A4 Centaur's Build Thread

[A4 Centaur]

Had a cars and coffee meet last weekend at the Hogback, which is a actually a fault line from around 75mya, I think its called the Dakota Fault? Anyway, drove to Blackhawk with a few 'Ziners and SFerraro took some pics:





Shane's Allroad is absolutely killer looking!

[A4 Centaur]

Did C-Quartz last week, and I am pretty amazed of how this stuff works:

Sad I waited so long to do it:



A little more than a 1/3 of a 50ml bottle did my whole Avant. I had done a wash, clay bar and previously did a 3M buff and correction prior to applying the C-Quartz.

[farbaj]

Update on the K04-R, made adjustments to the wastegate, and the car holds boost as designed! Been cruising around on 100 Octane for the last week, and I am really enjoying the set-up. I've been working on getting my launches right, and will return to the strip in spring. Still need to get up on the dyno, and I have a transmission fluid change coming up in a few weeks. I've done the transmission fluid at: 25k, 67k and now around 90k. With oil and filter changes at 5k intervals. I really think fluid changes help maintain the engine and transmission life. But others would argue its not needed so often.

Working on putting together a Snow meth kit for this winter:



Going to plastic weld two meth bottles together and hide them in the space below the windshield and firewall. The nozzle is going post-FMIC in the adapter above and well before the Throttle Body.

What tune are you running?

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[A4 Centaur]

^ APR K04 file for now, but will probably switch over to United Motorsports after the W/M is up and running.

[AUDacIouS4]

^ APR K04 file for now, but will probably switch over to United Motorsports after the W/M is up and running.

You have One of the nicest B8 Avants I've seen. Nice work! I'm glad your K04 is dialed in. Good idea on the Cerakote, that stuff is bulletproof. You won free dyno time at Blue water right? I'm about ready to have UM tune my big turbo, they are good with those setups.
when I was st SEMA, I talked to the owner of Devils OWN and they have a really nice meth controller kit coming out that can control a dual nozzle setup better than the Snow stage 2. If you haven't bought a kit yet I would check that out first.
Our cars are almost twins, I ordered some Q5 brembos a month ago and they are getting epoxied Imola yellow. I've always had a thing for black and yellow.

[A4 Centaur]

^ Thanks much! Those Brembo's are good kit! I will look into the Devil's Own as I am concerned about the shape and color and size of the Snow controller. I'm looking at hiding it on the Knee Bolster below the steering wheel. That way it's somewhat out of sight. Don't want it on the steering column for sure.

Back to those Brembo's, they really are a solid brake set-up. My GF has them on the Q5 and they work real well! I also was impressed on the new Allroad which has them as well. I would have probably done those, or the AP Radical kit. I just love the BBK look though especially when they are painted.

I still need to schedule my dyno time which yes I won back in what August? Shees, need to get off my ass and get over there. Haha.

[sferraro]

Had a cars and coffee meet last weekend at the Hogback, which is a actually a fault line from around 75mya, I think its called the Dakota Fault? Anyway, drove to Blackhawk with a few 'Ziners and SFerraro took some pics:





Shane's Allroad is absolutely killer looking!

Good times cruising with you, Jim! Car looks great, man.

[avantagg]

Jim, your ride is the Deathstar of Avants. Always love seeing your updates!

[A4 Centaur]

^ Chris, likewise! Shane, we got some awesome rides going!

[A4 Centaur]

Decided to throw the rings up on the box. had them laying around for a few years, and wasn't good do rings and the Quattro stickers:

[Poodini]

Decided to throw the rings up on the box. had them laying around for a few years, and wasn't good do rings and the Quattro stickers:

Looks solid! Not overbearing and just the right color


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[A4 Centaur]

^ Thanks much!

[vdubjetta02]

someday I'll make it to a cars and coffee so we can meet.... my avant was in the shop most of fall getting worked on so I missed a lot of events.

[A4 Centaur]

Got my new 380mm Stoptech Rotors today:



I have had the current set-up on the Avant for about 5 years. Lot's of hard braking and running on the Interstate, up and down the hill here. Very satisfied with the longevity of the rotors in general.



Got to get them on and bedded in, and I would say, I can't emphasize the importance of this process. With race pads, this set-up will pull the eyeballs out of your sockets!

[AUDacIouS4]

Nice!! I hesitatedto get the BBK in anything bigger than 345mm since most 18's won't fit over anything bigger.
I'm glad to see you track your avant, you and I are a rare breed. Now all you need is my Home Depot Rigid Vacuum parts brake ducts!!
Aaaahhhh yeaaaahhhh!!


By the way, the Porsche Macan turbo brake ducts(In photo) snap right on to our tie rods since it's the same chassis. $25 for the set on ECS.

[A4 Centaur]

^ Excellent! I have been wanting to do the NACA ducts like Qua77ro did a few years ago on his white Avant.

Now that it's wintertime I am good, but hopefully between the meth set-up and other projects I can get it going before track season is back.

[A4 Centaur]

Worked on getting the rotors swapped out. Looking at the slots in the rotor and the corroded vanes inside after 5 HARD years of use, it was time for freshness metal!






Will get to bed-in the brakes today with 15 or so HIGH speed 60 to 0 braking maneuvers. Need to find a quiet spot with no traffic.

[Poodini]

^^ that’s PURTY!


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[A4 Centaur]

Haha

[A4 Centaur]

After ruining 2 RS Grills in the span of a weeks time, I decided to go back to the A4 S-Line blackout Grill.

Then another forum member CAWagon offered an S4 Blackout grill:



Chris hooked us up with the vendor for the S-Line badge:




Might go with a Stonecarbon version grill later this year, but after all the money lost with the RS grills, and the road debris that caused the damage, I am not sure.

[BeerBrent]

Love it!

[A4 Centaur]

^Thanks!

[shellraider]

Agreed, Centaur your car is gorgeous.

[Midnight Storm]

Decided to throw the rings up on the box. had them laying around for a few years, and wasn't good do rings and the Quattro stickers:

Do you remember where you got this set?

Thanks!

[A4 Centaur]

Audi Decal - OEM Four-Ring Logo w. Jet Black to Silver Gradient Design (1 Pair)

Found them on eBay

[The Infiltrator]

After ruining 2 RS Grills in the span of a weeks time, I decided to go back to the A4 S-Line blackout Grill.

Then another forum member CAWagon offered an S4 Blackout grill:



Chris hooked us up with the vendor for the S-Line badge:




Might go with a Stonecarbon version grill later this year, but after all the money lost with the RS grills, and the road debris that caused the damage, I am not sure.

That's an S4 grille, base and S-Line have the same grille. I found this out when I changed my grille for the stock grey S4 grille.

That being said... were are the pics of the install?

[A4 Centaur]

^ Pics are coming, but I think the S4 Grill is a little different than the Blackout S-Line I had from the factory:



My Avant came with the S-Line and Sport Package and its gill has big bars, the S4 Grill does not.

[The Infiltrator]

^ Pics are coming, but I think the S4 Grill is a little different than the Blackout S-Line I had from the factory:



My Avant came with the S-Line and Sport Package and its gill has big bars, the S4 Grill does not.

Because the non S-Line and S-Line share the same grille and protrude horizontally. The S4 bars protrude vertical. I did a lot of looking around when I did my S-Line body conversion. The S4 grille looks better but that's just me and why I went that route on my build. Nice choice!

[CAWagon]

The S4 Grille with S-Line badge looks great. My car is not an S-Line and the Quattro badge just didn’t look like. I love Centaur’s car and looking forward to seeing the Grille installed. Nice work.


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[A4 Centaur]

^ Thank you again! I'll get pics soon.

[vdubjetta02]

I would love to ride in your car sometime to compare it to my APR stage 2 Avant. I am trying to figure out if the extra money for the K04, FMIC, additional tune cost is worth it. Pretty happy ripping up the canyons at stage 2 right now but having a 2+ Golf R previously, there is a pretty big power gap between the two vehicles (with weight playing a factor also)

[A4 Centaur]

^ Haha! Well, it's worth it if you are addicted to modding like me. The B8/ 8.5 is a great platform but heavy, and I wanted to continue to take the power to levels that she should have been equipped with from the factory.

I would say I went high on the cost factor, when I could have saved a bunch doing it the less expensive route. My choice of FMIC was way too high. Too many APR upgrades and that would have saved me a bunch of money since I went Stage 1, Stage II, then stage II+ (Which was on $50) then the K04 Tune. But a lot of options were not available when I picked her up in January 2012.

All things considered, I have been doing similar mods to many other types of vehicles in the same way. I have used a phased or progressive approach which again is not cost effective, but keeps me interested and tinkering and enjoying working on the vehicle over time. Plus I didn't have the money, since the Ducati and other hobbies compete so heavily with my car addiction.

Since my Avant is a keeper, I'll explore a short block or fresh head in the near future from IE, and meth is going in soon too. The only way I would part with this car would be if ANA brings the B9 S4 Avant. But that will ruin my personal life and I will be back in an apartment eating my favorite Shin Ramyun noodles for dinner http://https://www.amazon.com/Ramyun.../dp/B000VQD4Z6

It looks like a Golf R turbo solution is around the corner, and Loba has this figured out was well, but that is an expensive kit, with the FP costing over $600 alone. Might be worth a look if you have the money laying around.

My advice is to go big if you plan on keeping her, a strong and durable turbo, FMIC from treadstone and a tune aren't so costly that it will break the bank. You are looking at around what $3000?

[A4 Centaur]

Put in the cluster with the S5 Logo showing and really like the look except the poser effect of the S5 logo:



Got the small S-Line badge to cover it up and finished up the gauge swap:



Put in the S5 Cluster with gray faces, and I like the "roundel" look with the chrome trim better than the flat face A4 cluster.

[A4 Centaur]

Ok, so after a few years of the 5000k Phillips bulbs, I decided to take a chance on the Osram CBB 7000k bulbs:



Lot of positive comments from folks who are actually using the CBB's or the CBI's. I can say they are absolutely very very white.

They match the LED brightness which I have dialed up to around 75% brightness. Pics coming.

[A4 Centaur]

Can't really tell much from the potato pic:



But they are nice and white. Thanks for the guidance!

Here is a picture of the Phillips 5000K bulb from a few years ago:

[A4x]

Nice^^^ need some night shots of the CBBs. Mine were supposed to be delivered 2 days ago but are stuck with USPS 10 minutes down the road!!

The gauge cluster looks sweet!

[Nano909]

Came here for info on the JHM K04-R and what file to run. I want to stick with APR since that's what I'm currently using. Looks like I have a lot of reading to do.

[Poodini]

Put in the cluster with the S5 Logo showing and really like the look except the poser effect of the S5 logo:



Got the small S-Line badge to cover it up and finished up the gauge swap:



Put in the S5 Cluster with gray faces, and I like the "roundel" look with the chrome trim better than the flat face A4 cluster.

Gotta give it up man! Where did you get those S5 instrument dials?!! Looks NOIYCE!!


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[Poodini]

Came here for info on the JHM K04-R and what file to run. I want to stick with APR since that's what I'm currently using. Looks like I have a lot of reading to do.

Per Jake @ JHM. They’ve found that APR’s K04 file seems to be the ticket as far as tune-matching. That said, there’s def wiggle room left on the table for further tweeking so if you have a local custom tuner, you may wanna reach out, give them what you’re running/goals and see what they could do.


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[A4 Centaur]

Yea, Bluewater Performance said I should go with the United Motorsports tune. But at another $700 I am not sure I wanna lay down the dough for it yet.