RAudiB7A4's Progression Thread

[malathion]

Any update ? Also, any work on the rear fenders at all or just the fronts ?

[malathion]

Saw this on my local Craigslist, looks like they are using your photos http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/5584059729.html

Wonder what the car actually looks like in person that they are selling ?

[DanKing]

Saw this on my local Craigslist, looks like they are using your photos http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/5584059729.html

Wonder what the car actually looks like in person that they are selling ?

Lolz ... people are so fucking dumb

[spennyb7]

Lolz ... people are so fucking dumb

"All service was done at the Audi specialist mechanic shop." Such a great sentence hahaha I'd buy it just because it says that in the ad...doesn't matter what it looks like

Also, "rebuilt title" ? People are so dumb.

[miA4]

Chino Hills, car has no front tag, the houses behind it definitely are not from CA.... I wonder what reaching out to the "seller" would yield.

[L'Audi]

Chino Hills, car has no front tag, the houses behind it definitely are not from CA.... I wonder what reaching out to the "seller" would yield.

"I'm selling for the car for my nephew who is overseas..."

"Send me your banking info..."

"Send via PayPal as a gift..."


Pick one.

[Copen-cisco]

I just emailed him for more info and pics. We shall see.

[spennyb7]

I just emailed him for more info and pics. We shall see.

This should be good

[RAudiB7A4]

Hey everybody, Alex Bellus came down to Rochester Friday night for my first photo shoot of my A4. His work is simply stunning. I'll add more as I get them. Enjoy!
AZB_8185RAW_2 by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_8148RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_8031RAW_1 by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_8020RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_7979RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_7969RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_7947RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_7939RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_7555RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_7530RAW_1 by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_7425RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

[scottkollig]

Damn, those are some pretty shots.

[ThewhippetsS5]

Hey everybody, Alex Bellus came down to Rochester Friday night for my first photo shoot of my A4. His work is simply stunning. I'll add more as I get them. Enjoy!
AZB_7425RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

I absolutely love this picture. Great build!

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[RAudiB7A4]

Damn, those are some pretty shots.

I agree! Alex is a very talented dude!

I absolutely love this picture. Great build!

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As do I, thanks!

[DanKing]

need some recaros in that beauty

[RAudiB7A4]

need some recaros in that beauty

I've been pushing that with the wife, haha!

[Noel Artiles]

Boss she's looking good.

[RAudiB7A4]

Boss she's looking good.

Thanks man! There is more to come, specifically a few more rollers!

[RAudiB7A4]

Another...
AZB_7864RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

[RAudiB7A4]

And dat booty!
AZB_7914RAW_1 by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

[RAudiB7A4]

Damn...
AZB_8058RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

[DeathBlow]

Wow.... Car looks great!

[RickB_7]

The height of your passenger seat in all these pics bothers me. That is all. Car looks good.

[RAudiB7A4]

Wow.... Car looks great!

Thanks!

The height of your passenger seat in all these pics bothers me. That is all. Car looks good.

Yeah not much I can do about that. My 10 month old son's rear facing car seat is behind my passenger seat. My two year old daughter's front facing car seat is behind my drivers side which gives me enough room to drive. I'm 6'2" so rear facing behind my seat just doesn't work. Haha

[RAudiB7A4]

Few more...
AZB_7606RAW_1 by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_7924RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_7931RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_8086RAW by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_7734RAW_1 by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
AZB_7761RAW_2 by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

[Okedokey]

I've been pushing that with the wife, haha!

Rule #22

[4Rings3Liters]

Great looking car, thought about tinting the windows?

[RAudiB7A4]

Great looking car, thought about tinting the windows?

They're already tinted and measure out between 38-41% according to the 2 different troopers that have pulled me over. Haha. MN state law is 50%.

[jerseybrian]

good shit

[Mr.Wrong]

Incredible photography and the ride looks awesome as always

[RAudiB7A4]

Thanks guys! So I went to Eurowerks 16 last weekend and made the video at 3:52!

[tyrer]

Looks unreal rolling


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[dalmation53]

The height of your passenger seat in all these pics bothers me. That is all. Car looks good.

Lol i was wondering the same thing. He explained i guess we can forgive him.

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[RAudiB7A4]

Damn, I always forget about this thread and it's linked in my signature.

So this last fall, in October to be exact, I was hearing some kind of noise coming from inside the engine bay when going through the rev range but nothing at idle. I couldn't see anything going on when inspecting but in all honesty I didn't really tear into it much. Just kind of looked around.

Well that was a mistake. On my way home from work on the last Friday in October my battery light came on and I lost my power steering. So I pretty much knew that my accessory belt blew. So I limped it home and popped the hood to find my belt perfectly in tact laying in the engine bay. I could see that my idler(tensioner) pulley was crooked. So Saturday morning I tore into it and removed the pulley assembly, but the pulley didn't come with it...
Bad Idler Pulley by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

I had to pull and pry at the pulley to get it unstuck from the timing belt cover...
Hole in Timing Belt Cover by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

Turns out the pulley was so bad it wore a hole in my timing belt cover and chewed into my timing belt!
Damaged Timing Belt Cover by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
Frayed Timing Belt by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
Timing Belt by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

So I replaced the pulley and belt and fired it up, immediate CEL, and not a good one to have...
P0016 by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

FUCK.

Took the car to the shop to find out what the damage was and sure enough some debris had fallen in between the timing belt and crank shaft pulley and caused the car to jump timing................. By one tooth!

Since there was no damage to the valve train we were able to just do a full timing belt service (2nd timing belt @ 130k, first was done @ 80k) & new cover, replaced another bad accessory belt pulley, and did a thermostat service since it had never been done. After all of this the car was running good again.

Now I should say that I pretty much only drive this car to work (15 miles each way) and car events (in the summer). 99% of the time I'm going anywhere with the wife and kids we take the SUV. So I only put about 1,500 miles max on the car before this next incident...

In early January here in MN we had a cool spell where the highs were in the negative single digits and lows around -25 below. I have an unheated garage and after the car sat all weekend in these temps I went to start it up to go to work and it sounded HORRIBLE. Like someone threw a bag of rocks in my engine... Low oil pressure light...

Turn the car off, and then back on... Same thing. Repeat 3 or 4 times until FINALLY oil starts recirculating and the car sounds ALMOST normal, but now I have a new very audible ticking sound coming from the back of the motor towards the firewall.

At this point I was pretty sure that I had just ruined my motor via oil starvation.

I dropped the kids off at daycare and off to work I went taking it nice and easy. After work I ran down to the shop to have my local guy look at it. I told him what happened and we listened around with a stethoscope and sure enough the sound was coming from the cam chain cover. So I was relieved that my motor wasn't making the noise and we were pretty sure it was the cam chain tensioner.

I had to come up with some cash and a way to tell the wife that my car was very broken, again, only 2 months after it being very broken last time. This had to be handled with kid gloves...

Long story short I got my finances in order and was somehow able to baby the car along for a month before getting it into the shop last Thursday. I lucked out! The cam chain tensioner came out in couple of different pieces...
Cam Chain Tensioner by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

Couple of peices up top in this pic
Broken Cam Chain Tensioner by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

This is how you know it was expensive...
Cam Girdle by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

We also installed an updated oil pick up tube (not pictured) to make sure that I will never run into this issue again.

Then as a little added bonus we added this baby and an updated APR flash into the mix...
APR HPFP by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
Stock VS's APR HPFP by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

Now, a week after getting the car back on the road and letting the new tune adapt for the upgraded HPFP the car has completely TRANSFORMED! This is by and far the strongest and most healthy the car has ever felt. I wasn't totally convinced the HPFP and tune were worth the cost right away, that's probably what held me back for so long in the first place, but now I really wish I had done this a LONG time ago.

I never realized how much the APR Stage 2 flash sucked until updating the HPFP. Where the old tune used to just be a huge spike of torque followed by an absolutely pitiful top end, 2+ is just stronger and smoother through out the entire power band. The top end doesn't seem to fall off like it did before. It's just a million times smoother and more refined feeling. It truly feels like this car should have from the factory.

If anyone is on the fence about going with the HPFP upgrade just DO IT! You won't regret it. I would say it's similar to the difference of going from stage 1 to stage 2 but it just feels.... Healthy.

I know this was kind of long winded but a lot has happened in the last few months with the car. Now after doing the 2+ upgrade I'm really having a difficult time not just ordering up the JHM Stage 2 93 octane tune. I have read so much about it that I think I might just have to do it. The biggest thing holding me back at this point is the logistics of getting the tune and losing my APR mobile which has fault code erase which is INSANELY convenient. So I know I will have to order up a vag-com if I do the JHM tune so I have to factor that into the cost. I run 93 octane 100% of the time so knowing a 13.59 second 1/4 mile and launch control makes the temptation almost overwhelming!!!

[Operator]

I know this was kind of long winded but a lot has happened in the last few months with the car. Now after doing the 2+ upgrade I'm really having a difficult time not just ordering up the JHM Stage 2 93 octane tune. I have read so much about it that I think I might just have to do it. The biggest thing holding me back at this point is the logistics of getting the tune and losing my APR mobile which has fault code erase which is INSANELY convenient. So I know I will have to order up a vag-com if I do the JHM tune so I have to factor that into the cost. I run 93 octane 100% of the time so knowing a 13.59 second 1/4 mile and launch control makes the temptation almost overwhelming!!!

I feel your pain, on headache, followed by another headache. And having to tell the wife "hey, I know the car was just fixed, but I have to fix it again....". Glad you're back up and running!

As for swapping tunes and losing the code reader. I use Logworks with my iPhone, and it has fault code erase, and of course other logging options.

[RAudiB7A4]

I feel your pain, on headache, followed by another headache. And having to tell the wife "hey, I know the car was just fixed, but I have to fix it again....". Glad you're back up and running!

As for swapping tunes and losing the code reader. I use Logworks with my iPhone, and it has fault code erase, and of course other logging options.

Yeah that was not a fun conversation. I'll look into Logworks. I've never heard of it. Losing those features going to JHM is something that is definitely holding me back so this might just be the thing that pushes me over the edge. Thanks man!

[RAudiB7A4]

We are in a warm spell right now so I decided to pop my summers on with my new 235/35 PSS tires (up from 225/35 Hankook V12's last year) to see how much room I have to go lower. The fitment is so good I don't think I'll drop it back down again this year. I'm right around 24" FTG all around...
Untitled by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
BP Station PSS Fitment by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
PSS BP Station by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
PSS Side by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
PB Station PSS Fitment 3 by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
BP PSS Fitment 2 by Tony Mollert, on Flickr
PSS Butt by Tony Mollert, on Flickr

[impulse]

Commenting on this so I can read it another day. I never knew you had a build thread! Haha I need to scroll the forums more huh


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[RAudiB7A4]

Commenting on this so I can read it another day. I never knew you had a build thread! Haha I need to scroll the forums more huh


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Haha, you might be dissapointed...

[JHignight]

How's the ride comparatively between the 225/35 and 235/35 tires?

Car looks great and I like the functional methodology you've stuck with over the years.

[RAudiB7A4]

How's the ride comparatively between the 225/35 and 235/35 tires?

Car looks great and I like the functional methodology you've stuck with over the years.

Well I only put about 200 miles on them so far, and goin from a 225 Hankook to a 235 Michelin is kind of like going up two tires sizes instead of one because Michelin's run wide. That being said, the Michelin's feel AMAZING. The ride is fantastic, the road noise is super low, and the grip is unbelievable! Both wet and dry grip is light years better than the Hankooks and that's on dirty Minnesota roads with sand all over them. Really the biggest determining factor for me if these tires are worth it is how long they last. I usually get between 25-30K miles out of the Hankooks with a 320 treadwear rating and the Michelin's have a 300... So if I get 20k out of them I'll be perfectly happy. Time will tell!

[rowanta]

>j

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