I am looking at upgrading my 1996 A4 Quattro with the 30-valve engine. I need something I can bolt on that balances performance with reliability. I surfed the web and found a product offered by "Performance Engineered Systems (PES).<p>http://www.pes-tuning.com/<p>Their system claims to boost power from 190 HP to 280HP. Is this a good product? Is there something better out there that I haven't found?<p>Thank you in advance for any assistance.<p>Regards, <p>Mark<br>

Welcome,<p>Spend some time wandering around this site - especially explore the forum archives. Just about all you ever wanted to know about the PES can be found.<p>From all acounts the PES is an extremely good system that does not affect reliability or mileage. It does apparently achieve 280 HP and is good for daily driving as well as the track.<p>However, I was of the understanding that all '96 models had the 12 valve 2.8 rather han the 30v 2.8 that was introduced in '97. Do you have the number of valves wrong? - or the year of the car? - or is it me? If you have the 12v engine the PES won't do you any good.<p>Enjoy A4.org,<p>Gordon Martin<br>98.5 2.8QMS (Santorin Blue)<br>

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My mistake, the car in question is a 97 A4. Are there any alternatives to the PES system? What is the manyfacturer of the new supercharger for the 12v V6? Do they have one for the 30v V6?<p>Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Production of 2.8 A4s in 1996 and 1997 were the 12v engines. The 1998 to present 2.8s have 30v engines. From what I've heard, you can bolt on the 30v heads but you are still not going to benefit from the PES Supercharger because you have a Hitachi ECU not the Bosch Motronics system ECU that is in the true 30v engines. The software upgrade the PES system uses on the 30v engine is only for this Bosch ECU.<br>One of the main reasons no one has come out with a system for the 12v cars sooner is that the Hitachi ECU is much more difficult to reprogram.<br>There is a 12v supercharger in the works, however I don't know how they have addressed the ECU issue. Basically without adressing the fuel systems, added air won't do you any good above a certain level (220 on up or thereabouts).<br>As far as bolt on power, there are options for internal increases that are available now. I have the Vortrag ported and polished heads and intake. About 200hp estimated from flow bench testing and comparison to 30v performance. At this level, I have increased air flow but the stock ECU is still able to adapt the fuel needs to produce a gain. Further airflow increases (future upgrades planned) will require ECU or other internal changes to address the fuel needs, etc.<br>Hope that helps a little.<br>-Cathleen (modified 2.8 12v)