[BiturboS4] RE: Mods (esp. short-shifter)

[Edwards, Dave]

I'm going from memory here, but my stock (Euro) shifter had a 6-7cm throw
each way. After the short-shifter it came down to 4-5cm. For me it was an
absolute must: I was missing shifts and crunching gears with the stock shift
so I had to do something!

I've pretty much got all the mods you can do to an S4 except changing the
turbos (which I won't do as I don't want more lag). I think the biggest
impacts are:
Short-shifter (as mentioned above but I suppose it's a personal thing).
Suspension (I have H&R coil-overs and they have TRANSFORMED the handling).
Brakes (I have Porsche 993 turbo front brakes).
Chip.

I have a Miltek cat-back and it hasn't done much to the performance. It
started off loud but now is almost as quiet as the stock exhaust but has a
deeper note. I'm soon going to invest in the rest of the Miltek system
(downpipes and cats) and this time expect better power at the top end (up to
350bhp) and a little less lag. I'm told that it won't get much louder but I
don't really believe it. I'll put up with the extra noise if it happens.

I can't comment on the order of the mods really as I think they are a
package. I wouldn't chip without the brakes. When I imagine my car's
performance with the stock brakes...ouch - try not to think about that!
Having the chip & brakes without the suspension? Well you could put up with
it for a while but soon you'd be cursing it as the stock suspension would be
holding back the car's true abilities.

I'm not sure about the exhaust. Cat-backs aren't too expensive so for the
marginal gain they give and better sound you might consider it. I'll let you
know what I think of the full Miltek system in a month or so.

By the way, all my mods were set up by a tuner using a rolling road. I do
NOT have an off-the-shelf chip, mine has been set up specifically for my
car. When I get the full Miltek fitted the tuner will again make any
adjustments needed to the chip in order to optimise performance. I consider
this to be the real bonus of using my tuner. We have other tuners in the UK
who mail out chips like you have in the US. I'm sure that they are good
chips, but they are a standard program and not tuned to a specific car.

I suppose if your only choice is mail-order chips then you need to ask which
is best. However if the chip is designed for your particular car then you
know that it's the best.

Just my 2 cents...

--__--__--

Message: 6
From: Andy Turner <andy at palomar.demon.co.uk>
To: BiturboS4 at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [BiturboS4] First Mods - Advice please
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2002 21:07:33 +0100

On Wed, 17 Jul 2002 14:35:07 -0500, you wrote:

>My own personal recommendations are as follows:
>
>1. Shortshifter (Tanoga, Stratmosphere or Neuspeed.  Don't bother with
>the UUC).  Stock shifter is sloppy and has the longest throw I've ever
>encountered. $250-$280

I don't find the throw much of a problem, which leads me to believe that
either it was modded before I bought it, or I'm a girly nonce. Anyone got
any before/after photos of the different positions of the gear lever?