AWE exhaust and FMIC installed

**John4378** · 09-20-2009 12:37 PM

This past week I took my car in for a couple more upgrades: AWE exhaust, and AWE FMIC. Big Thanks to Mike Staley of BarTuning and Junior of Collision Repair - painted rear valence and it matches perfectly.

See pics here: http://www.bartuning.com/simplegalle...20A4%20Quattro

Thoughts and Impressions:

Exhaust: I have not noticed any droning contrary to what others have experienced, and I love how the exhaust is quiet at idle and rumbles at higher rpms. At Mike's recommendation I had the rear valence painted. Good choice, because the car looks so much better this way. Why did Audi decide not to have the valences painted on the B8 when they did so on the B7's???

FMIC: Well, there is just no way to hide the fact that there is a monstrous intercooler in there, lol. I briefly thought about painting it flat black but that still wouldn't make the FMIC any more subtle. I absolutely love bending down, peering through the front grille, and watching that bad-ass intercooler staring back at me.

Performance: Well, there are two major differences that I have noticed with the car. More pull in gears 4,5,6, and the car doesn't seem sluggish off the line anymore. Even with the APR chip I noticed the car didn't respond well off the line unless you slipped the clutch a little....that is no longer the case. The car no longer feels like it can't get out of its own way in 6th gear...that's a good thing.

So far these are the engine mods I've had done: Chip, exhaust, intercooler. I am thinking about AE Performance's HFC but that price tag is a bit steep for me at the moment. Aside from an HFC there is really nothing more I can do to extract more power until a BT kit becomes available

Oh! And I had the pleasure of meeting another Aziner while at the shop. Good to finally meet you Mike (CzechInside). When you're back in Houston in a few weeks give me a ring.

**dOubleO** · 09-20-2009 01:15 PM

^ Congrats on the upgrades...

The droning that is reported on the AWE exhaust is for Tips and not MTs

**MiracleWhips** · 09-20-2009 08:29 PM

Originally Posted by dOubleO

^ Congrats on the upgrades...

The droning that is reported on the AWE exhaust is for Tips and not MTs

+1

looking back on things, the test mule for this exhaust was a 6MT, whichit should have been a TIP since this is what the majority of B8's are. You wouldn't think the tranny would make much difference, but for this car it was huge!

**DeanUW** · 09-20-2009 08:40 PM

Nice!

**1_clean_Audi** · 09-20-2009 09:16 PM

wow that intercooler is huge!!! congrats on the new modd!

question where did you get the euro plate filler?

**CzechInside** · 09-20-2009 09:16 PM

Great meeting you as well John. My pleasure. And I can attest that his car looks and sounds great!

Mike at BARTuning does an outstanding job and definitely has a passion for all things Audi. I picked up my new A4 S-Line, drove it to the shop with all of 50 miles on it and had him install the KW1 suspension. Major difference and improvement over the S-Line suspension. The S-Line ride was nice, but not what I was looking for.

I was supposed to have the AWE FMIC, exhaust, and down pipe installed as well. BARTuning placed my order in mid July, and I find out that the parts are on back order(?!?!?). Considering I only have a limited time home before heading back overseas, getting these parts in a timely manner was pretty important to me. Hopefully AWE can get on this and get the parts out so I can give them my business. So in the meantime I was admiring John's set up on his A4 throughout the day while I was at the shop. Lucky man.

When I get back to Houston (if AWE can get my parts to me!) I'll give you a heads up. I believe I owe you a beer anyway, ha!

**martian421** · 09-21-2009 06:53 AM

Nice job!

Just curious, how much was everything after installation?

**John4378** · 09-21-2009 11:41 AM

PM Sent

**JasonR** · 09-21-2009 11:43 AM

The car looks great! Nice job with the painted valence.

**macuser** · 09-21-2009 12:09 PM

Originally Posted by 1_clean_Audi

wow that intercooler is huge!!! congrats on the new modd!

question where did you get the euro plate filler?

the euro plate filler is under your plate delete. Just take it off and it will be there.

Hey John, in order to get rid of the lag off the line, do you think it was the exhaust or fmic (or both) that fixed this issue? Thanks

**John4378** · 09-21-2009 12:43 PM

That's a good question Mac. But without having tested the components on the car individually there's no way for me to answer that question intelligently.

Perhaps an AWE representative can chime in with their input. Also, maybe I'm the only one who was experiencing a bit of lag off the line in a 6MT car...that's the first question that should be asked / answered.