Hey everyone,

This post is just an update on some new mods I've done to the car and reviews on them. I'm going to index this entire post since it's going to be pretty long lol. Just want to share some useful information to the community. I'm also posting here some updated reviews on the previous mods I have posted here before. All the information/opinions/reviews below are based on weekend spirited drives through tight winding back roads and empty highways. For people that don't know, I have a 2005.5(B7)Audi S4 - 6 speed.


Mods:

<B>1:</B> OEM RS4 wheels (guide on best way to fit them in the S4 fenders)

<B>2:</B> Toyo Proxes T1-R to Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R comparison

<B>3:</B> Tein SS Coilover Suspension

<B>4:</B> Hotchkis RS4 Sway Bars (front &amp; rear)

<B>5:</B> OEM RS4 Front Brakes/Stoptech Rear Rotors &amp; SS Lines

<B>6:</B> Labree Down Pipes &amp; Cat-Back Exhaust - high-flow cats/resonated)

<B>7:</B> Revo Race ECU

<B>8:</B> K&amp;N Replacement Air Filter

<B>9:</B> APR Snub Mount

<B>10:</B> KMD Short Throw Shifter

<B>11:</B> Redline Transmission Oil



Aside from that I have some charts that I will be explaining. They are the following:

<B>12:</B> Wheel Alignment/Camber/Toe

<B>13:</B> Corner Weights (for fine tuning of coil-over suspensions)

<B>14:</B> Dyno (comparing stock ecu to most current Revo race ecu)

Lets BEGIN!



<B>1: OEM RS4 Wheels</B>

Specs: 19x9 et29, 27 lbs a wheels. After 20,000 miles on these wheels they are still running strong and undamaged (even after driving on these POS N.J. roads), no bends or warps on the wheels after hitting numerous potholes around here so that's a big plus. They will fit over any BBK you plan on running.

The catch: In order to run these wheels in your stock B6/B7 fenders with a lowered suspension you will need to have both the front and rear fenders rolled/stretched outwards.

The only size tire you can use is a 245/35/19 tire. 255 is nearly impossible to eliminate the rubbing no matter how much you roll out the fenders. If you plan on using 235 tires with these wheels than please save your money and dont bother, you might as well stay with your stock wheel/tires since they are already 235 (regardless, it's not wise to put a 235 tire stretched out on a 19x9 wheel, any pothole you hit will destroy the rims of the wheel due to inadequate tire protection).


<B>2: Tires</B>

245/35/19 all around.

First set: Toyo Proxes T1-R, 24 lbs each. Great tires, excellent grip in the dry and in the wet. Comfortable ride qualities and great steering response.

Current set: Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R, 27 lbs each. AMAZING! These tires are pretty much street legal slicks IMO. I can enter/hold/exit turns with much more speed andstability over what I was used to with my previoius Toyos, the grip is just insane. The steering response is much more precise as well. As far as wet traction goes, it seemsto be on par with the Toyos.


<B>3: Tein SS Coilovers</B>

Excellent ride quality. On the softer settings the car is almost as comfortable as the stock suspension. On the stiffest setting the car is on rails. Couple this suspension with the Hotchkis RS4 sways and the car handles unbelievably well.


<B>4: Hotchkis RS4 Sways</B>

After having the suspension installed and driving around for a few thousand miles, I installed these sways. This folks is an upgrade worth while! The car handles like a completely different vehicle. Every turn is so much more predictable and precise. Seems to have reduced the understeer quite a bit too. Now I really feel the road and feel more connected to the car. Only downside is that you do sacrifice some of the smoothness of the ride, can become a tad harsh when going over potholes/road depressions on only one side of the car.


<B>5: RS4 Brakes</B>

Specs: Front - RS4 complete front brakes (365mm cross drilled floating rotor, 8 piston caliper), Rear - Stoptech cross drilled replacement rotors, Stoptech SS lines, Motul brake oil.

Compared to stock, I noticed an improvement in braking response and better overall braking. After 20,000 miles I have never experienced any brake fading under harsh braking conditions.

<B>6: Labree Full Exhaust</B>

Eliminates 2 of the 4 cats and replaces the remaining 2 with high flow cats. Did notice a big difference in the way the car reacted under full throttle. The revs seem to pick up faster, smoother upshifting and downshift rev matching. Definitely more power out of this package. The sound is amazing! I have already heard a full Milltek side by side, this system is much louder than the Milltek. You get more of a raw powerful sound out of Labree, Milltek seems to have the same refined sound as the stock exhaust but with a few more decibles in volume (which is just as beautiful). Check out the video link below of my dyno run to get a good idea of this exhaust tone.


<B>7: Revo Race ECU</B>

Many debate this as a worthless mod, but I beg to differ. I noticed an immediate difference when I installed this after already having the exhaust installed for a few thousand miles. Throttle response is increased, upshifting/downshift rev matching further increased, and the powerband seems to be more linear throughout the RPM range. I have dyno charts with stock ecu vs revo ecu (full exhaust and K&amp;N air filter).. increased horse power by 20 whp with Revo ecu.


<B>8: K&amp;N Filter</B>

Probably the least noticeable upgrade. Only thing that stood out was a slight increase in engine volume at WOT.


<B>9: APR Snub Mount</B>

Great upgrade! Replaced the stock mount with a poly mount. Once installed it also increased the smoothness of upshifting/downshift rev matching. Each shift feels more direct with reduced slack in the engine. I actually feel the engine's rumble on the steering wheel and foot pedals, pretty good feeling.


<B>10: KMD Short Throw Shifter</B>

Nice product by KMD Tuning here in N.J., outstanding quality! Shorter shifts feel amazing.


<B>11: Redline Transmission Oil</B>

I replaced the stock trans oil with Redline's trans oil. There was no need for the replacement, just wanted the added protection that Redline is known to deliver to race spec transmissions. Felt a slight increase in shifting smoothness (slightly decreased the typical "notchy" feeling of our transmissions)


================================================== =========


<B>12: Wheel Alignment/Camber/Toe</B>

The current setup I am running now is stated in the chart below. I had Euro-Tire in Fairfield, N.J. do a professional wheel alignment. They set all four corners to -1.5 camber with 0.14 toe. With this setup I noticed an increase in steering response and an overall increase in the handling of the car.

<img src="http://www.kryptonik.org/s4/022508/alignment.jpg">


<B>13: Corner Weights</B>

This by far is one of the most important things that should be checked after lowering the car with a coilover suspension. I originally had lowered the car to have an even fender gap around all four corners. Apparently after I took my car to Euro-Tire for the alignment/corner weights, they explained to me what I had done was bad for the handling characteristics of the car. First off I had put a lot more weight on the front tires which makes the car even MORE front heavy than it already is. When you look at a stock S4 you will notice that the front fender looks about a 1/2" higher than the rear, but in fact the car is level according to the chasis. So after raising the front 1/2" to level out the car, it went back to a 61%/39% weight ratio. After having this done it improved the handling characteristics of the car drastically. The car feels more balanced when going into turns, even going over dips and bumps, the car recovers a lot better and controlled.

The following chart shows the total weight at 3,846 lbs, that is with a full tank of gas and all the mods listed above. Thought I would've saved some weight with the "lighter" brakes/suspension but I'm just glad to not have gained any more than what I started with.

<img src="http://kryptonik.org/drespec/SupraGallery/Misc/DavesAudi2_HDR.jpg">

<img src="http://www.kryptonik.org/s4/022508/wheel1.jpg">

<img src="http://www.kryptonik.org/s4/022508/wheel2.jpg">

<img src="http://www.kryptonik.org/s4/022508/weights.jpg">


<B>14: Stock ECU Vs Revo 93 oct, Dyno</B>

As I stated above I noticed a difference from stock to Revo. These numbers should speak for themselves. All the details about temps etc are all on the dyno charts. These runs were done with all of the mods stated above. The numbers are rated really low compared to other dyno numbers I've seen on these boards, but then again every dyno reads different. The dyno was done on a Maha at KMD Tuning, supposedly one of the most accurate (and low reading) dynos in the world, the pull was always done from 4th gear. My only reason for doing the dyno runs was to see if in fact there was any significant increase in performance with the Revo race ECU.


Stock ECU run:
<img src="http://www.kryptonik.org/s4/022508/stock.jpg">
Revo 93 Octane ECU run:
<img src="http://www.kryptonik.org/s4/022508/revo.jpg">


<B>Conclusion</B>

After having done all these mods I can confidently say that I am 110% happy with my car. I know there are cars that are easier to tune, faster, better out there.. but It doesn't phase me. I am just so happy with the way my car handles and puts down power to the asphalt that I can't get enough of driving it every time I take it to the road. I feel so much more connected to my car now than ever before, hearing the finely tuned Audi v8 rumble while cruising on the highway, delivering precision performance time after time. Next adventure is taking it to the track a couple times a year and take advantage of the true potential of the car on unrestricted roads.


<img src="http://www.kryptonik.org/s4/022508/side1.jpg">

<img src="http://www.kryptonik.org/s4/022508/side2.jpg">

<img src="http://www.kryptonik.org/s4/022508/side3.jpg">

<img src="http://www.kryptonik.org/s4/022508/rear1.jpg">



I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to read this incredibly long post, just hope someone will find this information useful in the future on their quest to perfecting this amazing machine. Feel free to ask me any questions... I'll be more than willing to respond.

-Dave-

1. How much were?
a. RS4 wheels - where did you buy them?
b. RS4 brakes - where did you buy them?
c. Corner weight analysis and ride height changes

2. How difficult is it to roll the fenders in order to make the OEM RS4 wheels fit without rubbing?

BTW, great post...very informative!

Very informative! Love them RS4 wheels! I wonder how they would look on the car without the lowering...

The S4 looks GREAT! You did good.

well done, sir.

Listed below, parts only. No labor prices:

Revo Performance Chip - 599.00
Tein SS coilovers - 1,200.00
OEM RS4 front brake system - 2,000.00
StopTech Rear S4 Rotors (cross-drilled) - 361.95
StopTech Front &amp; Rear SS Lines - 167.38
Motul 660 Brake oil - 35.00
OEM RS4 wheels - 2,000.00
New Bridgestone tires mounted/balanced - 980.00
Wheel Alignment - 125.00
Corner Weight - 140.00
Reset Suspension Height - 80.00
1 hr. of dyno runs - 135.00
H-sport RS4 sway bars - 392.00
APR Snub Mount - 49.00
KMD Short Throw Shifter - 199.95
Redline MT-90 Trans oil - 29.85
K&amp;N filter - 40.00
Labree Full Exhaust - 2,600.00

Total = $11,134.53


Parts I've sold that were replaced:

Stock S4 wheels/tires
Stock S4 front brakes
Stock S4 sway bars
Stock S4 suspension

Total = $3,660.00


So after all is said and done, I paid $7,474.53 for all those upgrades, minus labor costs.

Hey, I answered all the pricing questions on another reply to this post.

As far as the fender rolling goes, not too difficult. I had a shop use the appropriate fender rolling tool, they take off your wheels and apply the tool to your hub. The tool has a poly roller on the end that butts up against the inside of the fender. Then they roll it back and forth while slightly increasing the outward pressure. Just make sure if you do it yoruself or have a shop do it, that they be very patient with this process. If you do it too fast you can actually chip the paint!

Very nice mods on your RS4. Your car must drive like a dream. Even more so than it did stock. beautiful!

pick up a set of dedicated track wheels and tires (lighter) and you'll be further impressed!

...buy the RS4 front brakes and wheels?
Also, would you say that your brake upgrade made a modest improvement or a vast improvement over the stockers when driven on the street aggressively?

You shoulda gone with StaSIS motorsports.

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/81896/img_2264.1.jpg"></center><p>

I like stasis a lot from what I've always read about them. But have never driven in an S4 with stasis to know the true difference. Why do you NOT like Tein? I think they feel phenomenal on the S4.

They did a great job.

I would recommend KMD Tuningn to anyone around here for any work on their Audi/VW. They setup all the upgrades/tuning on my car in a clean professional manor (except for wheel alignment/corner weights and exhaust). They're the most knowledgeable guys in the Audi/VW market I've met, I believe their main tech Danny worked for audi/vw and is one of the few top Audi/VW technicians in the country.

High-End New York Strip. . . like butta

They've done great work on my A4 and now S4. I would recommend them to anyone in this area who wants top quality work done on their cars.

Love to see you run a 1/4 on it.....awesome mods and write-up...I'm about to do the same with my RS4, and I contemplated doing this to my B7 S4 before trading it in for the RS4.....


My tentative plans for April include....

1.)Alcon brakes
2.) short throw shifter
3.) Stasis suspension

4.) Neuspeed wheels @ 19.5 lbs each
5.)GMG catbacks...from what I've seen, sound the best to me
6.) waiting...hoping for some kind of Chip mod incorporating the catbacks and intake airflap....otherwise..."deflapping"
7.) European RS4 wheel vs new TT flat bottom

Had the RS4 for almost 2 years, and there is stil not a car out there that does do much so well. so I gotta do something to keep me entertained.......

The car looks great and your feedback was great. I have been considering several of these mods to finish my Avant and you have given me encouragement to get it done. Thanks.

I have owned H&amp;R coilovers and Bilstein PSS9 coilovers...personally..but have driven in many cars with other options...StaSIS streetsports, StaSIS tracsports, StaSIS motorsports, Koni coilovers, Voglund, Intrax, Eibach, KW, just to name a few.

but that doesnt mean his car is down on power necessarily. Be good to see another stock S4 on the KMD dyno to see. Could be a pessimistic dyno or a lot of other variables.

any rubbing with the rs4 wheels.. since they are by 19x9s

That would be over 33% drivetrain loss stock, let alone with the mods. a few mustang dynos out there showing 320whp dynos with exhaust and chip upgrade....that said, I know little about the maha....in fact nothing...but 217whp?? it can't be.

if you notice it says "p-eng" for the crank output, "p-drag" for the power they attribute to drag or drivetrain loss and "p-wheel" for the wheel output. It really is just as I stated.

His sheet says..

"p-wheel" or wheel power = 236
"p-drag" or what the dyno calculated was drag = 95hp

It then added them up and gave the "p-eng" or crank hp estimate of: 236+95 = 321 chp<ul><li><a href="http://forums.audiworld.com/a4/msgs/2390368.phtml">http://forums.audiworld.com/a4/msgs/2390368.phtml</a</li></ul>

he is only getting 236???

in different climates, with different dyno operators, etc etc. I can take my car to one dyno in town and dyno 290whp and never touch a thing on the car and take it to another dyno and dyno 330whp. I would agree, his numbers are oddly low though but there are gobs of variables as to why this could be and many of those variable have nothing to do with the actual power his car is making.