allmotor_2000

Nice car Steve Hope you have a lot of fun with it...

mrimage27

scalbert u sell the ic already? if not i am interested, being that u have it already

Maximized

There was some type of issue with the front control arm. I don't remember if it failed, but I will ask when I see him next. I know he had both turbos replaced under warranty.

scalbert

For the time being I may just get the sways. This car will not be the center of attention for performance so I will probably keep the ride very civil.

scalbert

Thanks for the information and links Amir.

I am also looking at MTM. In reviews of the S4 I have found it seems all are pretty close. I haven''t found data which makes on significantly better than anouther in this case. I just need a bit more investigation but for now I am leaning towards the GIAC X Chip.

scalbert

That is a current delimma which I might try and resolve by have pre-dicussions with several dealers. But I am consider just getting the ECU and having it moddified.

scalbert

Yep, gone...

darrinb

congrats steve, looks nice

let the modding begin, u gonna lower it??

Scrib

ba dop bop bop ba...

I'm lovin' it!!!

Crazy Bimmer

I think we all say that when we first get a new car

mclarenf3387

THe only thing I can think that has been mentioned is getting a good aftermarket alarm. I don't know if its a problem down by you, but up here in the NY/NJ area I know of PLENTY of people who have had their S4s disappear on them. I even saw a story on the Audi forums of one guy who had 2 stolen. Car looks good, and I'm sure it will be insanely fast when you're done with it.

KCPreki11

Do you think you'll upgrade the turbo at all?

scalbert

Don't know for sure, but probably. The first thing I will add is the snub mount and DTS. I'll see how those take up some of the driveline slop. But I know if it will get springs or coil-overs. I may leave that part alone and just add sway bars.

scalbert

Question about these mods, why just the downpipe?? No aftermarket exhaust out back?? And was this the downpipe with the catalytic converters in it??

scalbert

I do have plans for other projects car(s). So I would like to keep this one comfortable. But we'll see how long that lasts.

scalbert

Not needed here at all. Heck, I could probably leave the keys in it in the driveway with the windows and doors open and it will be there the next day.

Regardless, it does reside in my garage which is always closed anyway.

scalbert

Nope, but I may upgrade both of them.

Depending on how well it runs with the chip, etc. and the time frame of starting a project car will determine if I do go to the K04 turbos.

blxmjx

I was planning to do exhaust but when I put the aforementioned mods on, the car was plenty fast. I wanting to keep the car low key and stealth, so I ended up keeping the stock exhaust on. I'm sure I could have gotten a few more ponies by swapping out the exhaust. I was pretty happy w/the car w/out an aftermarket exhaust though. The downpipes had high flow cats.

dabuda

nice pickup, S4s are sweet

jimcol711

congrats scabert, youll love the car....when i bought my A6 i spent about a week just going over in my head if id rather have the S4 or the A6 with the same drivetrain....the drivetrain is a beautiful thing, thats for sure. at the time i could pick up either a 2001 A6 2.7T or a 2001 S4 with equal miles, equal warranty, etc...both for the exact same price, it was a tough call but the S4 to me was just a tad too small, and considering that the weight of the 2 cars is only like 200 lbs apart (A6 being heavier obviously...but suprisingly only slightly) the difference in performance is really not that noticable between the 2. not sure if you are aware but there is a code that you can put into the stereo via your OBD-II software that takes off the stock Bose settings, when i did it to my A6 i was SHOCKED by how much better the stereo sounded. some people dont like it without the Bose Code turned on, some think theres too much bass...but if you turn off the Bose Code and play with the EQ a little bit (and the hidden EQ which you access by holding "5" when you turn on the unit) you can make it sound REEEEALLLY great and to your liking, no one who rides in my car can beleive its a factory system, and while i thought it sounded good in stock form, changing that code was the best thing i couldve done, i have absolutely no desire to upgrade the stereo in this car whatsoever after hearing the difference it made by changing that code.

scalbert

I had considered the A6 2.7T as they were about the same price but since we have the Sienna, I wanted something more on the sporty side. And the room wasn't an issue.

It has been quite fun so far...

scalbert

Thanks again as I wasn't aware of that. It would be difficult to do this with my OBD2 software as it has limited functionality. Unless I knwo the address in hex and the value to send, I am dead in the water.

However, I did try the button "5" function. It took a minute to find which button advances to the next selection but I finally found it. I assume this is like any other EQ with the lower frequencies on the left and going up in the frequency band when moving to the right??

scalbert

Although I am really loving this car, I do miss the top end pull of the CL-S6 SC/IC. That is a true testament to the J32A2 engine. Considering on my car with a blower made nearly 450 crank HP at only 7.5 PSI. While Ramanan will make well over 500 crank HP at the same boost levels through his turbo, the J32A2 can make some serious power.

On this S4 engine, it would take almost the same amount of $$ to make that type of power. New turbos would be needed, etc. but it could be done. However, the big difference is the torque. The 2.7T, when making close to 500 crank HP would be making over 500 lb/ft of twist.

I'm planning on taking the CL-S6 out for a spin this weekend. That should be interesting since it is now stock in the power department.

scalbert

One more thing, I got to try out the handling of the S4 once again. Yesterday I was leaving a local diner and there is a small road with a tight left hand bend in it. I have driven this in the CL-S6 many times including with the SC/IC. This is a tricky turn as the pavement isn't great and it is a slow speed turn. With the blower and IC on the car I had to carefully control the throttle when going through it quickly. When done correctly and using only part throttle I could make the HLSD work and get through the turn quickly. But too much throttle and I would end up pushing wide and being required to use the edge of a small parking lot.

I decided to try out the S4 in the same turn so I entered the turn at a quick pace and then got on it when positioned correctly. Wow, the boost came up and it tucked its tail and took the line I wanted. I was very impressed and this was with the broken pavement underneath.

Now, I probably could have taken the turn nearly as quick in the CL-S6. However, it would have taken quite a bit more concentration and effort and there is less room for error. The S4 made that turn seem so much easier to where it almost didn't feel as gratifying when nailing it.

SiGGy

Congrats Steve, hope it's good to you! I'll be in your shoes as soon as the warranty runs out on my turd. I'm going to do the same thing, buy used. It's not as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be. Buying new is such a waste of $$. (well cars in general anyway)

As much as I like to see you trying to compare the FWD to the 4wd, or Audi to Acura, it's a waste of time. It's pretty simple to see BMW, Audi and the likes spend more time on the handling/driver feedback than honda does. I doubt they care, their goal is "nice and cheap" not "well balanced and good feedback".

Glad to see you found yourself a new ride! Looks nice, maybe you'll stick around the ACL forums for awhile. But if because of the new girlfriend, 2 baby girls and your wife we don't see you as much I'll understand

jimcol711

steve, this info should help you get familiar with the hidden EQ in the stereo:

The first number in each group of four digits (which control front and back speaker pairs) is lower bass, the second is upper bass, third is midrange, fourth is treble. I found that turning up lower bass and down upper bass tames it nicely. i also toned down the bass in the front speakers and boosted it up in the rear speakers....this in conjunction with the reprogramming of the stereo via a VAG-COM tool makes for a STELLAR improvement...

there is how you disable the Bose Settings (and unleash a whole new sound!) out of your deck with the VAG-COM tool (or possibly the one you have could work)

1. Connect scan tool to the car's OBD-II diagnotic port.

2. Turn on ignition and radio, select Radio Controller in scan tool.

3. The radio shows "DIAG" in the display.

4. Select "Recode Module". You may enter a 5-digit code, "00007" is a standard setting while "00017" is a Bose setting, both with CD changer and secondary display.

5. Turn off radio and ignition, disconnect scan tool.

6. Turn on radio to hear the effects. In Bose mode, the radio display will show "BOSE" briefly after turn-on.

scalbert

I guess I don't follow this part. When I held down '5' and turned it on, there were eight number '5's' came up across the display. I assumed this was a default mid point for the EQ range and assumed that the left side was the lower frequency ranges and the right was the higher ranges.

Are you saying that you had four values to adjust??

scalbert

Never mind, I this article:

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/elec56.shtml

jimcol711

you have 4 values that you can adjust independantly for the front speakers and 4 for the rear speakers.

in order, from left to right on your display, the 8 numbers are:

front low bass
front midrange bass
front midrange
front treble
rear low bass
rear midrange bass
rear midrange
rear treble


once you are done playing with the setting, simply turn off the unit and turn it back on to hear your settings.

jimcol711

yup, that article explains it thouroughly.

jimcol711

have you considered upgrading your stereo system to the european Nav+??? its a CD-rom based nav system that has a color screen similar to that of the stock acura system (but admittedly, not as good as acura's nav system) in any case, the Nav+ unit is a direct replacement for the deck you have in your car now, its a pretty nice system, its a shame it was never available in the USA..you can puchase Nav+ packages from Ebay Germany.

jimcol711

http://www.tvwiz.net/navigation/images/navdash.jpg


http://www.tvwiz.net/navigation/

av6ent

Nice car, Steve.

scalbert

Thanks for the info but that is not something I need.

Heck, I didn't get the nav in my '03 CL-S6 non-Nav when I traded in the '01 CL-S Nav because I only used it six times in 2.5 years. Mapquest is much cheaper.

scalbert

I'll really play with it tomorrow after the dealer replaces the passenger side rear deck speaker, got an appointment first thing in the morning.

scalbert

One more quick comparison and I am done. In addition to the top end pull I miss, I also really miss the throttle response of the CL-S with the SC/IC. There is worlds difference here that a chip will not even touch changing.

The CL-S6 with the roots style blower would be in power the moment I touched the throttle. That is not an exaggeration, the power was right there with the pedal travel and why I always said the power felt like a larger engine was under the hood.

The S4 has little but still present, what many refer to as, lag. It is actually a combination of throttle response and boost threshold but too many people say it is lag. Anyway, there is a delay from when the throttle is applied to when the power comes on. But it comes on with the typical turbo rush.

scalbert

Youy are right, the comparisons are moot as they are coming from different directions. But I have to give some feedback.

sxsublime

ive always loved the s4.

Ming 2.7T

Remember when chipping, the K03's will be at their edge of the performance envelope. Think somewhere they are rated to around 1.3 bar max. SO a 1bar chip will spike around 1.1-1.2 bar, and a 1,2 bar chip(GiacX-chip) will spike around 1.3-1.4bar.
UPdate the TBB to a AMS kevlar taped TBB or get a APR bi-pipe.
Upgrade the bypass valves to 710n's(audi part) or get some hyperboost valves.
Might want to upgrade to samco hoses too.
Chip only S4 6 speed will run between 13.4-13.8 1/4 miles. WIth exhaust and DP's you are looking at 13.0-13.4
Also some are going to larger turbos when the K03's die. K04's are the next step, but some others are starting to come out, K04-k16 hybrids and such.
THe handling will have some understeer on entry, but the nice thing with quattro is, turn the wheel were you want it to go and get on the gas. Dont get off the gas mid corner, actually grabs better if on it. Late apex is what you want to do. Alot of fun. Sacrifice some time on the entry to get a good exit speed they you carry on down the straight.
Have fun

fizzle

Love the S4s too - Test drove one a few months ago and loved it, but I couldnt bring myself to pay what they were asking ($31K for an 01, silver with the alacantra leather). What did you pay for yours if you dont mind me asking?