Rdp616
(Banned)
- 903
- SW, PA
- Suzukiboi
Never really knew a section like this existed. So, here we go. I've been into cars since i can remember, along with my dad and uncles, though, me being the biggest gear head in my immediate family, pretty much self taught learn as i go, and i've since made cars my day job. I've always liked Audi's, i remember watching IMSA cars on old VHS tapes when i was young, Gran Turismo obviously being a big part. And i remember seeing the S4 in Gran Turismo 2. for the first time. V6, twin turbo, AWD, sure their were cars with a similar layout but the S4 was just so much nicer of a car, and seemed way more modern at the time compared to ALOT of cars. The interior even to this day still feels modern, and the cars shape itself has aged very well in my opinion..
As for the reliability of the S4, well lately it's caught some media attention and i think it's pretty much well known that they're for the most part money pits that will leave you crying eating ramen noodles. Unless you do your own work and are resourceful. Anyway, here we go.
Quick rundown. I bought the car in 2010, Initially i was looking for a white avant but they we're a bit out of my price range. So i found this in Philly and went and picked it up! At the ripe age of 18 i was excited to say the least.
It's a 2000, built in 99, one of the first of the bunch to come over on the boat from Ingolstadt. 1 of 106 that came to the US in Hibiscus red So for the most part you will likely never see an S4 in this color, that being pretty much the only special thing if i'm going to toot my horn about it haha. It's a 6 speed car, i'm the 2nd owner.
Drove the car for about 4 years with a tune and exhaust and enjoyed the heck out of it, but after going through 2 sets of stock turbos and killing the transmission it was time to give it some TLC.
Probably 3-4 months after i got the car, OCD level detail, ST coilvers and spray canned wheels.
The cars very first show. This is at the old VW plant in Greensburg PA.
The car was completely unmolested. Which at the time is exactly what i wanted, though if i were to do it again, i would've bought one already upgraded
After having the car a while this became pretty common. (Snapped an axle)
They all find their way on one eventually
After blowing my 2nd set of stock K03 turbos in late 2014 i decided in was time to ditch the stock twins for a single setup.
All stripped down ready to have its guts ripped out. 147,000 miles of north east filth.
The factory rods give up the ghost around 450 whp. However the factory pistons are Mahle forged. Numerous cars have made over 600-700+ whp on them.
ARP main studs. Honestly could've just reused the factory bolts again, but i got these for really cheap so i said why not. Fresh main bearings also. Even though the originals looked like they didn't have a mile on them. Looking back i probably would've never even pulled the crank out of the motor, everything was cherry, but. i wasn't sure.
Factory LS3 piston (left) vs Stock S4 piston (right)
Had some fun with the internet with a future project of mine
The intake ports and the valves were absolutely spotless, i was honestly amazed, even the exhaust valves had barely any carbon build up. I have a shell station right up the street and that's really all the car ever ran. I'd say it works as advertised!
Fast Forwarding about a year, it was time to start putting it back together.
Crank in and Torqued down
I didn't bother decking the block, and honestly unless you've overheated an engine a bunch of time or actually damaged the surface, i don't see the need. In my opinion i wouldn't trust most average machine shops to deck a block of cheese. Scuff it up with some 1200 grit then finish it off with a scotch brite pad and it's ready for the head gasket. From my experience, Factory MLS headgaskets don't really care about the surface finish.
Upper and lower oil pans on.
Fast forwarding a bit more, i got around to bolting the heads on along with some of the timing components
With all the timing stuff done i put a little cherry on top. This is one of the first fluidamprs from a group buy batch that was done last year. There were no good replacement balancer options for the 2.7 so fluidampr came along and helped out. Whether it will help solve the 2.7t's cracking issue remains to be see, but it sure is pretty!
Gotta love Ebay. Scored a Genuine Tial wastegate for $100 from a guy parting out his 9 second DSM.
Converted the car to Blow through MAF using a Ford style HPX Sensor. In a 3" tube in can scale for 600HP no problem.
Set the engine back in the car to take measurements for the turbo up pipe.
Some bits for the Fuel system. Using the stock fuel as a lift pump to a surge tank that sits in the stock battery location. -8 Feed from the surge tank to the Rails. Rather than completely re-doing the entire fuel system from the tank forward, a surge tank in the engine bay is much, much easier if you have a safe space for it.
Over a couple nights and in the words of AvE i fabricobbled together a merge pipe for the turbo (i am by no means a professional welder) but hey, it fits and flows! Can't really see it at all but the wastegate basically sits under the intake manifold at the merge. It was pretty tough to squeeze all of this back there.
Thre some high temp header paint on the manifolds and merge pipe. The manifolds are off the NA 2.8 engine out of an A4/A6. The stock turbo maifolds are are curved and weird, not really ideal for a single setup.
Trans bolted on. And a better shot of my chicken poop welds.
My garage was a total disaster for about 6 months while i played mad scientist.
And finally, after 2 years the engine and trans were bolted back down in the car.
Here's an up close shot of the mess. The fuel rails are made by integrated engineering. -8 inlet/outlet And i'm using 1000cc Bocsch fuel Injectors.
With the battery relocated to the trunk i finally put some juice back to it and wired in my AEM wideband. The old prosport boostgauge that was given to me by a friend served me well but i'll be swapping it out for a Podi Gauge.
Here's the car pretty much as it sits now, After first start up il clean up the wiring, bolt the hood on, along with a few other loose ends.
Once i quit being lazy (GT isn't helping) i'll get around to firing it up. I'll update this post as i go. Stay tuned!
As for the reliability of the S4, well lately it's caught some media attention and i think it's pretty much well known that they're for the most part money pits that will leave you crying eating ramen noodles. Unless you do your own work and are resourceful. Anyway, here we go.
Quick rundown. I bought the car in 2010, Initially i was looking for a white avant but they we're a bit out of my price range. So i found this in Philly and went and picked it up! At the ripe age of 18 i was excited to say the least.
It's a 2000, built in 99, one of the first of the bunch to come over on the boat from Ingolstadt. 1 of 106 that came to the US in Hibiscus red So for the most part you will likely never see an S4 in this color, that being pretty much the only special thing if i'm going to toot my horn about it haha. It's a 6 speed car, i'm the 2nd owner.
Drove the car for about 4 years with a tune and exhaust and enjoyed the heck out of it, but after going through 2 sets of stock turbos and killing the transmission it was time to give it some TLC.
Probably 3-4 months after i got the car, OCD level detail, ST coilvers and spray canned wheels.
The cars very first show. This is at the old VW plant in Greensburg PA.
The car was completely unmolested. Which at the time is exactly what i wanted, though if i were to do it again, i would've bought one already upgraded
After having the car a while this became pretty common. (Snapped an axle)
They all find their way on one eventually
After blowing my 2nd set of stock K03 turbos in late 2014 i decided in was time to ditch the stock twins for a single setup.
All stripped down ready to have its guts ripped out. 147,000 miles of north east filth.
The factory rods give up the ghost around 450 whp. However the factory pistons are Mahle forged. Numerous cars have made over 600-700+ whp on them.
ARP main studs. Honestly could've just reused the factory bolts again, but i got these for really cheap so i said why not. Fresh main bearings also. Even though the originals looked like they didn't have a mile on them. Looking back i probably would've never even pulled the crank out of the motor, everything was cherry, but. i wasn't sure.
Factory LS3 piston (left) vs Stock S4 piston (right)
Had some fun with the internet with a future project of mine
The intake ports and the valves were absolutely spotless, i was honestly amazed, even the exhaust valves had barely any carbon build up. I have a shell station right up the street and that's really all the car ever ran. I'd say it works as advertised!
Fast Forwarding about a year, it was time to start putting it back together.
Crank in and Torqued down
I didn't bother decking the block, and honestly unless you've overheated an engine a bunch of time or actually damaged the surface, i don't see the need. In my opinion i wouldn't trust most average machine shops to deck a block of cheese. Scuff it up with some 1200 grit then finish it off with a scotch brite pad and it's ready for the head gasket. From my experience, Factory MLS headgaskets don't really care about the surface finish.
Upper and lower oil pans on.
Fast forwarding a bit more, i got around to bolting the heads on along with some of the timing components
With all the timing stuff done i put a little cherry on top. This is one of the first fluidamprs from a group buy batch that was done last year. There were no good replacement balancer options for the 2.7 so fluidampr came along and helped out. Whether it will help solve the 2.7t's cracking issue remains to be see, but it sure is pretty!
Gotta love Ebay. Scored a Genuine Tial wastegate for $100 from a guy parting out his 9 second DSM.
Converted the car to Blow through MAF using a Ford style HPX Sensor. In a 3" tube in can scale for 600HP no problem.
Set the engine back in the car to take measurements for the turbo up pipe.
Some bits for the Fuel system. Using the stock fuel as a lift pump to a surge tank that sits in the stock battery location. -8 Feed from the surge tank to the Rails. Rather than completely re-doing the entire fuel system from the tank forward, a surge tank in the engine bay is much, much easier if you have a safe space for it.
Over a couple nights and in the words of AvE i fabricobbled together a merge pipe for the turbo (i am by no means a professional welder
) but hey, it fits and flows! Can't really see it at all but the wastegate basically sits under the intake manifold at the merge. It was pretty tough to squeeze all of this back there.Thre some high temp header paint on the manifolds and merge pipe. The manifolds are off the NA 2.8 engine out of an A4/A6. The stock turbo maifolds are are curved and weird, not really ideal for a single setup.
Trans bolted on. And a better shot of my chicken poop welds.
My garage was a total disaster for about 6 months while i played mad scientist.
And finally, after 2 years the engine and trans were bolted back down in the car.
Here's an up close shot of the mess. The fuel rails are made by integrated engineering. -8 inlet/outlet And i'm using 1000cc Bocsch fuel Injectors.
With the battery relocated to the trunk i finally put some juice back to it and wired in my AEM wideband. The old prosport boostgauge that was given to me by a friend served me well but i'll be swapping it out for a Podi Gauge.
Here's the car pretty much as it sits now, After first start up il clean up the wiring, bolt the hood on, along with a few other loose ends.
Once i quit being lazy (GT isn't helping) i'll get around to firing it up
. I'll update this post as i go. Stay tuned!Attachments
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