January 2012 Featured AZ'er: a408's 2002 A4
January 10, 2011 - Written by Richard Melick, Photos by Michael James Buchanan



User Name: a408
Real Name: Josh Esfahani
Location: San Jose, California, USA
Year of Vehicle: 2002
Model of Vehicle: A4 quattro
Engine of Vehicle: 1.8T
Color of Vehicle: Dolphin Gray

Close your eyes for a minute and imagine building your perfect turbo'd Audi A4. Think of all those aftermarket parts you'd stick inside that engine bay, from the front mount intercooler to the stronger engine mounts, and of course the insanely big turbo. Picture that laundry list of parts that span the headlights up front to the exhaust pipes in the back. What would you add to the car, get rid of, or replace in order to handle the increased power load?

For Josh Esfahani (AKA: a408), that list is nearly all taken care of with his 2002 A4 1.8T. Purchased a little over three years ago, Josh was looking for something with good power such as a B5 S4, but was steered the way of an A4 by his father. With the stable platform, smaller power band, and better fuel efficiency, it was a perfect first step into the Audi scene. Although, Josh did get the craving for more power at one point and he actually ended up reverting the car back to stock so that he could get into a Mitsubishi EVO MR. But, the cards were luckily not in the right order, bringing him back to the light of the 4-rings. Since then it has been a massive climb from stock to the setup we see today.

Josh stands by one simple quote: "buy nice, or buy twice." With his dive into the heavy modifications needed to reach his power goal, it's a statement that quickly became associated with this A4. From the massive Precision PTE5857 Billet Turbo to the Borla exhaust, the Southbend Stage 4 clutch to the Halman Manual boost controller, little expense has been spared with each step in this car's transformation. It's is not to say that Josh started out with all of this in mind, as he initially had a GT28RS turbo installed, but he knew he wanted more power and set the goal to reach it... More

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