troyguitar
Go Kart Champion
I figure I might as well try to keep some sort of record of this project and more people on this forum seem interested than anywhere else so it's going here :lol:
After a lot of thought, research, and testing I concluded that the best 1-car solution for me to run year-round on street and track would be an AWD Wagon with manual transmission. That REALLY narrows down the choices. In North America recently, there is the B7 S4 Avant and the F10 BMW 535ix Touring. The S4 is cheaper, lighter, smaller, faster, and actually has more cargo space so it is the car I went with.
The day I made that decision, one was listed for sale 75 miles from me. High mileage but cheap and clean looking. Since my long term plan is to replace most components of the car anyway, I went ahead and bought it last month:
2006 Audi S4 Avant Quattro MT6 Premium
340 hp V8 at 7000 RPM, 0-60 in 5 seconds stock :burnrubber:
http://www.audiworld.com/model/s4/06/S4 avant tech.pdf
All of this for cheaper than a used MK6 GTI: $15000
Why so cheap? Well it had a lot of miles on it (128k) and needed some work. List of issues:
OEM battery on the weak side. Still started fine even sitting on the lot in winter but it did not pass battery test. $120 and 10 minutes to put a new one in.
Valve cover gaskets leak oil, 2-3 drops per night. $90 for replacement kit, easy to install.
HID bulbs occasionally flicker and driver's side goes out. Replaced them with a $40 pair on Amazon, problem solved.
Controller for Adaptive headlight on passenger's side doesn't work so lights don't follow corners yet. Part is $200 and simple to replace.
All 5 wheels are curbed (yes 5 - the spare is a full-size BBS identical to the other 4). Don't care, I want light weight wheels anyway.
All-season tires are near the end of their life. Don't care, I want dedicated summers and winters.
OEM brake pads and rotors are near end end of their life. Don't care, I want lightweight rotors and better pads.
Suspension, control arms, tie rods are all original - still feels fine but should be replaced soon enough. Don't care, they all will be upgraded anyway.
Clutch isn't slipping but it is original and should be replaced preventatively. Don't care, it needs an upgrade anyway.
Things that are wrong with a lot of used B6/B7 S4's that are NOT wrong with this one: zero timing chain rattles, zero oil consumption, good compression on all 8 cylinders.
The Fun Part, Planned Mods
Power:
JHM Stage 4 clutch and lightweight flywheel kit - $1650
Eliminate pre-cats from stock downpipes - $free
JHM ECU tune $500
JHM Stage 1 supercharging kit - $8200
These 3 items alone will put me at approximately 500 hp. The supercharger will probably not be happening until 2014, but the clutch is happening next week as step 1 and the downpipes along with an ECU tune will be happening this Spring sometime.
Handling:
Enkei RPF1 wheels 18x9 at 17 lbs with some kind of 265/35 high end tires
Bilstein PSS9 adjustable suspension
Hotchkis sway bars, 35mm front 29mm rear with adjustable endlinks
034 Motorsport adjustable control arms
Some kind of more solid tie rod ends inner and outer
Get to a good shop for corner weighting and alignment
Braking:
Keeping stock calipers for now, they are way better than GTI brakes already
2-piece lightweight slotted rotors: 345mm 16lbs front (compared to 26 lbs OEM), upgrade rears from 300mm to 330mm
Brake pads: undecided
stainless lines and Castrol SRF fluid most likely
Replace/upgrade motor, trans, diff, snub mounts, subframe and other various bushings
Wavetrac rear LSD (should be better than the B8 S4 "sport diff")
Weight reduction:
Replace stock 60 lb battery with either 5 lb Lithium in stock location or beefier AGM unit relocated to trunk
Replace stock 70 lb steel hood with ~13 lb carbon fiber hood
Lightweight wheels saves 7 lbs each
Rotors save 10 lbs on both front corners
Flywheel saves 13 lbs at engine
Cosmetics and other crap:
Rubber Audi Sport Floor Mats
OEM RS4 Pedals
Some kind of smaller flat-bottom steering wheel, undecided which
Replace basically every light bulb with LED's inside and out
Update RNS-E Nav DVD to current firmware and maps
Tons of vag-com changes
Replace OEM CD Changer with Dension ipod/aux input, controllable from steering wheel buttons
Add OEM iphone dock to center armrest, connects directly to stereo and to external antenna to help crap reception out in PA
That's about all I have on the list for now, will continue to update in the future.
After a lot of thought, research, and testing I concluded that the best 1-car solution for me to run year-round on street and track would be an AWD Wagon with manual transmission. That REALLY narrows down the choices. In North America recently, there is the B7 S4 Avant and the F10 BMW 535ix Touring. The S4 is cheaper, lighter, smaller, faster, and actually has more cargo space so it is the car I went with.
The day I made that decision, one was listed for sale 75 miles from me. High mileage but cheap and clean looking. Since my long term plan is to replace most components of the car anyway, I went ahead and bought it last month:
2006 Audi S4 Avant Quattro MT6 Premium
340 hp V8 at 7000 RPM, 0-60 in 5 seconds stock :burnrubber:
http://www.audiworld.com/model/s4/06/S4 avant tech.pdf
All of this for cheaper than a used MK6 GTI: $15000
Why so cheap? Well it had a lot of miles on it (128k) and needed some work. List of issues:
OEM battery on the weak side. Still started fine even sitting on the lot in winter but it did not pass battery test. $120 and 10 minutes to put a new one in.
Valve cover gaskets leak oil, 2-3 drops per night. $90 for replacement kit, easy to install.
HID bulbs occasionally flicker and driver's side goes out. Replaced them with a $40 pair on Amazon, problem solved.
Controller for Adaptive headlight on passenger's side doesn't work so lights don't follow corners yet. Part is $200 and simple to replace.
All 5 wheels are curbed (yes 5 - the spare is a full-size BBS identical to the other 4). Don't care, I want light weight wheels anyway.
All-season tires are near the end of their life. Don't care, I want dedicated summers and winters.
OEM brake pads and rotors are near end end of their life. Don't care, I want lightweight rotors and better pads.
Suspension, control arms, tie rods are all original - still feels fine but should be replaced soon enough. Don't care, they all will be upgraded anyway.
Clutch isn't slipping but it is original and should be replaced preventatively. Don't care, it needs an upgrade anyway.
Things that are wrong with a lot of used B6/B7 S4's that are NOT wrong with this one: zero timing chain rattles, zero oil consumption, good compression on all 8 cylinders.
The Fun Part, Planned Mods
Power:
JHM Stage 4 clutch and lightweight flywheel kit - $1650
Eliminate pre-cats from stock downpipes - $free
JHM ECU tune $500
JHM Stage 1 supercharging kit - $8200
These 3 items alone will put me at approximately 500 hp. The supercharger will probably not be happening until 2014, but the clutch is happening next week as step 1 and the downpipes along with an ECU tune will be happening this Spring sometime.
Handling:
Enkei RPF1 wheels 18x9 at 17 lbs with some kind of 265/35 high end tires
Bilstein PSS9 adjustable suspension
Hotchkis sway bars, 35mm front 29mm rear with adjustable endlinks
034 Motorsport adjustable control arms
Some kind of more solid tie rod ends inner and outer
Get to a good shop for corner weighting and alignment
Braking:
Keeping stock calipers for now, they are way better than GTI brakes already
2-piece lightweight slotted rotors: 345mm 16lbs front (compared to 26 lbs OEM), upgrade rears from 300mm to 330mm
Brake pads: undecided
stainless lines and Castrol SRF fluid most likely
Replace/upgrade motor, trans, diff, snub mounts, subframe and other various bushings
Wavetrac rear LSD (should be better than the B8 S4 "sport diff")
Weight reduction:
Replace stock 60 lb battery with either 5 lb Lithium in stock location or beefier AGM unit relocated to trunk
Replace stock 70 lb steel hood with ~13 lb carbon fiber hood
Lightweight wheels saves 7 lbs each
Rotors save 10 lbs on both front corners
Flywheel saves 13 lbs at engine
Cosmetics and other crap:
Rubber Audi Sport Floor Mats
OEM RS4 Pedals
Some kind of smaller flat-bottom steering wheel, undecided which
Replace basically every light bulb with LED's inside and out
Update RNS-E Nav DVD to current firmware and maps
Tons of vag-com changes
Replace OEM CD Changer with Dension ipod/aux input, controllable from steering wheel buttons
Add OEM iphone dock to center armrest, connects directly to stereo and to external antenna to help crap reception out in PA
That's about all I have on the list for now, will continue to update in the future.
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