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Hi all,

I've had my car about 6 months now and I must say, it has been brilliant.

However, now that my rose tinted glasses are starting to wear off, there are a few things that are annoying me to the point where I'm thinking of selling it.

1. Dbw throttle response - it can't seem to respond quick enough for my liking, especially when changing gear

2. Ss+ uneven ride height - the back sits way lower than the front and gets constant criticism

3. Exhaust noise level - it's about as asbo as tge jezza k show when you want to be quiet ie around town but then open it up a bit on a clear road and it goes quiet!

If anyone knows of simple fixes to these problems then I'd like to hear them. I suspect to rectify them I'll need to remortgage the house though, so another evo may find its way onto my driveway.....

Tom Pearce wrote:Hi all,

I've had my car about 6 months now and I must say, it has been brilliant.

However, now that my rose tinted glasses are starting to wear off, there are a few things that are annoying me to the point where I'm thinking of selling it.

Tom Pearce wrote:1. Dbw throttle response - it can't seem to respond quick enough for my liking, especially when changing gear

Dbw??? Not sure I follow, can you elaborate a little?

You also have a REVO remap?

Tom Pearce wrote:2. Ss+ uneven ride height - the back sits way lower than the front and gets constant criticism

It's the same for both SS+ and normal suspension. The only thing you could do is get KW's adjustable spring kit which will allow you to retain the DRC, yet set the ride height to how you would like it looking.

Tom Pearce wrote:3. Exhaust noise level - it's about as asbo as tge jezza k show when you want to be quiet ie around town but then open it up a bit on a clear road and it goes quiet!

If anyone knows of simple fixes to these problems then I'd like to hear them. I suspect to rectify them I'll need to remortgage the house though, so another evo may find its way onto my driveway.....

Is your current Miltek a valved system?

Thanks for your reply.

DBW - drive by wire

Yes it's got a revo stage 2 apparently.

Didn't realise you could fit springs to the DRC so will look at that. I had considered kw coil overs but wasn't sure how involved removing the DRC would be.


Yes my miltek is resonated and valved.

Ah gotcha!

Is the throttle response the same for both sport and non-sport modes?

I've not tried this as never felt the need, but you could try a throttle body adaption to reset its position. It can be done using VCDS, although some people have reported success by doing it as described in this thread below and its free:

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=117700&p=765603&hi ... nt#p765603

Failing that it could be the nature of the REVO remap, a lot of forum users describe the MRC remap as night and day difference for throttle response.

More info on the KW kit here http://www.kwsuspensions.co.uk/kw/info/thread_springs/, again the kit seems to gain positive forum user reviews and would solve that problem for around £500.

Not sure I can offer any help regarding the exhaust, adding a non-resonated mid-section will help the wide open throttle noise but at the expense of around town stuff becoming even more ASBO.

You have come from the turbo world the same as me.

You need to change gear slightly slower as I was doing this, to quick and the revs can't keep up.its a big heavy machine.

The downside to the RS4, it's a very fast car,very well built But don't feel fast!!

I've had subaru wrx sti, the speed is excellent and no doubt the evo Is the same, but the rust and interiors are well crap!!

The height problem also bugs me , but watch the reviews on the car (YouTube) and its height is set like that to compensate the weight , under breaking watch the front drop . To change this I may get a spring kit with the same poundage as standard and just fit the fronts .

Have you run the car with full traction control/stability control fully off ever??.


You'll find those features do their best to bog the car down a little when trying to make progress through the gear changes to stop any damage to the drive train.


With it fully off (solid Symbol on dash) it's far more savage on the gear changes but obviously it's taxing in the drive train.

Ive never turned mine off , tbh I forget its there . the ESP button ?

Harris. wrote:Ive never turned mine off , tbh I forget its there . the ESP button ?

Yes mate. Keep your finger on it for about 10 seconds until the symbol on the dash stays solid. It feels completely different. Stops the jerkiness from 1st to 2nd imo as well.

Tom Pearce wrote: 1. Dbw throttle response - it can't seem to respond quick enough for my liking, especially when changing gear

2. Ss+ uneven ride height - the back sits way lower than the front and gets constant criticism

3. Exhaust noise level - it's about as asbo as tge jezza k show when you want to be quiet ie around town but then open it up a bit on a clear road and it goes quiet!

If anyone knows of simple fixes to these problems then I'd like to hear them. I suspect to rectify them I'll need to remortgage the house though, so another evo may find its way onto my driveway.....

1) Must be the sh!t map. Throttle response can be electric (literally I guess) if it's mapped that way. With my JHM tune I'd say it's probably too quick even and could be backed off a notch.

2) Constant criticism? You must have some weird friends A few hundred quick for springs would solve this "issue". Note that the car is probably pretty level but the wheel gap at the front is slightly greater than the back. Honestly while not perfect I can't say it bothers me with my SS+ car in such a way that I'd consider replacing it with a Japanese 4-banger but that's just me.

3) That's an unusual complaint and not a feature of the car itself. Sounds like whoever did the "mods" on this car did a pretty poor job. If you're used to turbo cars you might be noticing that the intake sound can overpower the exhaust somewhat. If you let someone drive your car past you at full chat you'd notice the exhaust is actually pretty loud even on a standard car. Standard exhaust with the resonators and precats cut out of it is perfect for most people. If you want it proper loud however, it's always going to be terrible around town. Show us a car that isn't...

Swapping into an EVO seems an odd idea if you're finding the RS4's throttle response lacking. Flooring an EVO is a bit like mailing a postcard to the engine requesting more power by comparison. Likewise, an EVO with the typical f-can on it as they all do isn't exactly going to lower the "asbo" factor any.

I'd suggest flashing the ECU back to standard. Not much of a downgrade over REVO really. In standard sport mode you get more than decent response. This shouldn't cost you much. More expensive but superior option would be an MRC map. For the ride height, you could get front lowering springs only if budget is tight or the KW adjustable kit which still isn't that expensive. For the exhaust, take it to a reputable exhaust shop and explain them your problems and what you want to achieve.

I'll try in abit and report back with a photo of my car down a ditch


Joking aside , ill give it ago and see how it feels

Harris. wrote:I'll try in abit and report back with a photo of my car down a ditch


Joking aside , ill give it ago and see how it feels

Haha. good luck

Easy one, get an MRC map, this will fix your throttle response issue.
Kw adjustable Springs will fix ride height.
What is your current exhaust setup? I don't think I've ever heard of it being too loud around town and quiet on the go. Is this in sport mode or normal or both? Again, probably need to know what set uo you have already.

RichieRS wrote:

Harris. wrote:I'll try in abit and report back with a photo of my car down a ditch


Joking aside , ill give it ago and see how it feels

Haha. good luck

Been out to try it out, 1st,2nd and 3rd all felt less harsh. But very hard to say as the roads are wet.

I used to drive a turbo with revo map. When I test drove my RS4 (which has an MRC stage 2 map) I probably gave the seller whiplash as the throttle response is so instant yet I was used to mushing the gas pedal into the floor! Lots of neck snapping on that drive!

The throttle response in S mode still puts a smile on my face, especially after I've been driving with the family in the car so S mode off.

Suspension has been covered by others.

If you already have a milltek, less expensive than modding the exhaust itself, you could look into modifying the valve operation so you can have them fully open or closed when you want. At the moment, they will be staying closed at certain revs, even in sport mode. Lots of info on the forum on how you can over-ride that, independent of S/normal mode.

Thanks for the responses.

I will have a go with esp off but I had it off when at Snetterton and I'm pretty sure it did the same, unless I nursed it through the gears.

The evo might be laggy if you just floor it at 30 in 5th but then you just change down a gear. It's not on the go throttle response that's my problem, it's transient response through the gears.

If been looking at various maps and wondered if NLFS (no lift for shift) might be an option. I have it on my evo race car and it's awesome for keeping up boost. Not sure how the rs's soft clutch would like it tho?

What are the best variants of coil overs to go for, if I decided to go down that route. I agree that the ride height probably is level, but it just looks like I've got a tonne of bricks in the boot all of the time so adding a few mm of rake wouldn't hurt too much.

My current exhaust is a miltek with sports cats, resonators and flaps. It's by far at it noisiest at around 1.5-3k rpm, right where I'd like it to be a bit more subtle.