So here it was the day i bought my RS4:
At this point it was a completely standard Sprint Blue RS4, i think within i few days of purchase the flaps were made permanently open because it just didn't seem loud enough. I discovered that the valves were actually stuck shut, perhaps too coked up but managed to get them open and they've stayed like that ever since.
I took the car to MRC for a health check and dyno run, they were obviously the first place to go to as they've handled so many high performance Audi's. They found that one of the aux radiators was leaking and that there was a small oil leak coming from the cooler, on closer inspection they saw the lines were only a few months old so the person fitting must have just pinched the o ring so wasn't too major. I was happy that my RS4 did the "average bhp" for a car of my age and mileage and there wasn't anything seriously wrong but also rather disappointed its not the stock figure Audi give.
It didn't take long to start fiddling and changing bits despite saying i wouldn't modify it at all. At least i started small stuff, i got some LED DRL's and number plate lights courtesy of Trups, never had a problem with them. I just think they make the car look so much better and tbf a bit more update with the latest Audis.
I also had time to change my number plate over and fit the pressed plates, just to make it a bit more personal. (Note the terrible bonnet gap, I sort this later on)
Now for the fun bit, my first trip to the Nurburgring (driving my car). Having only owned the car 4 weeks at this point, i have to be honest that it wasn't the fastest lap but still nothing to be too ashamed of as it was under 10 minutes, so i wouldn't have got overtaken by Sabine Schmitz in her Transit van. It was such a good experience and so much fun, i would recommend it to anyone, just grab a few mates who are into cars and just go! I'm going again this year so will see how the new additions hold up on the track, i just hope they keep me on the track.
I was happy with the car after the trip, and apart from the odd service item and tyres, i didn't really spend much on mods other than experimenting with a bit of plasti-dip. But about 10 months later, i see a set of KW lowering springs for sale in the classifieds and just couldn't help myself. The car looked like a monster truck and something needed to be done about it so i sent the guy a PM and within about an hour they were on the way to me. I managed to fit them myself without taking DRC off with help from guides on this forum and some very helpful people who were kind enough to give their advice, i thought it would be best to start off with about 20mm lower and take it from there as i didn't want to be scrubbing all the time. I also sprayed the wheels black and added some spacers, can't remember the exact sizes but i think it was 10mm on the front and 15mm on the rear
Not a bad start, its definitely looking a lot better than before, maybe a little bit lower? At the same time i got the centre resonator removed to free up a bit of noise which has made the world of difference, its just way too muffled stock but now has the proper roar that it should.
Trying to do a few rolling shots
After going to a few car shows in 2015, i fell in love with a set of Rotiforms that i just had to have. They really suit the car, and the concave is just perfect for the agressive look i was going for.
For ages i wanted to take the pre-cats and main cats out, not so much for the noise this time but i'm planning on going back to MRC for the full stage 2 package so in preparation i wanted to get rid of those pesky cats. Something i found out was a lot harder than i first expected, i think it was the third or fourth try (each time i realised i needed special tools to undo those hard to reach nuts) i managed to smash the pre cats out and weld V-band clamps each side of the cats to make it easier come MOT time to swap them over for the decat pipe that is currently fitted. The first start up with no cats was incredible, i couldn't believe how the noise had changed and if you have neighbours then this isn't a modification for you. Cruising around town it has a low down grumble, but as soon as you get up the rev range its ridiculous the noise it makes! Hopefully it will help gain a little bit more power when it comes to the remap and i get it back to, or higher than factory.
Now on to the latest modification, this one was a tricky mod because it required a lot of thinking and engineering. I wanted to change the colour of the calipers to make them stand out more against the dark wheels and I needed new discs and pads for quite a while but didn't want to take the plunge because of the massive cost, but the discs were falling apart and were massively warped because the wheel wobble was horrendous. So while i was out the country with work, i took advantage of the time to get the calipers off and sent for a refurb and ordered all new discs and pads with a twist. Since the B8 RS4, RS5 and new RS3 came out, i always wanted the wavy discs, even if they don't add any upgrade to the car, i just think they look epic so i wanted to get these fitted. This is the end result, so happy with how they've turned out
I have a few ideas for the car this year, but for now i'm happy. I've driven 20,000 miles in this car and i've loved every single expensive moment
there have been a few doubts along the way whether it was the right decision but every time i get in and go for a drive, i just couldn't imagine getting rid of itThanks for reading,
James
