Andi Riley is no stranger to building a sensational show car and after having built what is arguably the most famous T5 on the planet a few years back (RST5 – PVW 4/17), there was only ever one way for him to evolve and progress. Having dabbled in a number of cars over the years that probably feature in many a teenage dream – Escort Cosworth, 993 GT2, Mk4 Toyota Supra, R34 GTR, E30 M3, Audi 100 LS Coupe, Lamborghini Gallardo – you get the picture, not to mention a stunning Gullwing Mercedes restomod that many a UK car pervert will know, he finally came back to his Wakefield based, Not Just Campers roots in the middle of 2024 as he was putting out the feelers to go bigger and better than before. “I just wanted to do something that wasn’t really as ‘show orientated’, I wanted something I could really abuse and not just clean all of the time, after all… cars are for driving.” Thing is you see, Andi’s range of mechanical ability has evolved over a number of years through building drop dead gorgeous Transporter camper conversions, but his passion for all vehicles knows no bounds, so when he put the word out that he wanted to build a monster T5 once again, people came a knocking. A bit like Wayne’s World – if you build it, they will come!

The first of which was a lovely duo called Johnny and Sarah, from Rob a Dead Dub Transporter breakers, “They offered me a 2007 T5 Shuttle with twin sliders and tailgate and even delivered it to me for nothing, It was a rolling shell without a front end and a bit of grot here and there, but it was perfect for what I had planned,” a hyped Andi enthused . Although his illustrious car history may have you believe that Andi is a caked up, snotty millionaire who buys classics for breakfast, you couldn’t find a better bloke to share a pint with or talk about whippets, flat caps and engine mounts down his local Wakefield boozer. He’s such a damn nice fellow, it’s impossible not to get on with him, especially when it comes to automobiles, and we do mean all of them.

Having acquired a 2008 B7 Audi RS4 as a CAT B write off, things were soon falling into place. “Faster than my car mate’s kept saying, ‘We bet you wish you’d filmed the original RST5 for your Youtube channel,’ We were in the midst of doing another one.” Andi quipped. Custom engine and gearbox mounts were soon knocked up with help from Andi’s ever helpful mate and part time fabrication genius, Alex. “We also cut a section of the cab floor out so we could see where the gearbox sat and align everything with a spirit level.” The biggest headache was clearing the steering rack and the pipes that protrude from it with the engine and ‘box now sat longitudinally. “it’s tight in there, but by moving it forward a little bit and modifying the front subframe slightly we even got the front driveshafts to sit straight and level. Speaking of which Andi used everything from the RS4 he possibly could this time around – ECU, clocks, ABS, speed sensors, wiring loom, body control module, crash sensors – every possible part he could swap was brought across, which led to much greater functionality down the line, but wiring that lot up proved to be the biggest headache of the entire project. “My son, Josh, couldn’t even fit the loom in the boot of his E30 BMW, he had to put it on the back seat to bring it back to the workshop one day.” Custom made driveshafts were produced based on a sleeved design that Andi fabbed using half T5 and half RS4 shafts while a shortened prop was required to get the rear wheels spinning with a 40 / 60 power split front to back thanks to that trusty Quattro setup.

“I wanted to reach 1000bhp, but it don’t half go as it is because the Xona X2C Turbos that AET supplied spool much earlier at 2000rpm compared to the blue van which spooled at 3500rpm. And these turbos also pull well all the way to 8000rpm. Mated to the block using custom turbo manifolds for a mirror image look, this thing is built to cruise around 25 – 30mpg, yet still wow onlookers thanks to twin 44mm external wastegates that love a bit of flame spitting. Cooling that intake charge is left to an EVO 10 intercooler with a custom made alloy radiator just behind it due to the tight confines.

“As the internals remain stock we didn’t want to push it too hard. The original engine we fitted was down on compression on cylinders 5 & 6 once we got it running, so rather than mess about we got another motor with 74k on the clock and slotted that in. At 12psi it now makes 832bhp and 847NM of torque,” a jubilant Andi revealed, continuing, “The old van did 0-60 in 3.6 seconds, but as Doug from MRC has mapped in launch control, pops and bangs and so much more thanks to his knowledge of Audi electronics, we’ve no doubt this one is going to be much faster for any discipline.” To that end Andi opted for H&R Ultra Low coilovers from Si Sweetland with matching adjustable H&R anti roll bars to really put the 245/40 x 20 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 rubber through its paces on the square 9×20-inch Navis Twin 5 wheels courtesy of Transporter HQ.

ABS became a real issue in the build because the RS4 uses wheel speed sensors that don’t fit into the hubs like the magnetic T5 units, so Andi had to drill new holes in the hubs for the Audi ABS sensors in order to get a working speedo. Electronics also proved problematic because the RS4 body control module was expecting signals from rear door crash sensors, but with some clever wiring adaptations and a few resistors they soon got around it. Even the RS4 fuseboard has been relocated for easy access within the T5 cabin.

Although the T5 body was always going to be on the receiving end of some choice upgrades, Andi firstly replaced the rear passenger quarter panel and wheel arch to eliminate any rust before a T6 front end conversion including the wings, Sportline bumper, bonnet, Travelinlite front splitter and uprated Transporter HQ headlights were installed. Out back a Fiesta ST rear spoiler now gives the rear end a subtle tweak as the slab sided arse end disappears from most road users. Following a poll on the Not Just Campers Youtube channel, have we mentioned Andi has a Youtube channel (www.youtube.com) viewers voted for Porsche Rubystone Red but with a slight twist. “I dropped it off to Lee at ADV bodyrepairs and he said the normal Porsche colour looked a little flat, so he threw some gold flake into the final coats of lacquer, I’m so glad he did.” Popping in the sun it glistens and as Andi quite rightly exclaims, “If you can hear it coming, you might as well see it coming, too.”

Backed up by a homemade CDS roll cage with a home brew rattle can paintjob this is one Van where load space isn’t such an issue, “Because of the twin sliders the Shuttle buses can be quite floppy, so the cage reinstates some of that strength.” Even keeping the T5 rear lights proved problematic because the RS4 uses a single filament bulb that does both side light and brake light using 6v and 12v supplies, so we had to overcome with loads of head scratching. Even the gear linkage is now a rose jointed work of art that uses custom length cables to retain the stock location of the T5 shifter to operate the six speed Audi ‘box. It truly is a work of art this van, with every choice made to be a usable, fun and fast way of scaring some very potent machinery indeed. Andi hasn’t yet, “kicked it’s head in properly,” but rest assured when he does a set of six piston RS6 front stoppers with 380mm wavy discs and matching rear stoppers with 360mm discs should provide all the retardation he needs as the aero brick forges ahead. Sat a top the interweb controversial choice of Kehala seats gripping onto the OE RS4 steering wheel it certainly picks up it’s skirts and flies. We’ve only just brushed the surface of this insane build here, there’s so much more to cover, with details galore in the excellent build videos.

“The real point of this project was to keep it old school and show that you can perform an engine swap even with relatively modest tools in a little garage using some cardboard aided design. No CAD, no lathes or metal rollers involved here.” Andi revealed.

Andi is the petrolhead we’d all love to be, given enough time, garage space and problem solving ability, and if his Youtube channel is anything to go by there’s certain to be plenty of cool and quirky builds in the near future. Would he build a crazy for a customer? Possibly. But a little birdie tells us the next one will have a 2.5-litre turbocharged 5-pot also from an Audi