B7 S4 to RS4 Avant Build

[dsgray16]

Figured I would start a new build thread now that this project is nearing completion.

What a journey..

Post up if you want more detail on any one aspect of this build. While I had one shop do the motor and another do the body work, I was still very much involved in just about every aspect of this build from a process standpoint.. wanting to know what was being done, or making sure certain things were addressed... and most importantly.. procuring annoying to find RS4 parts from the US and Germany. I'll try to offer some insight into what this build was like.. besides being too expensive

Overview: The car started life as 2008 S4 Avant with a tiptronic trans. I found the car in Kansas with 75k on the clock. Long story short (there is another thread for this car from its S4 days) I ran a 70 shot direct port wet shot nitrous system for about 6months.. blew the motor.. and that led to obvious conclusion that I should do an RS4 swap. Still can't justify it.. but I try.

RS4 motor was sourced from two different cars.. short block had 50k miles on it.. Heads had around 70k if I recall. Whole engine was torn down and rebuilt. New seals, oil pans, pumps, you name it.

RS4 motor was installed in July, 2016. Correct front mount had to be welded in, battery was relocated to the spare tire compartment. ECU's were mounted properly behind the firewall. The whole fuel system was changed from the tank forward to accommodate high pressure setup.

Power/Drive train and suspension mods:

6sp swap, JHM shifter trio, JHM limited slip rear diff, JHM R series pressure plate, light weight fly wheel, and 3R clutch. OEM RS4 shifter and boot.
SRP racing pedals. 034 trans mount, Apikol rear diff mount.

Suspension: KW V3 coilovers. HD control arms, adjustable uppers. 034 HD rear sway bar with adjustable end links. HD front sway bar mounts.

Engine: JHM 2.75 downpipes, no cats, EBWerks 2.75 exhaust, no cats, no resonators. Grouppe M intake, JHM LW crank pulley, 034 engine mounts. Tune will be done after the body work and will be a tune by United Motorsport in CT.

Wheels/tires: HRE P43SC 19x9.5 et 26 with Bridgestone Potenza 255/35/19 tires.

Brakes: Brembo GT's in front, JHM BBK in rear with EBC Redstuff pads.

Interior: Recaro Sportster CS seats, TTRS steering wheel. RS4 cluster and gauges. RS4 ebrake.

Body: RS4 hood, fenders, side skirts, European RS4 avant rear bumper, European style headlights with clear corners. Mars LED tail lights. Also of note, I have all the proper air ducting for brakes and cooling that sits behind the RS4 front bumper and connects to the underbody shield.

Finishing details: Argon Creative should (eventually ) be sending me a front CF splitter, CF rain tray, and a full set of CF RS4 badging.


Engine work: Redline Speed Worx, NJ

Body work: Frank's Auto Care, Hamden CT

Futures plans: drive it.. finally. I'll be attending as many cruises and shows on the East Coast as I can make time for.

We'll see how she feels all tuned, but I haven't ruled out a supercharger.. if do it, I'll probably go TTS.. TBD though!

The before shot..



The build:



















More to come..

[Mr.Wrong]

Can't wait to see this thing all intact in a proper photo sesh I do like where you're heading with this thing(TTS SC) That'll make it one bad ass Avant!

On another note, what made you go with UM tune(genuinely interested and not to start anything like some might assumelol)?

[dsgray16]

Can't wait to see this thing all intact in a proper photo sesh I do like where you're heading with this thing(TTS SC) That'll make it one bad ass Avant!

On another note, what made you go with UM tune(genuinely interested and not to start anything like some might assumelol)?

Jeff is local to me, and I may do a custom dyno tune as apposed to a bench tune. He is also a sponsor of Avantoberfest, and a good partner in that event.

Plus he just knows his shit, and I trust him to tune this car.

[bakedziti]

Love what I see, and huge undertaking! Congrats on the project being near completion.
Please tell me that's goodwood green too

[iconic78]

Is it green or black?


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[Chuuey]

Definitely one of the longest/craziest car journeys but, the end result is incredible.

Congrats, Dan. Your patience and perseverance is unmatched. Can't wait for your first drive!

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[dsgray16]

Is it green or black?


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It's Deep Green Metallic, aka Cambridge Green..

It's my understanding that it was a special order option for the RS4 in Europe. Very few examples out there.

It's got a ton of character and depth to it. It's dark green almost black in the shade, and the metal fleck really makes it pop in the sun.

[iconic78]

It's Deep Green Metallic, aka Greenwich Green..

It's my understanding that it was a special order option for the RS4 in Europe. Very few examples out there.

It's got a ton of character and depth to it. It's dark green almost black in the shade, and the metal fleck really makes it pop in the sun.

Very true. I've seen probably 2 maybe 3 with that color. 1 in the uk and the other in Germany.


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[Pat_McGroin]

So jealous man! Congrats bud! She looks amazing, I hope to see it in person one day.

[BCsniper]

I see you live up to your Instagram name....... @whiskeyandwagons



Car looks great Dan. It'll be great that you can drive it again. I still remember the video of the motor blowing way back when.....and S4 motor #2 and its failure. And the year long RS swap. I really hope you'll get a bunch of seat time in it again before you send it back to the shop for more goodies yet again.

[dsgray16]

I see you live up to your Instagram name....... @whiskeyandwagons



Car looks great Dan. It'll be great that you can drive it again. I still remember the video of the motor blowing way back when.....and S4 motor #2 and its failure. And the year long RS swap. I really hope you'll get a bunch of seat time in it again before you send it back to the shop for more goodies yet again.

Yeah I'll drive it a bunch between now and the winter.

[dsgray16]

Picked it up at the body shop today.. dropped it off at Excelerate for some exhaust and suspension tweaking. Picking it up again on Friday and detailing the f*** out of it.. will be at EuroFest at Lime Rock on Saturday. Hope to see others from AZ there!

[jhoward]

This is so cool to see finished! Sell it to me when you're done playing with it and ready to build another (seriously!)


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[Tony81]

What a fantastic job!! So amazing you were able to pull this off! Maybe once the RS4 makes a comeback here someone will make a B9 RS4 Avant


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[iconic78]

Well done on the build. Not an easy task.

Would look so much more cleaner/Euro if you did the roof rail delete option.


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[dsgray16]

Well done on the build. Not an easy task.

Would look so much more cleaner/Euro if you did the roof rail delete option.


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They don't bother me and I think it's kind of part of the look of the car.. I did consider it, along with a sunroof delete. The finish came out nice though (cerakote, Tungsten finish) and I think it works with the green.

[Chris@EPL]

I saw it yesterday in person and wow it is quite impressive. Well done.

[Pat_McGroin]

Picked it up at the body shop today.. dropped it off at Excelerate for some exhaust and suspension tweaking. Picking it up again on Friday and detailing the f*** out of it.. will be at EuroFest at Lime Rock on Saturday. Hope to see others from AZ there!

My oh my, she is beautiful!

[R&Cs4]

Congrats man, glad I could take those Ti wheels off your hands

Look forward to getting some shots of our RSs next to each other... lmk when you want to hit up Cars and Coffee.

[Hugh@EuropaParts]

Looks good Dan!

[iconic78]

You're running Brembo bbk's? Is that just the front? Also what's the interior?


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[dsgray16]

You're running Brembo bbk's? Is that just the front? Also what's the interior?


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Brembo GT BBK in front. JHM BBK going in today in rear. Eventually I'd like to do brembos in the back if I can get brackets made and sort the ebrake cable issue.

Interior is black. Recaro Sportster CS leather seats, TTRS wheel, and I have a CF RS4 weave trim set being made. I'll get RS door handles in a month or so. Otherwise, the only thing lacking inside will be the start button.

[MarcusDubya77]

Loooove it!

[iconic78]

Brembo GT BBK in front. JHM BBK going in today in rear. Eventually I'd like to do brembos in the back if I can get brackets made and sort the ebrake cable issue.

Interior is black. Recaro Sportster CS leather seats, TTRS wheel, and I have a CF RS4 weave trim set being made. I'll get RS door handles in a month or so. Otherwise, the only thing lacking inside will be the start button.

I have the parts you need! I'm breaking a whole Euro spec car.

I also need a rear brembo bbk ebrake solution. Happy to trade you for the brackets.

How do you find the fronts? I'm going for the 405mm with 6pot GT.


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[dsgray16]

I have the parts you need! I'm breaking a whole Euro spec car.

I also need a rear brembo bbk ebrake solution. Happy to trade you for the brackets.

How do you find the fronts? I'm going for the 405mm with 6pot GT.


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Euro spec RS4? I'm not even sure what I would need.. likely a kit designed to allow brembos in the rear of an S4.. keep in mind I still have the ebrake cable setup and rear calipers of an S4..

Redline Speed Worx did the brembos.. I only did a 380, but they offer more than enough stopping power.. this will never be a track car. Will have to see how the revamped rear setup changes things. Will be running EBC Redstuff pads with the JHM rotors.

[doug97gxe]

any interior shots? and since you had the motor apart.. did you ever think about going low compression built motor with turbo's?

[dsgray16]

any interior shots? and since you had the motor apart.. did you ever think about going low compression built motor with turbo's?

I'll be detailing it tonight, so I'll post some more shots and include the interior.

This build quickly snowballed from being a reasonable solution to a blown engine, into a complete money pit of a full swap.. just getting here took a lot work, luck, and stress.. while I haven't ruled out forced induction, nothing like that will happen till next year.

[CONative]

Words alone cannot describe this awesomeness of this build. I wish you lived closer so I could see this thing in person. Well done!


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[cmd4]

CONative summed it up perfect!! Perfect color too

[4RingRook]

Awesome build and end result. congrats and enjoy !

[dsgray16]

Picked it up tonight from getting the alignment and suspension adjustments done, as well as the exhaust alignment, rear BBK instal and Grouppe M instal.. then put about 4-5 hours into washing it and detailing it. Beat!

[Mr.Wrong]

^ this thing literally looks like brand spanking new and just rolled off the showroom Glad you went with this color choice hehe I can't stop drooling. And on top of it you're talking FI in the future, just insane!!! The coolest Avant on an entire forum, period.

[G18]

Picked it up tonight from getting the alignment and suspension adjustments done, as well as the exhaust alignment, rear BBK instal and Grouppe M instal.. then put about 4-5 hours into washing it and detailing it. Beat!

Congrats on an awesome build. Hope to see it in person at some point.

[melomandn]

Absolutely incredible, the color is gorgeous as well. Congrats!

[jeguzik]

Nooiiice!

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[dsgray16]

Thanks guys! Now to get the import things done like get the AC fixed! It's going to be 90 degrees again tomorrow and these bastards put off too much heat for that with just the windows down.

Next phase will be a tune.. possibly a custom dyno tune.. still working on details. She pulls hard now, so I'm looking forward to seeing what I can get out of this motor.

[Rubinator]

Honest to God, this is better than pornography.

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[i1overice]

Jesus this thing is proper. Looks amazing!

[Optiondoc]

You deserve an award for this. AZ Build of the year winner hands down. PS does or did your wife work for Saks corporate? I think our wifeys are friends.


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[dsgray16]

You deserve an award for this. AZ Build of the year winner hands down. PS does or did your wife work for Saks corporate? I think our wifeys are friends.


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Lol.. do you drive an S or RS5 and live down town?

Yes my wife Heather works at Saks