spec golf 😬. So we opted for a slightly smaller cooler which is still efficient enough for the build and we welded 2 aluminium 90’s on the end tanks to allow more room behind the bumper. This way it still looks as factory as possible without it being to much in your face after all it is an anniversary and we like a clean looking one!

Engine ran perfectly had some fuel trim issues which we sorted once we custom tuned it, spools lovely with lots of torque which I know 1.8t’s struggle with normally but running perfectly ready for the customer to enjoy 😎

We do petrol cars not just diesels as everyone thinks so thought I would share one we did recently 👌.

Don’t forget we have 10% off tuning till the end of the month. Give us a call to get booked in!

📞 07767256212
📧 [email protected]

Address

13A Shuttleworth Road
Cranfield
MK410EP

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 6:30pm
Tuesday	9am - 6:30pm
Wednesday	9am - 6:30pm
Thursday	9am - 6:30pm
Friday	9am - 6:30pm

Website

https://www.arperformanceparts.co.uk/

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