Is supercharging worth it?

[lengster1]

Your completely missing the point,a car that get launched and then kept in the 6-8000rpm range proves nothing other than what power it makes between 6-8k and how brutal you want to be at launching.My car is as far as you can go without s/c and its biggest most impressive gain is its vastly improved torque from 3k onwards,this would help it little on a drag strip but sure makes it a better faster road car which is what most tuning companys try to achieve.Drag strips arent favoured because its not really a test of a good road car.

[sakimano]

Your completely missing the point,a car that get launched and then kept in the 6-8000rpm range proves nothing other than what power it makes between 6-8k and how brutal you want to be at launching.My car is as far as you can go without s/c and its biggest most impressive gain is its vastly improved torque from 3k onwards,this would help it little on a drag strip but sure makes it a better faster road car which is what most tuning companys try to achieve.Drag strips arent favoured because its not really a test of a good road car.

You have not offered a test...you have offered the discounting of a test (a test that is widely accepted as a great measurement of a car's performance). What do you suggest as a suitable road acceleration test? Personally I think the high rpms are where the rs4 really wakes up and what define the car. Same as the E9X M3. These are low torque cars that were made to be decent down low, but shine at the top of the tachometer

At the dragstrip in 1st gear you run from a stop all the way through the entire RPM range. If the car is making torque, you will know about it. You don't need to launch brutally. People who say things like that don't go to the dragstrip.Launching from high RPMs (brutal) may destroy your clutch and will make you slower even if it does hook (the Rs4's 4.11 gearing ensures that it spins the tires very easily).

Launching around 2900-3000 rpm works best, and moves you out with a tiny bit of wheelspin and little drama. Where you get 'brutal launching' from that, I have no idea. I have made 20 dragstrip passes in my RS4 and none of them were 'brutal'. Further, how well you launch and how you shift will be reflected in your ET...however your trap speed will tell us all about the power the car is making. Again, this assumes you know how to drive and shift reasonably briskly, which hopefully everyone here does. There should be no excuses blaming the driver...these aren't our first cars.

If your car is as far as you can go without a supercharger, I'd love to hear your modlist. There are about a dozen parts available for these car that will help it accelerate. I'd like to hear your thoughts on some of them...maybe you can help me modify my own car.

[lengster1]

Its not me pushing the quarter mile as the holy grail! I dont need a test you do,youve proved my point in that you would use the excellent torque and linear power delivery once in this test after that its all top end rev usage.So a good power dekivery and far superior road attributes would show themselves in one gear out of what 4? dduring a quarter mile.460ps and 495nm across the bulk of the revrange makes a much better fast road car than say a car that makes good power and torque between 6-8k but in the quarter mile the later car might do better.Its not something were big on over here because we have corners and a fast car on a drag strip means little,the ring is a better allround test of a road cars overall ability.

[sakimano]

Its not me pushing the quarter mile as the holy grail! I dont need a test you do,youve proved my point in that you would use the excellent torque and linear power delivery once in this test after that its all top end rev usage.So a good power dekivery and far superior road attributes would show themselves in one gear out of what 4? dduring a quarter mile.460ps and 495nm across the bulk of the revrange makes a much better fast road car than say a car that makes good power and torque between 6-8k but in the quarter mile the later car might do better.Its not something were big on over here because we have corners and a fast car on a drag strip means little,the ring is a better allround test of a road cars overall ability.

well, 'the ring' is where the TTS RS4 ran slower than stock...so that tells you just about all you need to know about how NOT to test a supercharger lol. The ring is a far greater measure of the overall greatness of a car, but it's certainly not a suitable test for a power adder. Last time I was on a road course, I spent very little time below 4000 RPM anyway (in a car with a 7000 rpm rev limit no less)...so not sure how that's anywhere near more suitable for demonstrating the car's ability throughout the rev range.

I know what you're saying...but again in the pursuit of ways for the vendors to show us how great their cars do, the quarter mile has come up over and over as a fantastic way to do so.

The other options are even worse. 60-130 test = same problem, but without 1st and 2nd gear where you're lower in the revs and at speeds that are actually legal. 3rd gear pull = tough to standardize.

[lengster1]

3rd gear pull sounds a reasonable test to me.

[bam_bam]

...or stick it on a dyno and drink a cuppa while you watch.

[P_G]

Surely a rolling 3rd gear or even 4th gear (whichever a single gear) pull is a decent test on a track with a long enough straight or even an airstrip. You eliminate launch variances and all the issues of getting a perfect launch and perfect traction through driver / tyre variance and you can get closer to standardised parameters irrespective of drivers. All that needs to be measured then is equal fuel and engine temp levels and that each driver is 100% throttle from go and does not relent. Then the only factors that remain are variances in fuel mapping (but if your reset fuel trims with VCDS you could theoretically rid this) and the actual modifications.

[Mr V10]

Yes.

A supercharged B7 RS 4 would be as close to perfect as possible for me, handling,power,build,looks,noise. What's not to like? I want one.

[S4Player]

The tts kit is an absolute bitch to launch but an absolute beast to drive. I done 3rd gear pulls bla bla bla but doug's taking mine to Santa pod this Sunday to give it some up the strip so there will be times this weekend as the sole purpose for my car being left was so it was taken to the strip. Sakimano is actually a vey decent guy who just wants to see a viable upgrade for the b7. Anyway I'm off to training I'll look in over the weekend and hopefully see that my car has ran under 11.5

[bam_bam]

And what if Doug can't get the car launched, as a result, has a less than stellar ET but an ok 1/4 and trap? Does this become a conclusive measure or does this become another finger pointing exercise for sakimano?
Is it really that important?
As the thread title proposes, is supercharging worth it?
How many people reading this are going to choose a package based on a 1/4 mile time?
They'll be more interested in;
How much is it?
Is the kit going to turn into a puddle after first use?
Has anyone else got this kit, what do they think of it?
Why is this kit better?
How does it look?
Has anyone compared the different options, what's their verdict?
Does a tuner support it, do I know them?
Can I test drive one?
What's the claimed power?
Is it going to put a stupid grin on coupon?
Is it drivable long-term?

If another kit posted a better 1/4 mile time but didn't rate very well in the questions above, then would people flock to it?
A 1/4 mile time just isn't going to factor very heavily in the minds of people buying this mod. Of course I could be wrong and sakimano could be the catalyst for everyone turning their fast Audi's into drag cars, could happen...

[adsgreen]

'Ring times are more a test of driver's balls and sanity than anything else.
Cars setup for the 'ring are <beep> awful on the road and even on other tracks struggle. For example I guarantee that times would be faster across the board if on some corners at the 'Ring there wasn't a <beep> huge drop into a valley. That should tell you enough the ring is rubbish for comparing cars. A great track, yes, but no benchmark.

Forced induction is way harder to launch than N/A. Once you have enough power to break traction at low rpm then it's completely down to the skill of the driver or launch control programer. I've driven cars that even when flat out in 3rd gear will easily light up and wheelspin the back tyres if you boot it.

All performance measure have their cons - just need to put it all into context.
It'd be interesting to find a stock car along with a TTS, dyno them both back to back, weigh them and then find a nice long airfield (or other suitable, legal place) stick them in 3rd gear and do some side by side runs in one gear from a couple different starting rpm's.

[Doug_S2]

who has a stock b7 rs4 that wants to 1/4 mile it this weekend?

[RS04YOB]

who has a stock b7 rs4 that wants to 1/4 mile it this weekend?

Full Milltek Non-res non-cats Custom Code VVT Attack 2 is that modded too much if this was up a month or so back I would have been stock 100%

[bam_bam]

A stock RS4... what's that?

[Jules]

I want a supercharger,i just felt the need to say it out loud























I'm skint though