MTM Cantronic install and testing

[Voltrons_Head]

Alright so I spent some time this afternoon figuring out the install and testing of the stage 2 MTM Cantronic. This isn't meant to be a DIY so I'm not going into full installation detail. Here it goes.

The instructions that come with it are pretty bad. They are in German with English subtitles and literal translations. It's funny actually looking back on it though at the time it was a bit frustrating. The whole thing took about 1.5 hours including some confusion in the middle. My brother and I wound up calling Hoppen Motorsports where I spoke with Mike and he helped us out. Kudos to him for calling me back from his house as he wasn't working today. If I had to go back and do it again I think we could get it done in 35-45 minutes.

Prior to doing the install I did some before runs with the Gtech SS that I ordered. I was extremely surprised how fast the car was from the factory. Here is the test environment. S4 prestige/stronic/ads in dynamic mode. 20" Hartmann wheels with 255/30/20's. The car had 1/4 tank of gas and two passengers weighing 225lbs and 180lbs. Temperature was 30 degrees.

The best stock time was 4.76s 0-60. It was a number that I couldn't duplicate for the rest of the stock runs. The slowest time was 5.0s. It can consistently run 0-60 in the upper 4.8x's. I knew once I saw these times that I would need to include pics of the gtech screen. They are posted at the end of this write up.

The best post install run was 4.31s. Not only could I not duplicate that number for the rest of the runs, I couldn't even get close to it. The next best number was 4.58s. That was more like it. Mixed in the middle were a bunch of low 4.6x's. The slowest time so far was 4.69s.

So the end result being that pre-install the car consistently ran high 4.8x's and now it runs low 4.6x's. The net result being 2.5 tenths of a second decrease in 0-60. Needless to say I am very happy with it. The car is so obnoxiously fast now it's criminal. The 0-60 times don't really do the modification justice. It is faster in every real world test I can think of as well. I spent about an hour driving it home from my brothers house during which I went on highways, residential roads and a bit through the city. Every different driving scenario had a noticeable difference. Though I'd be naive to think that some of my "butt dyno" impressions aren't partly in my head.

Here are the screen shots of the gtech.

[AeroSmith]

Awesome.

That's pretty much what I experienced in the S5 Cabriolet: a consistent 2/10 second improvement in 0-60 times.

I notice your times start out fast and get a bit slower. Did you give the car/engine/SC a few moments between runs to cool down a bit? I noticed that helps.

Thanks for posting.

[Voltrons_Head]

I sorted them from lowest to highest so this isn't a good look at the fading of the performance. The only thing consistent was the fact the fastest times were both the first runs of the before and after.

[Voltrons_Head]

What I found most interesting was how fast the before runs were.

[rktskicar]

Do me a favor, run a HP run on your Gtech. Run first gear up to about 3K RPM then shift to 2nd and punch it until redline at top of 2nd. Take a pic of your HP graph from your Gtech. Same thing holds for Aerosmith.

Mine Stock, Gtech RR, seeing about 275 RHP in 2nd gear.



Thanks,
Bruce

[Voltrons_Head]

No problem. I must say that looking at the HP measurements during the 0-60 runs didn't really do anything for me. They were all over the place when comparing the different runs. I'll have to crack the book open again and look at the HP run part to see what it's all about. Then I'll do the comparo for you.

[rktskicar]

No problem. I must say that looking at the HP measurements during the 0-60 runs didn't really do anything for me. They were all over the place when comparing the different runs. I'll have to crack the book open again and look at the HP run part to see what it's all about. Then I'll do the comparo for you.

The HP run is very different a than 0-60 run. The HP run is intended to measure HP over a single gear run.

Bruce

[Synergy]

Awesome post! Please keep us updated as you drive the car more. Im really interested to see how the car performs all around.

Thanks!

[JetBlue]

It makes sense that the car would be fastest in the first run since there is no heat soak. If you were to space the runs out by an hour they would probably be closer to your initial run for stock and non stock.

[Voltrons_Head]

There was a definite performance fade in the before runs while the after runs were much more consistent excluding the first run of 4.31s.

[AeroSmith]

As an aside, am I the only one who thinks that 0-60 in 4.6s is SERIOUSLY fast for a four door sedan that costs one half as much as an S8 (not to mention the V8 R8)? The V6T/S-tronic quattro is one SICK drive train.

[L0U]

maybe you can give a general feeling of any changes in gas mileage too. The 4.31 run must have been quite a ride on the butt dyno for feel eh.

4.6 is rs4 territory in the end.

[Ynnekdude]

maybe you can give a general feeling of any changes in gas mileage too. The 4.31 run must have been quite a ride on the butt dyno for feel eh.

4.6 is rs4 territory in the end.

4.6 is in Carrera S territory. 4.6 is FASTTTTT. It's unreal to think a ~4000lb car can pull off a 4.6 0-60.

[Voltrons_Head]

maybe you can give a general feeling of any changes in gas mileage too. The 4.31 run must have been quite a ride on the butt dyno for feel eh.

4.6 is rs4 territory in the end.

I will once i reset the mpg meter. It is seriously jacked from all the 0-60 runs. I think it says 13.5 mpg now even after driving today.

[Voltrons_Head]

Yeah man. I'm with you. I'm also glad that you got it done and posted about it because I was really on the fence and that is what pushed me over. It's a big difference though the power delivery has remained silky smooth. You blink and your doing 90.

[Voltrons_Head]

The 4.31 reading, as much as I wish it was real, was probably an anomaly with the gtech itself. Or for whatever reason the car just had the perfect run that time. There have been quite a few more runs after I posted this and I'm able to do low 4.6x's even high 4.5x's but 4.31, no way.

[NWS4Guy]

4.6 is in Carrera S territory. 4.6 is FASTTTTT. It's unreal to think a ~4000lb car can pull off a 4.6 0-60.

Don't worry, it's still only a ~333 hp car

[SupraBlur]

4.6 is in Carrera S territory. 4.6 is FASTTTTT. It's unreal to think a ~4000lb car can pull off a 4.6 0-60.

It IS definitely fast although 0-60 is always skewed when dealing with AWD because it takes into consideration a launch advantage. In other words, given a rolling start, the Carrera S is probably noticeably faster, as is the overall sensation of acceleration during normal (meaning not limited by traction) driving conditions.

But yes, credit where credit is due, that is definitely faster than the V8.

[Voltrons_Head]

How do you feel about your AWE downpipe and Milltek exhaust? I'm exploring other tuning options. I know my options will be different than yours but I'm still curious to know. Thanks.

[Ynnekdude]

Don't worry, it's still only a ~333 hp car

I'm confused...

It IS definitely fast although 0-60 is always skewed when dealing with AWD because it takes into consideration a launch advantage. In other words, given a rolling start, the Carrera S is probably noticeably faster, as is the overall sensation of acceleration during normal (meaning not limited by traction) driving conditions.

But yes, credit where credit is due, that is definitely faster than the V8.

I think the Carrera S would likely be faster 0-60 and on a roll with a good driver. I was simply saying the S4 w/MTM tune is in Carrera S "territory" as a compliment to the OP as he has one fast automobile!

[imolar]

I'm confused...

I think he meant that with sarcasm and maybe even a shot at someone from other horsepower discussion threads, but don't want to put too many words in his mouth either.

[NWS4Guy]

I think he meant that with sarcasm and maybe even a shot at someone from other horsepower discussion threads, but don't want to put too many words in his mouth either.

No, you got it pretty dead on ;)

[Ynnekdude]

No, you got it pretty dead on ;)

I guess I need to keep up on the horsepower thread then!

[ahhhudi]

Very impressive. This platform will have plenty to explore in the future and get significantly faster still.

[sakimano]

As an aside, am I the only one who thinks that 0-60 in 4.6s is SERIOUSLY fast for a four door sedan that costs one half as much as an S8 (not to mention the V8 R8)? The V6T/S-tronic quattro is one SICK drive train.

nope...it is indeed fast...especially considering that it weighs 4000lbs.

4.6 seconds is what the RS6 accelerated to 60mph in back in 2003...and back then that was ABSURD from a big 4000+lb 4 door. It was comparable to the Ferrari V12 GT car, and that made everyone laugh.

Amazing stuff.

[Voltrons_Head]

Yeah dude. It's faster than you can use on the streets. Stupid fast in fact.

[sakimano]

4.6 is in Carrera S territory. 4.6 is FASTTTTT. It's unreal to think a ~4000lb car can pull off a 4.6 0-60.

then...what's a Porsche Panamera Turbo? 0-60mph 3.2 seconds

[John4378]

then...what's a Porsche Panamera Turbo? 0-60mph 3.2 seconds

$132,600 base MSRP vs. $48k for S4
500HP vs. ~333HP (Porsche understates their HP as well so no use guessing)

0-60mph is 4.0 / 3.8 with sport chrono package....not 3.2 vs. 4.9?


For about $80-$85k difference in price I'm sure you can make that S4 more powerful and faster than a Panamera Turbo (which is also one fugly car IMHO).

Now, I can pick up a 2004 low miles 996 Porsche Turbo or GT2 for low $60k range...I'd much rather do that if I didn't have to worry about a car seat, lol.

[ahhhudi]

$132,600 base MSRP vs. $48k for S4
500HP vs. ~333HP (Porsche understates their HP as well so no use guessing)

0-60mph is 4.0 / 3.8 with sport chrono package....not 3.2 vs. 4.9?

Ok, so maybe not 3.2.... but certainly 3.3 out of the Panamera Turbo (and in the 11s for the quarter)...stock...
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...urbo-road_test

... faster than their 911 Turbo.

But enough of the tangents... back on topic...

B8 S4... MTM...

[s-4man]

who cares about 0-60 times... the diff is like a bumper when comparing 4.3 to 4.6! lets see some 1/4mile times!

[John4378]

The times I quoted for that Panamera Turbo came from Porsche's website...that's all I got.

I already have a car that does 0-60mph in 4.1 seconds if I really need to, since my Lotus has the ForcedFed 275 turbo kit on it

[ahhhudi]

who cares about 0-60 times... the diff is like a bumper when comparing 4.3 to 4.6! lets see some 1/4mile times!

I say forget about the 1/4 mile test as well and do it the way Europeans do and run it for 1 kilometer. That would be really nice.

[- Jeremy -]

I say forget about the 1/4 mile test as well and do it the way Europeans do and run it for 1 kilometer. That would be really nice.

I say do it like the Europeans do and run it on the Nurburgring. ;)

Can't wait to get mine...

- Jeremy -

[i_eat_staples]

awesome, cant wait to see what unfolds for the b8 platform. Whatever happens, i'm sure it will be more exciting than the b6/7 platform for the first ~5 1/2 years it was out :P

[L0U]

yeah...bring on the gtech 1/4 mile. if stock was 13.2....did mtm break into the 12s?

[NWS4Guy]

yeah...bring on the gtech 1/4 mile. if stock was 13.2....did mtm break into the 12s?

Well if it doesn't there is a serious issue with it I would say.

[Voltrons_Head]

Once I can find a place to run her up over 100 from a stand still I'll post the results.

[rktskicar]

Once I can find a place to run her up over 100 from a stand still I'll post the results.

Save your Gtech run and post up HP vs time curve as well.

Thanks,
Bruce

[AofC_RR]

Once I can find a place to run her up over 100 from a stand still I'll post the results.

Come down south I know some spots
Thanks for posting the gtech stuff, very interesting! What a great car this new S4 is!