RS4 newbie here, advices needed!

[adofly]

Hi guys,

I was always been a Subaru fanatic, owned a fiew and modified them, one to 750hp and doing time attacks.
Now, getting older , I decided to try an other root and I got myself an RS4 B7, but beeing an upgrades junky, i have to start modifying it.

The car is not my DD, i will only use it for fast mountain driving and some track driving.
I did too much search on several upgrades but still need some advice from experienced people who actually did modifications as I do not have a clue on non Japanese performance cars
Target is to increase hp/torque and improve it's ability to be driven fast in corners and lose some weight
The list to start with is:
Full exhaust, with cats, but loud. Leaning towards JHM
Ecu tuning, cant decide actually, i need something to accomodate my mods but to be able to fine tune it myself to my local fuel, abient temp etc (good mods will be to be able to heel & toe and launch)
Air intake, does it worth it? I read about higher intake temps which hurts power
Brakes upgrade, pads and lines (recomendations?)
Suspension and sway bars. Cant decide, KW, STASSIS, BILSTEIN etc. I need the best kit for fast driving , dont mind to sucrifice some ride.
Any other upgrades on suspension and chassis?
Clutch and light flywheel, does it worth it? or shall I wait until the clutch is worn out?
Quickshift
Better oil cooler?? ( I see 110C oil temp) abient temps are high especially in the summer, 30-35C
Engine oil recomendation?
Gear oil recomendation?
Ligh crank pulley, is it dangerous for the engine reliability?
Also, please advice on what is the maximum width wheels and offset/tyre combo this car can take in 19 inch without rubbing at fast driving?
Any other recomendations are welcome!

Sorry for the long post, but i really need some help here

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FON!
*hurts
*heel
*welcome

How much are you looking to spend?

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110c oil temp is fine - the general limit for a decent fully synthetic performance oil will be about 130 with 140-150 as an absolute cut off.
For reference, plenty of stock oem cars run oil that hot.

I wouldn't touch the crank pulley at all - I'm not sure it's worth it given that most of the stuff is chain driven and the losses from that would be far greater than what is at the crank pulley. This is before you start getting to balancing issues - remember you are dealing with a much higher revving engine that in stock form is comfortable with 8250-8500 rpm. I wouldn't mess with the crank balance unless I was taking the whole thing out and balancing it as a complete assembly.

Qickshift is a matter of preference... I personally find the RS4 stock gear change perfectly good. With a quickshift you do increase the force needed to move the shifter and the smaller distance does mean you have to be accurate.

I would say go for a valved exhaust as this does give you options to quiet things down a very small amount when you want to be a little more inconspicuous.
You can always remove the pre cats and reduce the normal cats to 200 or even 100 cell units that should remain legal but increase the noise. (you'll need to have this mapped out otherwise it will throw a error code).

One thing you'll have to remember - this is an N/A car. Not only that, it's out of the box fresh from the factory quite a high strung N/A car that is already quite near it's ultimate level of performance. You could do all of the above and more and you would be fortunate to go from 420ps to 450ps. Going higher without substantial work isn't really possible.

I find heel n toe fine in the stock RS4... not sure what mods you are looking at to improve it? Are you looking to automate it?

If you want the best kit for suspension then Stasis is probably the one to go for. If you can stomach the price of the 3/4 way units then go for it.

IIRC 275 is the widest people run (I've seen) but if you are lowering you will need to make sure the suspension is almost rock solid.

Finally, this isn't a dig I am genuinely curious - what made you pick the RS4 for a fast road/track car?

[adofly]

FON!
*hurts
*heel
*welcome

How much are you looking to spend?

Thanks for the corrections... (english in not by first language )

Looking to spend around 7-10k Euro.

[adofly]

110c oil temp is fine - the general limit for a decent fully synthetic performance oil will be about 130 with 140-150 as an absolute cut off.
For reference, plenty of stock oem cars run oil that hot.

I wouldn't touch the crank pulley at all - I'm not sure it's worth it given that most of the stuff is chain driven and the losses from that would be far greater than what is at the crank pulley. This is before you start getting to balancing issues - remember you are dealing with a much higher revving engine that in stock form is comfortable with 8250-8500 rpm. I wouldn't mess with the crank balance unless I was taking the whole thing out and balancing it as a complete assembly.

Qickshift is a matter of preference... I personally find the RS4 stock gear change perfectly good. With a quickshift you do increase the force needed to move the shifter and the smaller distance does mean you have to be accurate.

I would say go for a valved exhaust as this does give you options to quiet things down a very small amount when you want to be a little more inconspicuous.
You can always remove the pre cats and reduce the normal cats to 200 or even 100 cell units that should remain legal but increase the noise. (you'll need to have this mapped out otherwise it will throw a error code).

One thing you'll have to remember - this is an N/A car. Not only that, it's out of the box fresh from the factory quite a high strung N/A car that is already quite near it's ultimate level of performance. You could do all of the above and more and you would be fortunate to go from 420ps to 450ps. Going higher without substantial work isn't really possible.

I find heel n toe fine in the stock RS4... not sure what mods you are looking at to improve it? Are you looking to automate it?

If you want the best kit for suspension then Stasis is probably the one to go for. If you can stomach the price of the 3/4 way units then go for it.

IIRC 275 is the widest people run (I've seen) but if you are lowering you will need to make sure the suspension is almost rock solid.

Finally, this isn't a dig I am genuinely curious - what made you pick the RS4 for a fast road/track car?

Thanks for the reply, well noted.
450ps and better torque line will be enough for now (i suppose next step is a supercharger )
Also, please enlighten me, the valves on the exhaust open only when the S button is pressed, right?
What is the best option, built qaulity and sound for a valved non-resonated exhaust?

Ok, being a Subaru guy all the way, i just felt that i needed a more ''classy'' car, better built quality, nice interior, great sound, in general i just wanted to explore different driving roots in a more ''serious'' car, and i was always in love with the V8s. I also wanted a 4wd car, becuase I'm a fast driver in 4wd car..but I dont have a clue on how to drive fast a rwd, i never drove one. So the RS4 seem to be a good choice. (I also keep in the garage a Subaru Impreza STi Type R, just in case! ).
Why did you ask though? Do you feel that a well built RS4 cant cope with fast mountain/track driving?

[merlinus98]

Also, please enlighten me, the valves on the exhaust open only when the S button is pressed, right?
What is the best option, built qaulity and sound for a valved non-resonated exhaust?
Ok, being a Subaru guy all the way, i just felt that i needed a more ''classy'' car, better built quality, nice interior, great sound, in general i just wanted to explore different driving roots in a more ''serious'' car, and i was always in love with the V8s. I also wanted a 4wd car, becuase I'm a fast driver in 4wd car..but I dont have a clue on how to drive fast a rwd, i never drove one. So the RS4 seem to be a good choice...

Hello adofly, and FON !
Same here, I was a Sub guy (Impreza GT2000 with kit for 7 years, then discovered the Legacy 3.0R Spec.B for 3 years) before going to my RS4 Saloon.
I have only done the following:
- Milltek non-res valved exhaust (the valves open either with S button or high revs/above 4.5Krpm if I remember well). Choice about non-res should be well thought, because of the noise around 2Krpm, a little bit loud for DD/town drive.
- Decoked by a French specialist at 65000km, gain around 40HP, good investment
- so far, no DRC problems, cross fingers
I enjoy this car each time I open its door

PS: sorry for my French bad English

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http://forum.rs246.com/viewtopic.php?t=93014