Page 1 of 2

S4 as a family car.. now with mods done & pics PG2..

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 3:51 pm
by neilc
Hi Guys , just took this in part exchange so decided to keep it as a family car , it's a 2005 S4 V8 saloon manual in Black with 50k and all the extras fitted including the £800 rear electric sun blind :?

The car is for my wife to use and of course I will occasionally be using so have a few plans for making it a little bit meaner and keener. Got a list below which hopefully will do the job. I don't want to spend a fortune on the car because my wife will kill me if I do..

Resonated cat back Milltek with Jet tails ( Don't want it to boomy , the non res on my old RS4 was a little to noisy IMO )
Coilovers possible AP , FK Highsport or HR as the Bilstein PSS9's I normally have are very pricey
Revo map
New front pads ( Yellow stuff ?)
10mm front and 12mm rear spacers.

Any thoughts appreciated , as I have had two RS4's before and a S4 B8 , and currently a heavily modded TT V6 coupe and a race prepped Golf VR6 but my first exposure to the S4 V8. :D

Cheers

Neil

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. and a few mods plann

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 4:08 pm
by Batfinnk
I've got the Milltek non res on mine. Sounds lovely and isnt boomy at all. Only screams on wot. I actually would like it noisier tbh. I'm running yellowstuff pads all round. They seem pretty well rated. Good tip for the pads. Get the part number from the ebc website then do an ebay search. Got mine a lot cheaper than the rsp!

As regards the map the cheapest option is to gut the pre cats and fit o2 spacers. Releases a few more horses for a lot less than a map tbh.

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. and a few mods plann

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 6:43 pm
by neilc
Batfinnk wrote:I've got the Milltek non res on mine. Sounds lovely and isnt boomy at all. Only screams on wot. I actually would like it noisier tbh. I'm running yellowstuff pads all round. They seem pretty well rated. Good tip for the pads. Get the part number from the ebc website then do an ebay search. Got mine a lot cheaper than the rsp!

As regards the map the cheapest option is to gut the pre cats and fit o2 spacers. Releases a few more horses for a lot less than a map tbh.
Thanks for that info , hmmmm I had a non res on my old RS4 Avant and I loved it but my wife hated it !! maybe slightly quieter on the S4 not sure. I get parts trade so should be able to get some yellowstuff pads at a good price and have them on my TT as well.

Good info about the gutting the pre cats , I had read that before so might go down that route.

Cheers

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. and a few mods plann

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 6:49 pm
by Batfinnk
I will be doing my pre cats at some point soon. Been thinking about what you said about suspnsion. If it's being used by the wife as a daily is it wise to be doing much to the suspension? Mine is standard and i think is a good compromise between sports handling and daily comfort.

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. and a few mods plann

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 7:23 pm
by neilc
Batfinnk wrote:I will be doing my pre cats at some point soon. Been thinking about what you said about suspnsion. If it's being used by the wife as a daily is it wise to be doing much to the suspension? Mine is standard and i think is a good compromise between sports handling and daily comfort.
Good point , I suppose I am spoilt with my recent cars all having modded suspension and have got used to how it feels , I just felt the S4 to be a little to soft for my liking especially compared to the RS4 which somehow seems to magically feel stiff but comfortable at the same time. I may push the boat out and get Bilstein PSS9 again as they are an awesome compromise between body control and comfort.

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. and a few mods plann

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 8:03 pm
by Batfinnk
I've never driven a car on anything other than factory suspension so wouldn't know the difference but had always assumed uprated coilovers made the ride much firmer. Plus don't forget the S4 is on gas struts whereas the RS4 was fluid drc which behave differently.

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. and a few mods plann

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 8:05 pm
by neilc
Batfinnk wrote:I've never driven a car on anything other than factory suspension so wouldn't know the difference but had always assumed uprated coilovers made the ride much firmer. Plus don't forget the S4 is on gas struts whereas the RS4 was fluid drc which behave differently.
Hmmm yeah DRC does seem to work magic when it's working. Well a good quality set of coilovers can combine much much better body control and also pretty good comfort too.

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. and a few mods plann

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 11:27 am
by neilc
Had the car cleaned yesterday so thought I would post up some pics. I will post up some more once the Bilstein PSS coilovers and spacers are fitted alongside the Milltek next week :biggrin3:

Image
Image
Image
Image

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. now with pics..

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:50 pm
by BadWaz
It looks like you've stolen my S4 !!
I have the same colour with MIlltek (non-resonated as I'm manly).

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. now with pics..

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:54 pm
by neilc
BadWaz wrote:It looks like you've stolen my S4 !!
I have the same colour with MIlltek (resonated as I'm manly), but with RS6 alloys. I'd be interested to see how the spacers look? Make sure they are hubcentric. :beerchug:
TTS Roadsport are doing the work next week along with a service and fitting some yellow stuff front pads , going for hubcentric 15mm rear and 10mm front spacers and along with a 30mm suspension drop I think it will look great.

I'm having a resonated too as my wife didn't want it to noisy , how do you find the noise compared to standard ?

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. now with pics..

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:55 pm
by neilc
Ahhhh just was you have a non-res :D

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. now with pics..

Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2014 12:58 pm
by BadWaz
I never heard it standard so can't compare.

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. now with pics..

Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 12:43 pm
by hlbeckley
Lovely motor, I miss my B6
Have you looked at the fast intention exhaust? It sounds amazing!

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. now with pics..

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 2:39 pm
by neilc
hlbeckley wrote:Lovely motor, I miss my B6
Have you looked at the fast intention exhaust? It sounds amazing!
It does look good , looking forward to Wednesday and having the work done.. Haven't heard of fast intention exhausts actually but have experienced Milltek's twice before on RS4 though.

Re: Just bought an S4 as a family car.. now with pics..

Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:42 pm
by hlbeckley
Go check them out on YouTube! Millie is great but on this specific platform the FI exhaust is awesome
It's the top seller in the states and is as I recall, 2.5" as apprised to the 2.25" Millie so it breathes a bit better and adds marginally more HP
Either solution though would be awesome
These are so under rated! Loads of character
I traded mine to the dealer after spending a fortune on it and it was totaled within the month :(