[s-cars] Engine Mods Questions

[Tom Mullane]

My "new" urS4 will be arriving on Sunday, and after a month or so without a
turbo'ed car, I'm ready for it.  The car is bone stock, so I have some work
ahead of me.  I had originally budgeted $10-12k for this car in the hopes of
locating an S6, but I found this S4 that gave me a good vibe, and it was a
deal, so I jumped on it.  This means I have few thousand in reserve to get a
jump on mods.

Aside from the engine, I plan brake and suspension upgrades, and eventually
an exhaust.  Euro headlights or lenses are possible at some point.  I am
hoping to keep the mods as "low profile" as possible and maintain a fairly
stock look.

I have decided to make the engine my first area of business, and I had
originally planned to go with a full RS2 setup.  However, after speaking
with a few folks, and reading some of the recent posts here, my faith is a
bit shaken.  So, at the risk a creating a real monster of a thread, I ask
the following:

Is full RS2 the best bang for the buck?  Is it possible/worth the effort to
assemble a similar bunch of parts to achieve a similar gain?

Full RS2 is possible, but it would be painful financially.  Clearly, the
exhaust manifold is a must.  The exhaust cam I would probably skip in the
hopes that I run across a 7A cam or just leave the stock cam (is there
really a large gain from the RS2 cam?).  Mihnea sent me a link to a site
that offers injectors with a flow rate similar to the RS2, but at 1/3 the
price.  So I assume, perhaps incorrectly, that I can buy the manifold, find
a turbo that is similar to the RS2 turbo, install the larger injectors, have
someone burn a chip to tie it all together, and drive away.

Responses (and donations) are welcome.  Thanks in advance.

Tom Mullane
Hartford, CT
1994 S4 (soon!)
1991 CQ
1999 A6Q
Etc.