[Biturbos4] Farewell S4

[James Williams]

Hi Keman:

I don't often post here, but will certainly miss your presence here.  We met
at David Lau's, I also have a 2001 S4 Avant.  Your input was certainly
valuable as well as entertaining.  Your snowstorm report was a classic.  I
hope you drop by from time to time and keep in touch.
Sincerely,
Jim Williams
----- Original Message -----
From: "Keman" <keman at interwolf.net>
To: <biturbos4 at www.audifans.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 4:03 AM
Subject: [Biturbos4] Farewell S4


> Yesterday I traded my 2001 Audi S4 Avant 6-speed nogaro blue in for a Red
> 2004 Ford SVT Lightning.
>
> Lightning details:    http://www.svt.ford.com/vehicleLightning.asp
>
> I put 95,747 miles on the clock. Original turbos, stock chip, many bypass
> valves. It did not burn a drop of oil nor did it leak it from anywhere. I
> replaced a serp. belt tensioner pulley, the battery, one outer tie rod
end,
> and a few other little odds and ends, that's about it. Nothing major. The
> trans/clutch was replaced at 47,000 miles because a leaky input shaft let
it
> run with a lot less oil in the trans than there was supposed to be. That's
a
> real freak occurance but I didn't mind as I got a new clutch out of the
> deal.
>
> They're great cars guys. If you change the oil every 3-4k miles with
> synthetic and let em cool down for a bit before turning them off, the
stock
> turbos CAN last longer than 100,000 miles.
>
> Mine, I couldn't trust anymore. Even working at my shop I'm not in a
> position to replace them myself- it'd take me 3 days and not only can I
not
> use the lifts during the weekend, I could never tie up one for 3 days
during
> a week. So I'd literally have to pay for it to be done even when I can do
it
> myself. This dillema I procrastinated to the point where I saw that I
could
> get a brand new lightning for $26k out the door, and I took it. I needed a
> tow vehicle for the roadrace mustang anyways.
>
> How hard did I drive the S4? Damn hard. Real hard. Every chance I had I
was
> taking off as fast as I could and winding it through the gears. I went
> through several sets of tires, and surprisingly more rear brake pads than
> fronts.
>
> I enjoyed every mile I drove it ... and it held up extremely well, the
> interior still looking new after detailing. And I am glad that it
witnessed
> and took part of 4 very prominantly changing years of my life. I'm even
more
> glad to see it go with nothing but good memorys of it, rather than cursing
> it to go after having something big fail on it and regret ever owning it
> with the position it'd put me in.
>
> Why did I trade it in vs. sell it? I required the buffer of anonymity that
> trading a car in to a dealership provides. Trade in cost vs. personal sale
> was the price I was willing to pay for that buffer.
>
> The Lightning is a blast btw. It blows the doors of a stock S4 and most
> other cars on the road, 13.6 @ 102mph and 0-60 in 5.1 is enough to suck
your
> eyes into the back of your skull when you smash on the loud pedal. It
> reaches 30mph from a standstill faster than you can say the word
> "ludicrous" - 1.9 seconds ... even faster out of the hole than the Viper
> powered Ram SRT-10. The blower is loud and the truck is unrefined ... it
> begs for all your irrational 'improper, as my audi would certainly call
it'
> immaturity to come out and produce things like this:
>
> http://www.classic-cars-worldwide.com/gallery/ford-04-lightning-004.jpg
>
> With 295/45/18" Goodyear Eagle F1 GS tires on all four corners, it holds a
> corner pretty well and the bilsteins dampen exceedingly well for a solid
> rear axle. I'm not looking forward to the price of those tires ... eesh.
> But... it comes with a heavy duty trailer towing package, electric brake
> controller wiring and 7/4 pin trailer outlet already installed with a
class
> three receiver hitch. It's good for 5000 lbs and fords super-duty cooling
> system keeps it alive both on the way to the track and even ON the track.
I
> watched these 4600lb bahemouths careen around Gingerman Raceway when I had
> my mustang there, and I was floored. I couldn't believe my eyes, they were
> that fast in and out of the corners.
>
> One of my friends at Ford headed up the team that managed to stuff the
> diesel powerstroke trans internals into the 4R100 case. He's had 2 now and
> towed with them for years ... he feels they're bulletproof at stock boost
> levels.
>
> 380 hp and 450 ft/lbs of instant torque ... with that I don't care about
> shifting anymore. :)
>
> See-ya guys.... make sure to laugh at me this winter as I creep on by!
>
> Keman
> 04 Lightning
> 90 Mustang
> Both Vermillion Red
>
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