[s-cars] A Drive on Da Wilde Side...

[Hap Maguire]

S-Hedz

First of all, Merry Christmas to all of yous. I’ve had numerous requests for some more of my driving impressions and a recent journey down memory lane and a drive with my wife gives me reasons to share. Several weeks ago, I had my A4 in for some brake servicing  which required me to leave it overnight with Tufty Jones. Instead of my wife picking me up I took Jeff Schroeder’s 92 S4. This car has a ton of mods and puts down 400 hp+ at the wheels. It also has a newer black interior, my old suspension, 4 corner BRBKs and a Gen IV Stromung with a full 3” downpipe.

 The first thing I notice is how much lighter the clutch feels. I have the same Stage 4 Southbend clutch in my A4 and in the S4 it feels much lighter. Da Monstah has a custom race/street SB variant that is very heavy. Before I turn it over, I turn the switch on and let the 044 fuel pump come up to pressure. The in-tank pump is much quieter, I can hardly hear it,  than my SX Performance pump. The next thing I notice is how quiet the car sounds as I start it up. Its on par with my A4 which has a custom 3” turbo back system with a  resonator, muffler and a high flow CAT. After letting Da Fridge warm up a little I pull out of S-Line and head for Arvada which is, as we know, not from Evahboost. The weather is nice and clear and a crisp 50 degrees F. Traffic is light but speed limited for construction. This car is just very tight with no rattles or extraneous noises. It also just feels sooo good. Throttle response is excellent with the ball bearing Garrett and the Apikol high flow intake manifold.

 I finally rid myself of the construction zone and we’re off to highway speed.  The midrange is just as good as the low end. Once again, I’m struck by the how quiet the car seems. You can hear the exhaust but it just purrs. A sweeping higher speed on-ramp provides an opportunity to reacquaint myself with my old suspension. Oh my, how nice is that? This suspension features coil-overs in the rear with Eibachs up front and custom valved Bilsteins all around. With the 18x8.5 SSR Comps and 255 Continentals and with the HRSB set on full hard and this car feels like its on rails. The car is just a great ride. I’m pretty sure Schroeder’s got some more mods up his sleeve but who am I to spoil his surprise?

 Its several days later and time to take Da Monstah down to S-Line and pick up my A4 Wintah Beatah. I think that the word visceral best describes the overall feeling of this car. You get in and you feel the wrap around effect of the Alcantra and leather Sparco Milanos. sucking you into the cockpit. You can’t help but reach out a little to fondle the supple perforated leather covering the 3 spoke wheel. When I say cockpit I mean just that. Dave Jones has honored my need to monitor what goes on with the motor through a plethora of gauges and switches. On comes the switch and on comes the onslaught of noise that has to do with my SX Performance fuel pump coming up to pressure. I let it go until it turns off signifying we’re at base pressure throughout the fuel system. I reach back for the ignition switch and continue to turn it until the starter engages. The motor catches almost immediately but I’m ready with a little gas to keep it going. On a cold morning like this, I’ve got to keep feeding more fuel to keep it running until it warms up. The E-85 isn’t the easiest fuel to live with as far as starting a car goes especially when its cool outside.  Its midmorning and another beautiful  early winter day in Denver. My wife, Judy, has decided to join me as we drop Da Monstah  off and pick up Da Beatah. We get out on the road and immediately she notices how loud the car is. You gotta know that its been almost 5 years since she’s ridden in this car. This was all before the 3 ½ “ exhaust system was installed.  I do offer her a set of earplugs that I carry but she declines and I just crank up the tunes a little more.  Next she wants to know where the very comfortable seats came from and why doesn’t she have something like them in her car.

 When we get to S-Line, it turns out that Dave Jones’ fiancé, Dorit, is there and a quick drop off turns into a nice little visit. Well, enough with visits and on to more relevant stuff.  I pick up Da Wintah Beatah and we’re headed back home and then on to SoCal for a visit with our grandsons. We think that on the last run, 755 hp, at the dyno we might have lifted the head slightly so Tufty and I decide to pull the head and check everything out on Da Monstah. The car is running just fine but I want to play it safe. Dave pulls the head and everything looks great. Since the head is off I decide to go ahead and send the turbo back to Comp to get the billet compressor installed. Turnaround is a couple of days and they end up machining the compressor housing to fit the slightly larger wheel and rebalance everything. 10 days later and Da Monstah is not quite ready since Comp has sent it ground vs 2 night as we requested. Oh well, the best laid plans and so forth. Another couple of days and I get a lift to S-Line to pick the car up. Everything looks good and there won’t be any need to break anything in.

 This is all about Da Monstah and driving the beast. Depress the clutch and you know something is very different. This is the heaviest hydraulic clutch I’ve ever experienced. Its on par with the mechanical Scheiffer clutch that I had on my 65 BBC Vette back in the day. Even though its heavy, it doesn’t grab at all.  Just very smooth and positive. Its just that my left thigh is developing faster than my right one. Out I pull and the car does feel a little different. I have to drive several miles before I can open her up. When I do there’s a distinct higher boost miss above about 20 psi. The miss is a little irregular and I suspect coils. When I get home I swap some spare coils around and its still there. Dave’s appraisal is plugs so I swap some plugs around and, voila, the problem is solved. Holy Moly the car is unfreakin believeable. The pull is just mind numbing. Tufty has driven the car with the new turbo and feels we need the tranny with the long 1st gear. The CRB 1st just happens too quickly.

 Earlier this year I went through a set of upgrades on my 1.8 tqm A4 that sports a billet compressor K-16 based turbo from Sportec. On that car I upgraded to an Apikol intake manifold with a VR6 throttle body and also installed a set of Cat cams. I had dynoed this car earlier and when I dynoed the car after these mods the whole torque curve was moved to the left by 300 rpm. The reason I bring this up is that though the scale is not exactly the same with Da Monstah, the difference that I feel in da butt is almost exactly the same. I think we’ve accomplished basically the same sort of threshold gain. Basically lowering things by about 300 rpm. We’re also gonna see the same 755 hp+ at the wheels but with a lower 30-31 psi vs 36 psi because of the increased flow from the billet wheel.

 I will be taking this car to the dyno sometime after the new year but for now, the butt says this has been a very worthwhile $400 plus shipping change. I hope this might be helpful for someone out there contemplating a new turbo or upgrading an existing one. Just go for it ala Beellay…


Hap, wit dakine stories not from Evahboost, Maguire