New for me S6

[Brett Dikeman]

At 4:48 PM -0800 1/16/02, Mark Hahn wrote:
>Just purchased a new for me '95 S6 in excellent condition with 90K on it.
>Does anyone know if they still make high performance chips for this and
>suspension goodies like slightly stiffer and 1" to 1.5" lower springs?
>Thanks, MGH

Yes.  There are a few options.  Eibach no longer makes/sells shocks
for the S6, they used to, so its pretty much either koni or bilstein
for shocks.  H&Rs are pretty popular for springs.

Make sure everything is in tip-top shape and all maintenance has been
done. Make absolutely sure the timing belt was done at 60k miles, and
make sure you do it at 120k :-)

Make sure there are no boost leaks; the O2 sensor was probably not
replaced at 60k miles and should have been(audi specifically says 60k
miles, period on the 20vt's, so see if you can find out whether that
was done while you're looking for the t-belt records), make sure the
correct plugs are installed(I believe the S6 uses the same plugs as
the 200q20v, F5DPORs...if so, nothing else will do, many people have
BTDT with the 20v's), and so on.  Run a good synthetic oil like Mobil
1 or similar; make sure the air filter's fresh(stay away from K&N's,
they're useless for the most part on turbo cars and let too much
stuff float by, not to mention, they never become cost effective.)
Fuel filter should be changed every 10-20k I believe but the Bentley
isn't in front of me...and they're pretty tolerant on this one.
Regular use of Techron fuel injector cleaner(constant use formula!)
will keep things humming along nicely, just pay heed to the maximum #
of bottles between oil changes(Techron eventually gets into the oil
and starts to break it down over a long time.)  A bottle every 3-4
tanks or so should be fine, and btw, add the bottle, THEN fill up so
it mixes.

Things not to do:
-install a K&N(see above)
-install a wastegate spring(they are totally unnecessary on the 20vt)
-chip the car without getting used to the car etc for a bit and
making sure there's nothing wrong.  Often you find out things in the
first few months of ownership that the PO didn't tell you, and you
compare notes with other owners and find your car's not behaving,
etc...all that should be sorted out before the chip.  Not to mention,
its fun to enjoy the car at the level it is for a bit, then chip it,
etc.


After you're sure everything's cool, consider a chip from either Ned
Ritchie at Intended Acceleration, or one from Hoppen Motorsport; I
can't remember for the S4/S6's if Hoppen's is really an MTM chip or
if there is a third choice, ie, MTM.

Also, strongly consider upgrading the front brakes and make sure that
until you do you maintain the braking system in excellent condition;
yearly overhaul the calipers all around, make sure pads+rotors aren't
worn down/glazed, etc.  The front brakes on the car were originally
designed for a 3,000 lb car with 160 hp...not a 3400lb-ish car with
227hp.

Brakes will end up running around 2x what a chip does(roughly around
a grand for brakes, chips are usually around $500-ish), and many
folks will argue the brakes should be done before you go slapping
another 60hp in there with a chip, or that they should be done
-period-.  200q20vs and S-cars have a rather impressive ability to
get you into trouble real fast, especially with a chip, and those
brakes are pretty wimpy.

One excellent and very cost effective kit is the BIRA
kit(www.bira.org; a disclaimer, Greg Amy is a friend of mine.)  Greg
started doing the BIRA project specifically with the 200q20v(some of
which were retrofitted to G60 brakes from the more powerful internal
caliper UFOs) and the S-cars(which all came with G60s) in mind.  Many
a happy 200q20v or S-car owner has installed his brakes, he's even
got kits developed now for the S4tt, the TT, etc...

My suggestion for the "wisest" path to upgrading is to do the brakes
first, then the chip, and do the suspension when it actually needs to
be done.  You might be surprised by what a trip to a good suspension
shop for a once-over exam of bushings/tie rod ends/etc(many of them
are fried by the mileage you've got on the car) and a dead-on
alignment will do for the car's handling.  These cars aren't shabby
at all in stock form.

In summary, fix it all up and then play! :-)

Brett
PS:the archives are your friends.  Use them! :-)

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