$5K To Spend

[JetBlue]

What would you do to your car? I already have wheels and springs.

Full exhaust, GIAC, intake, BBK, sways? Is there much else to do? Even that is only about $4.5K. Full coilovers would be nice, but I am not ready to sacrafice the ride that much.[confused]

MO

[trovan]

ICE

[vananron]

CF hood, or other lightweight stuff.

[S4audi_SD]

H-Sport Sways will have probably the biggest impact on your car, that's what i would get and it's around $380 for both. I would also definetly do exhaust, it's not a bad idea to let the car breath more.

Or maybe you should wait for the supercharger to come out and beat some porches asses.

[JetBlue]

^^I like that idea. Anyone want to use my car as a testbed. It is my fourth car so I can put up with it being down for a while. Parts cost and free labor?
MO

[Imperial]

Exhaust and suspension/handling are my recommendations. Get more go, then maybe some show...but I'm more go than show, so yeah [:p]

[vananron]

I will stick with what I said. I would work on some of the weaknesses that the car does possess. It is a little too heavy, so go with lightweight materials. Plus the car is front heavy, so a CF hood would help, plus when you lighten the car, it helps in handling, braking acceleration, cornering, weight transfer, mileage, and all other things.

[JetBlue]

The CF hood scares me in a front impact. I don't know if they have been engineered with crush zones and I am positive they have not been crash tested. The whole idea of CF coming through the windshield makes me nervous (I had a bad experience with some MTB parts).

I would not mind doing an Aluminum hood...

MO

[S4audi_SD]

A carbon fiber hood in my opinion is all show and no go, it's barely going to make a fractional difference, and like what jetblue said, safety hazards are a concern also.

[S4arch]

yea, how much does the CF REALLY save you? more show than go IMO too. if you really want to skinny the S4 you'd have to consider taking out the heavy (but comfy) 12-way power adjustable seats with lumbar...ouch

[S4audi_SD]

We all have to remember that we didn't buy WRX's, no ones going to remove all the seats and throw carbon fiber everywhere just to be a little fast, we bought luxury sports sedans.

[i_eat_staples]

milltek full 3k
giac 800
hyperflow 400
installation costs probably be what...500-600ish?

i think milltek has about 40 lbs savings over the stock dps and exhaust doesnt it?

thats what i'd do

maybe get a v1 instead of a hyperflow

[Imperial]

Originally posted by a4audi_SD
We all have to remember that we didn't buy WRX's, no ones going to remove all the seats and throw carbon fiber everywhere just to be a little fast, we bought luxury sports sedans.


Excellent points...something all S4 and AUDI drivers, for that matter, should bear in mind.

[i_eat_staples]

maybe save a couple hundred for a driving/track day :D

did a driving school/track day at PIR a couple months ago and it was about the most exciting thing i've done since traveling to europe

highly recommended, unleash the beast on the track!

[JetBlue]

Originally posted by a4audi_SD
We all have to remember that we didn't buy WRX's, no ones going to remove all the seats and throw carbon fiber everywhere just to be a little fast, we bought luxury sports sedans.

I concur. Now if I could get close to 500 HP in there for $8K that would be money well spent. I do not want to strip the interior out of my car to save weight. I would just by an EVO for that.

MO

[S4audi_SD]

I believe it (the supercharger) will happen within 6-9 months, hopefully, and when it does, you're giving me a ride, lol.

[JetBlue]

No problem!
MO

[Imperial]

I'm in for a ride, too. Hell, if you get a S/C on that thing, I'm sure we can ALL ride and still haul like whoa [:p]

[Saturnine]

I'd say shocks and exhaust+Downpipes..

[audidood]

go stage 3 if you can just throw around that kind of change...

[Richard 350z]

Wow, what a difference modding an S4 vs. an EVO. In the EVO, I can add 100 whp for way less than $5,000. You guys are talking about mods that won't add more than 30 whp. My S4 is bone stock and I'm leaving it that way.

Mod $$$ goes in the EVO RS. [:D]

[DolphinV8]

full exhaust, giac, intake, and ssk = heaven

[Crazy Quattro]

Originally posted by JetBlue
Full coilovers would be nice, but I am not ready to sacrafice the ride that much.[confused]

MO


Thought most coilovers have a adustable damping. The ride quality should be better than just springs with stock shocks. [:)]


I would get....

Oettinger Bodykit
Sways
SSK
Miltek Exhaust
Driving school/track events
[eek]

[B6 S4 is BRZRKR]

What is SSK? And do S4s need sways? I mean..it seems to handle... and rotate fine for me here in the mountains. Maybe I'm not pushing hard enough...

[vananron]

Dry Carbon Fiber is stronger than the cheap crap that most imports have on them. That would be the reason why they use it on the most expensive cars on the planet, for the WHOLE BODY!!. Think about F1 cars as well. ALL carbon fiber. Gee I guess it is just not safe considering the use it on cars that go over 200, and hit walls.

[JetBlue]

Originally posted by B6 S4 is BRZRKR
What is SSK? And do S4s need sways? I mean..it seems to handle... and rotate fine for me here in the mountains. Maybe I'm not pushing hard enough...

SSK is a Short Shift Kit. The S4 has a lot of understeer at the limit stock. The sway bars eliminate that and make the car more balanced at the limit.
MO

[S4audi_SD]

Hey vananron, i totally agree with you about the carbon fiber on some of the most expensive cars, the porsche GT has a complete carbon fiber shell, but you have to remember, that those cars weigh a hell of a lot less than our cars. It's not practical to try to reduce weight on our cars because the whole body, frame, and chasis is already way to heavy, and this car isn't meant for weight reduction, it's a luxury sports sedan.

[JetBlue]

Originally posted by vananron
Dry Carbon Fiber is stronger than the cheap crap that most imports have on them. That would be the reason why they use it on the most expensive cars on the planet, for the WHOLE BODY!!. Think about F1 cars as well. ALL carbon fiber. Gee I guess it is just not safe considering the use it on cars that go over 200, and hit walls.

I would agree that carbon fiber is stronger than steel. The problem is not stiffness of the hood though. The tuners do not have the money to engineer in things like crush zones and then test them in a real world environment.

You have to remember that cars from the 50's and 60's would not deform as much as cars today in an accident. They were built to stay in the original shape as much as possible during an impact because they thought that was safer.

Today we know that there are two important factors during an impact. One is that the passenger compartment be as strong as possible. The second this you want is the period of de-acceleration to be as long as possible. Older vehicles were in the range of .1 seconds for a 40 MPH impact. A new vehicle is around .25 seconds. Large companies spend tens of millions of dollars on engineering to add .01 second to this time.

Now there are two parts to the hood. First it acts as a structural part in the de-acceleration of a vehicle. This may add .01-.02 seconds to the de-acceleration during a major front impact. Second and more importantly is that the hood is made to deform in a certain way during an impact. If the hood is too stiff then there is a major risk of the hood coming through the windshield during an impact. I would be much more likely to buy an Aluminum hood (softer) or a CF trunk lid (not much of a chance for it to intrude into the passenger compartment).

I may be overly sensitive to this because I have been in two major fronal impacts. I was a passenger in one. Both were 45+ MPH impacts and drunk drivers in the other cars. Both times I was saved by the car. Both times the driver of the other vehicles suffered major injuries (one was fatal).

MO

[B6 S4 is BRZRKR]

Thanks, JetBlue. Who makes the SSK to get? Also, where do I get the sways... I mean.. what manufacturer? I'll get them when I get everything else to get a deal. I want to get a Chip (already decided on GIAC), intake (?), exhaust (AWE???), SSK (?), and sways (?) this week or next. I've gotta pick some wheels out too, but it snows here. I might just put some Blizzaks on these stock wheels for the next few months. Thanks again.

[JetBlue]

I am not sure on the SSK. For the sways, there are a lot of places. I would stick with the people that advertise here. That would be Pure Motorsport, www.purems.com, Carrozzia Design, and Group5 if they are still advertising. I went with Group5 because they are local to me.
MO

[vananron]

Sorry to hear of the accidents. But I am even seeing the lightweight "revolution" in the Benz world. All benzes used to be ALL steel. Now my 04 e-500 has a ton of aluminium. If you look at the CL it is using things like magnisium, and CF on the body panels. AMG uses CF for a lot of its new body kit adjustments. I thing that providing the enginerring is sound, it is perfectly safe. But I guess if the guy feels comfortable with the weight, the best bang for buck, is NOS. But then we are on another level of danger.

[JetBlue]

I would be comfortable with Audi/MB/Porsche etc putting CF in their own car. That would be awesome and I agree that the engineering is totally sound. I would have no problem buying any of the CF cars out there now (Carrera GT, Merc, etc.).

My issue is with aftermarket CF. None of the companies that are putting out hoods are going to crash multiple cars to see what happens in an impact. They just do not have the resources. I do run CF on my bicycles (bars, cranks, etc.) because the engineering is there.
MO