S4 Sport Cats

[BlackShadow]

In a post in the Tuning forum, Dippy wrote:

" 2) Future modification route. AmD offer a CUSTOM remap service. Now although I had a custom remap on my stage I tune (and I understand that AmD do NOT always offer this to customers), I'm not convinced that the car truly benefits much at stage I. However I can say with 100% confidence that stage II or more REQUIRES a custom remap to gain full benefit. So if you are considering a full exhaust or modifications to the intake system in the future, it might make sense to go with AmD now.

Regarding QST, I believe that Kim now has a RR to he fulfils no 1. However I believe that the MTM chips are 'off-the-shelf' so I don't think they can do no 2. "

I shall be looking at fitting the sport cats to my S4 this autumn. The present spec is MTM chip and cat back (+ other bits as detailed in my profile). I would naturally go down MTM to have the work done. However, Dippy's comments hint that the better option may be AMD. Now, he seems know more about S4s than me, so there must be something in what he says. Nevertheless, I would be grateful if other people would give me their opinions on the AMD/MTM debate with regard to the full stage 2 (or is it 3) with sport cats. Is there any difference as regards BHP or torque? Dippy, is obviously, more than welcome to comment on this.

[DrB]

What about APR?

[JonnyX]

Consider these guys as well (with the exchange rate being good still):

http://www.autospeedperformance.com/

For K03's as well, I think the split DP's from LaBree have being getting
quite good results.

[BlackShadow]

Yes, I take your points about the other tuning houses; but geographic location is a factor to me. This effectively narrows it down to AMD and QST in the London/South East area.

[Nige_RS4]

You could go the REVO route and with SPS3 you can control certain aspects of the ECU yourself. APR also offer an explorer unit which allows even more control.

Check these out!

[toasty]

what about dialynx? They are in Swindon, so not tooo far to travel...
I've recently been hearing great things about these boys.

[BlackShadow]

So what would Dialynx offer over and above what QST/MTM offers? Apart from a more expensive train ticket to get down there to pick up my car.

[BlackShadow]

Also, Nige, the Revo route could be interesting, but I'd still have to get somebody to fit the sport cats. Are these easy to fix? If it is QST fitting them, I may as well let them do the chipping as they tell me this is free of charge on upgrading.

[Prawn]

I think in fairness to QST and AMD ( I have used both and have run both maps) there is little difference in the actual product. My belief is that AMD no longer do 'Custom' maps unless you are doing a custom tune, ie something different, QST use off the shelf MTM chips but as with AMD will offer custom maps (done by Peter of MTM I believe) if you are doing something different or going a long way with the tuning, such as in the case of JR for example.

The only difference in the product is in the way they drive and deliver the boost etc, the only way to decide which is best for you is to try both, ie get a drive in a AMD car and a QST car.
For what its worth I prefer the delivery of the QST option in my RS4 that the AMD chip in my old S4, but I am not comparing either the same car, or indeed the same level of tune.

[BlackShadow]

Sounds like fair comment, Prawn. I should try and get a go in an AMD tuned S4 with sport cats.

Thanks for the input.

[Nige_RS4]

Also, Nige, the Revo route could be interesting, but I'd still have to get somebody to fit the sport cats. Are these easy to fix? If it is QST fitting them, I may as well let them do the chipping as they tell me this is free of charge on upgrading.

They cat's & downpipes are not really a DIY job, especially if the bolts connecting the downpipe to the turbos are seized - there's not much space to work with.

I'm not sure how much additional HP you are expecting from a re-chip after the fitting downpipes (excluding the HP gains from the downpipes themselves) - I would suggest very little if you already have a stage 2 MTM chip, however under the circumstances you might be best to stick with MTM software until you go to stage 3 !!!