Beaten by a Galant?

[Traurig, Scott R]

Actually, I do feel the need for speed. If I didn't I would have bought an
SUV. If I had the bucks I would have bought an S4. The A4 was a compromise,
with the goal to "go fast with style". That's what the DSM (turbo
Eclipse/Talon) crowd used to say. An additional goal is to do it
inexpensively. Clearly the A4 is at a whole different level of style than my
old Talon, which is why I bought it. Now the problem is to make it go as
fast. It is notable that the "same" performance parts for an A4 are roughly
twice what they cost for the Talon (AWD turbo for those not familiar).
Clearly it's a different market. Nevertheless, it's always less $/hp to hop
up a well designed turbo engine than a similar normally aspirated engine,
which is why I chose the 1.8T version.

The A4 doesn't feel as fast as my lightly modded Talon. No doubt the mod's I
inherited when I bought the car a few weeks ago are not the best (TAP Stage
2 chip-yuck, 2.5" press bent exhaust-blech!), but better than stock
nonetheless.

That said, I don't go cruising at night looking for stop light drag races.
But it's always nice to beat someone out of toll booth or from the
occasional traffic light.

Clearly, I need about 50-70 more hp, and they're definitely for me, to be
used alone or in friendly competition. I've been studying the problem hard
over the last few weeks and will be leaning eventually towards a "higher
stage" AWE or AMS system. Something in the neighborhood of a solid (not
advertised!) 250hp should do nicely. :-)

Scott
98.5 A4 1.8TQ

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	Lee M. Levitt [SMTP:lee at aceleragroup.com]

	"Traurig, Scott R" <scott.r.traurig at baesystems.com> writes:

	> Don't try this at home, etc. etc...
	>
	> So, I'm next to this kid in a brand new Mitsu Galant V6 with an
obvious
	> cat-back exhaust (turns out he's got an intake system, too), and
you know
	> what happens next. Unfortunately, going into third he's a half a
	> car ahead!
	> My 98 A4 1.8TQ has a TAP Stage 2 chip (12.5 lbs), 2.5" cat-back,
	> and a cone air filter intake (no airbox). What's up with that?
Clearly
	200HP (so they
	> say) in a A4 is just not enough? Guess I need to start saving for
the big
	> turbo/exhaust/chip upgrade :-(
	>

	Hmm. Reminds me of the new Thunderbird ad, where the fast car
disappears,
	and the driver of the slow car ends up with the babe.

	Or...if you define yourself by what cars will beat you off the line,
a chip
	won't help.

	So what if a cheap Japanese car can outgun you on in a straight
line? There
	will always be a faster car in the next lane...

	Which car would you rather be driving?

	Lee
	'95.5 S6 avant (not quite stock, but done for me, not for the guy
one lane
	over...)
	'96 A6 quattro avant