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new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 11:41 am
by gr4z
Hi guys

Having picked up my new S4 late last year, I have done 2k miles in it now and am loving it. However, I do find the exhaust note not the best and the Supercharger whine sometimes a little grating - especially at low speed. What do you chaps recommend to make this a little better?

I am also looking at a remap and am considering MRC, APR or Revo - I know MRC seem the best here and good value - do they still need to remove the ECU? Do you notice the remap at low revs or only over 4k?

Thanks

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 10:04 pm
by saintS400
Hi gr4z,

I am biased towards MRC as they have done all the work on my car to date & have been great, though I did try the MTM M-Cantronic for a while before my conversion to MRC. I would always recommend them but they don't yet remap the facelift S4. Doug says they are very close but has no date yet. I would say wait a couple of weeks & they should have it & in my opinion it is worth waiting for.

Regarding the exhaust, I have gone for the Supersprint catback & my S4 makes a much better sound now, better I think than the Milltek & as good as but different to the APR exhaust. You can usually hear them on YouTube if you want to listen before buying. Not sure what part of the country you are in but there is a meet this Saturday at Box Hill, which I will be at & so will the S4 with the APR exhaust.

Regarding the Supercharger sound, I could never really hear mine very much before the pulley was changed. Maybe you should get it looked at.

The ECU is removed but MRC use their own ECU for tuning then they flash the file when completed to the cars ECU. Is removing the ECU an issue for you?

I notice the remap as soon as I put my foot down on the accelerator. That's the good thing about the car being supercharged, you get an even band of power you just have more with the map.

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 11:46 pm
by RS4will
Yep defo have a think about the super sprint. I have one and IMHO it has more presence than the Miltek which is still a bit too quiet for me.

Going down to MRC last year, my mate drove down in his (MRC mapped) B7 RS4 and I went down in my B8 S4. He was consistently beating me from standing starts and mid-range bursts. After I got the stage-2 remap, the return journey home (350 miles) was all change. What a transformation.

You've got yourself an incredibly flexible car that's just incredible fun to drive.

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 9:33 am
by gr4z
Thanks guys. I have checked the MRC site and they do a stage 1 and 2 map for a B8 S4 http://www.mrctuning.com/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=59 for £1591 which doesn't sound too bad.

The Milltek from MRC comes in at £1759. I haven't looked for a Supersprint as I quite like the Milltek as it seems quieter (I prefer stealth!). Will check out some YouTube videos.

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 1:46 pm
by Derbz
Been looking at exhausts myself lately as although i dont wont something silly loud the standard setup is hardly noticeable!

The supersprint one does sound nice and i really like the APR one, the miltek res seems to much like stock and the non res sounds pretty loud,ive not heard any of them in person though and only on vids so its quite hard to tell.

I like the fact you dont get any drone with the APR, was looking at prices and the uk supplier is asking near £2.5k for one :shock:

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2014 8:44 pm
by evojkp
gr4z wrote:Thanks guys. I have checked the MRC site and they do a stage 1 and 2 map for a B8 S4 http://www.mrctuning.com/index.php?opti ... &Itemid=59 for £1591 which doesn't sound too bad.

The Milltek from MRC comes in at £1759. I haven't looked for a Supersprint as I quite like the Milltek as it seems quieter (I prefer stealth!). Will check out some Youtube videos.
You can get Milltek non res online for arounf £1400. I have this and it's not quiet....by a long shot. Nice and throaty when pootling along and on WOT its f'ing epic. You will never creep up on anyone with it.

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 12:18 am
by R1NGA
Derbz wrote:
I like the fact you dont get any drone with the APR, was looking at prices and the uk supplier is asking near £2.5k for one :shock:
But they really are very, very good. Zero drone, very grown up when required, but man alive does it spark up through tunnels, under bridges and anywhere else where you come across EAO's......

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:49 am
by DazN
I had a Milltek non-res on my RS4 (B7) and it completely ruined the car, the drone was terrible and you just couldn't drive it without getting a headache. The resonated version would have been about right and cold starts were superb but LOUD!

I think the YouTube videos don't do them justice though on most exhausts, better to hear them in person.

What about the AWE exhaust, they sound quite good?

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:10 am
by Boggle73
I kind of agree with Daz,

The non res on the B7 used to give me a headache too.
When driving round town, you had to try and keep it below 2000rpm.
Once on the open road you didn't really notice the boom, just enjoyed the look on peoples faces.

I have gone for Resonated this time, let's see how it plays out.

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 9:01 pm
by xxx_mojo_xxx
Where can you get the supersprint exhausts from? Is there a UK dealer somewhere near Luton?

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 10:52 am
by Derbz
R1NGA wrote:
Derbz wrote:
I like the fact you dont get any drone with the APR, was looking at prices and the uk supplier is asking near £2.5k for one :shock:
But they really are very, very good. Zero drone, very grown up when required, but man alive does it spark up through tunnels, under bridges and anywhere else where you come across EAO's......
I must admit it does sound the best from the clips ive heard of all the different systems, the only thing that put me off it abit (price aside) is the stick on tail pipes :shock:

Heard people saying you can see the screws etc not sure if thats the case now as that was mentioned when they first came onto the market..Ive only seen pictures of the system though.

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2014 12:17 am
by R1NGA
Derbz wrote:
Heard people saying you can see the screws etc not sure if thats the case now as that was mentioned when they first came onto the market..Ive only seen pictures of the system though.
You can't see the screws - or at least I can't - plus the black chrome tips are very stealthy I think. See the Box Hill meet thread for pictures of my pipes (white S4, obvious Reg....)

http://forum.rs246.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... &start=135

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:41 pm
by saintS400
xxx_mojo_xxx wrote:Where can you get the supersprint exhausts from? Is there a UK dealer somewhere near Luton?
I got mine through MRC. Not sure where else you get them, sorry.

Re: new S4 owner, tuning advice needed

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2014 1:18 pm
by Derbz
R1NGA wrote:
Derbz wrote:
Heard people saying you can see the screws etc not sure if thats the case now as that was mentioned when they first came onto the market..Ive only seen pictures of the system though.
You can't see the screws - or at least I can't - plus the black chrome tips are very stealthy I think. See the Box Hill meet thread for pictures of my pipes (white S4, obvious Reg....)

http://forum.rs246.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... &start=135
Does look nice R1NGA, ive ended up going for the AWE system instead now, as the difference between going for the AWE over the APR will pay for stage 1 remap.