[Biturbos4] Naughty thought...

[Quincy Chiang]

> > Have any of you ever felt like our S4, even in stock form, is 
> too much
> > car (power wise) for daily use? I've been frustrated somewhat 
> since I
> > got my S4, that I can't really use its power 90% of the time, 
> due to
> > traffic and not wanting dates with cops.
> 
> I was able to get on my biturbo S4 10x more than I can on my new 
> V8 S4.
> Consider yourself lucky, you get peak torque below 2k rpm so you don't
> have to wring the engine out to get going fast... so you don't 
> have to
> make a lot of noise nor get into particularly high speeds before the
> engine starts to pull hard. I've driven a lot of fast cars in my 
> life, and
> I'd have to say the biturbo S4 was the one I felt was easiest to drive
> fast and not draw attention to yourself. A Mustang GT in 
> comparison is
> about the worst next to say, a Viper or a Corvette. If you're in 
> one of
> those and going fast, consider yourself fscked before the cop even 
> looksat you.

True, the stealth factor is definitely one thing I love about the S4.

> 
> > Lastly, there's the reliability. Replacing those pesky K03s 
> aren't cheap
> > by any means, and owning it past warranty is starting to concern me.
> 
> I had mine to 96k miles, and at 80k miles I pulled the downpipes and
> inspected the turbos .. they had no indication of wear whatsoever. 
> If you
> warm up the car and and manage the temps so things don't get too 
> hot when
> you shut it down, these turbos can outlast the engine, which can 
> last for
> an eternity with it's 2.5L diesel bottom end.
> 

I do follow proper warmup and cooldown procedures religiously, as well as using synthetic and change oil every 8000km or 6 months.  But still I hear many stories about blown turbos on stock programing.

> > All this leads me to the Mini Cooper S. I drove one last summer 
> and it
> > was fantastic. It's certainly not as fast as a stock S4, but 
> with its
> 
> Minicooper S and an S4 differ in multiple worlds and multiple 
> price tiers,
> one is almost 2x as expensive as the other. You're comparing 
> apples to
> oranges here. If you like light and tossable, don't skip checking 
> out a
> Miata. I'd take it's RWD over the Mini S's FWD even with a torsen, any
> day. I was just driving a friends Mini S last night, and it was a 
> terrificcar with an outstanding interior. But. It was not an AWD 
> biturbo sedan.
> 

I don't like convertible, so the Miata is out.  Plus I've always loved hatchbacks, so the MCS fits it perfectly.  I don't expect a MCS to perform equally or better than a S4, but I expect to perform differently, some better and some worse.  Overall sense of enjoyment is what I'm after.

> > I only bring up the Mini because it's the only car I like on the 
> market> right now other than my S4 and CQ, and its within my 
> financial reach.
> > So what do you guys think?  I'd like to hear some of your thoughts.
> 
> Check these cars out if you haven't: STi, Evo, 350Z. A friend of 
> mine just
> picke dup an STi and I gotta say it's a blast to drive but none of 
> thesecars, including the Mini S, are going to save you from the 
> cops if you're
> doing 20 over the speed limit. Get thee to a track... :)
> 
> - Keman

I don't particularly like the 350Z, and the EVO isn't available in Canada, but I've driven a STi.  While I liked it's performance, it's so unrefined and coarse that I can't bring myself to liking it.

As I mentioned in my other post, even M3's don't impress me enough to want one.  Somehow the Mini just speaks to me, can't really explain it.  I should also wait till the MkV GTi gets here before I do anything radical, every article I've read about it so far says it's the best GTI in years, way better than any MkIII and MkIV's.

Quincy