BaCoN's B7 RS4 (plus some car history)

[BaCoN]

Hello all,

I thought it was about time to start my own 'Readers Ride' thread instead of hanging out in the noob area all the time. (I will front load and mention that alot of these posts are copied from my build thread on OzAudi and prior to that an old build thread on Rexnet! - re-use and recycle!)

Instead of jumping straight into the Audi I wanted to put a bit of a car history together to give you all some background of myself and also something to read

Here are a few pics of the first car I bought about 9 years ago:











For those who don't know its a 1996 Mazda Mx-6 2.5lt V6.

This was my pride and joy for a couple of years while i was on my P's (yes I had the turbo restrictions)

In those years I kitted it out with all the fruit:
- rx-8 wheels,
- F&R whiteline swaybars,
- generic strut bars,
- koni adjustable shocks (the type that you insert into the old strut housings after cutting them apart..........that was fun :woah2:)
- Eibach 30mm lowering springs
- etc etc

However it was after i had bought a megasquirt piggyback ECU system for my proposed turbo conversion that i decided it was time to move onto a better platform that a 1996 car with over 230k kms on the clock.

Enter my WRX...........

[BaCoN]

Before I move onto the WRX the transition wasn't really that simple.

At the time I had my heart set on a 200sx S15.

So off I went to the importers week after week to have a look over and test drive various cars.

Supra - didnt like the cockpit one bit so after one quick test drive that was off the list

rx-7 - high maintenance and my short drive to work kicked this one off the list pretty quick

skyline - wouldn't settle for anything other than the TT 4wd version which was outside my price

evo - the only ones that the importers ever had were outside my price range at the time

200sx - as i said earlier this was the car i wanted but after test driving a few of them it became clear that without some serious suspension/handling work i was going to kill myself. Having come from my fwd mx-6 which stuck to the road like nobodies business the 200sx was loose as anything. this turned me right off!

It was only by chance that each time i drove to the importers i passed a dealer with a blue WRX in the yard.....one test drive and i was hooked. However as the dealer would budge on his stupidly high price i moved my search into the private sector...

So after a couple of months of searching and being played by various people trying to sell me cars with major damage repairs i came across my baby.

This i how she was when i first got her...stock as a rock (note - this is the earliest picture i could find which already has the exhaust on the car - this was not on it when i got it )







AND LET THE MODIFICATION BEGIN

[BaCoN]

As with all cars i have ever owned the modification process started quickly.

First off was a 2004 Sti intercooler and TBE from TCP. At the same time i removed the intake resonator and installed a new HKS panel filter.

Also when i bought the car the top radiator tank had a hairline crack which was seeping so in went a heavy duty aluminum radiator.

The car was then sent off to MSR (highly reputable Subaru tuner) for one of his raved about tunes.

With only this done the car saw roughly 150kw (no dyno chart for this one....cant seem to find it at home!)

Now that i was happy that the car was running well it was off to the track.

I got about 3 days in before i decided that the suspension had to be upgraded!!

Zashtone was then hit up for his Toxico D spec and RCE black combo. Around the same time i also installed Perrin/whiteline everything else!
- Perrin adj F&R sway bars
- Perrin stout mounts (Rear)
- Perrin end links (F&R)
- Whiteline roll centre bump kit
- whiteline lowered tie rods
- perrin ALK
- whiteline caster/camber strut tops (front)
- caster bolts all around

The car then went off to Pedders for a 'very aggressive street' alignment: (this is an old print out but its the only one i have of the current setup)



Back to the track i went.

Did another 3 or so track days and by then my rubber was well and truly warn out. Also on that last day the brake rotors gave way and i managed to peel all the disk material off them.

This led to a very interesting drive back from Wakefield and also to a decision that if i was to continue racing i needed a different car (i will come back to this one later)

So i limped my way home with the brakes squealing the whole way.

After this a full brake rebuild was done (seals) as well as another set of new pads (QFM A1RM's)and a set of 4000 series DBA's for the fronts.

It was also time for new rubber. But why buy new rubber when you can get new wheels AND new rubber......

As many would agree searching for the 'right' wheel takes time. I eventually found mine....Enkei GTC 01 18 x 8 - courtesy of N-1 Auto. These were then wrapped in Kumo KU31's in 225/40-18.

By this time i had also undertaken a few other modifications:

- De-oranged the headlights
- intstalled front splitters and lip
- intalled sti style rear wing

And the results of all of this is:

[BaCoN]

So that all kept me happy for a while but then the bug started to bite again for more power.

However I was also keeping a close eye on the odometer which was reading just under 100k kms......time for a major service.

Up until this point i had done everything on the car myself. However i wasn't keen to try my hand at the timing belt so i got in contact with MSR again and starting putting together a parts list for the major service as well as the major upgrade that i could no longer control....

Celtic motorsport were hit up for all the major service items (OEM timing belt, water pump, seals etc) and i had also sourced a vf34 turbo from a fellow forum member.

MSR had agreed to supply the sti pink injectors so all that was left was to decide on the new level of intercooler.

After debating with Michael we settled on a 2009+ Sti intercooler.

Once everything was bought and ready to be installed the car went back to MSR for all its work.

Service aside the result was a little sad at 197kw. Given that MSR had expectations for 220+ i was a little disappointed. After speaking to Michael his thoughts were that the cat in the dump pipe was restrictive (i.e. not a 100 cell) which is what was stopping him tuning for any more boost.



With this in mind I went off and simply enjoyed the car.

Here are a few pictures of the car which also shows off some of the other bits i haven't really mentioned:

[BaCoN]

I left the car alone for a little while and then the modifications began again.....

I was always into brake porn and so that was the next thing to happen:

After a bath:



At this point I felt a bit bad doing what I did next considering the good nik they were in......

Rears ready to go:



Primed:



And painted:





All Done:







and then onto the car.....

The Fronts:

1. In the beginning


2. Dirty Hub meets Dremel


3. Much better


4. Comparison Shots

[BaCoN]

5. In its new home


6. With a friend


7. A little bit of Padding


8. Brake Porn



And the rears:

1. As they were


2. Backing plate meets dremel


3. Ready to go


4. All done

[BaCoN]

A couple of pictures after cleaning the dirty girl up:







I then installed some EL headers that i bought off another member over a year ago as well as the group-n transmission mount and bushes.

I followed the various 'How-To's' online and the instal went as followed (no step by step pics though)

1. Add oil flucsh, run for 15 mins and dumped oil
2. Removed I/C, 1 bolt from Pitch Mount, unclipped top of air box, unbolted top radiator support brackets & unbolted dip-stick tube



3. Removed turbo heat sheild and Dump Pipe



4. Removed heat sheilding off stock headers (one bit has an oxygen sensor through the middle and is an absolute PITA to remove)
5. Unbolted old headers and up-pipe
6. Unbolted fron swaybar mounts (to get access to engine mount bolts)
7. Unbolted Engine mounts from Chassis
8. Jack + wood under sump and lifted engine 40mm
9. Put wood inbetween lifted engine mounts and chassis and removed jack out of the way
10. Removed all sump bolts - the 4 at the back were easy with a 1/4inch socket set and a swivel joint.
11. Removed Baffle and Oil Pickup
12. Cleaned up sump mounting surfice with green scowrer....which left me with this:



13. Installed new killer B pickup and Baffle:



15. Installed everything else in reverse order.
NOTE - installing the transmission mount while the dump pipe was still out (but engine bolted back down first obviously) was 10x's easier.

Other pictures:

This is the heat sheild that the oxygen sensor runs through....it took up WAY to much time and was frustrating as hell so once it was out i beat it up a bit to make me feel better:



Out with the old:



As for a review........

The EL headers make very limited difference at idle so you still get that boxter note but my mate who followed me home said that once i was on the throttle it sounds like a 'normal' car.

In-cabin I can actually feel the headers (maybe part from the transmission mount) and once on boost it sounds and feel AWESOME

Also the transmission mount made a HUGE difference in a firmer shifting feel but does transmit a bit of gearbox and exhaust noise into the cabin.

[BaCoN]

That was roughly how the car stayed for a year or so and then i got the bug again.....

This time the only real modifications that would have made a difference would have been big $$'s (not that it had been cheap so far) so i decided a new car would be the better option.

However before i move onto the RS4 I have a few other hobbies that some of your may be interested in.....

As i mentioned earlier i had retired the WRX from racing but that was only to make way for something a little more 'purpose built'.

I can now be found racing around in this:









This is a 1984 Avanti Formula Vee which i race with the HSRCA in the Formula Vee category.

For anyone interested in racing this is an AWESOME category to race in. The racing is TIGHT and as the cars dont have buckets of power (mine sits at 41HP) the racing is all about car control and who can exit the corners the quickest.

Now dont get me wrong with the comment about power.....these things are QUICK. The average wakefield time is about 1:16 for reference. But when your 1" off the ground and about 1' from your competitors its GREAT fun.

[BaCoN]

And my other hobby is camping and 4x4ing however for this i have another car

My current 4x4 - 1994 Toyota Land cruiser 80 series......also with lots of fruit - also actually USED as a proper 4x4!













My OLD 4x4 - 1993 Daihatsu Feroza - with a fair few extras - also used as a 4x4

[BaCoN]

Other than the formula vee I also do a couple other forms of motorsport including some 'road rallies' with Dad in his 1970 Mini Cooper S:








Dad also races a formula vee however we both also race Clubmans for something different occasionally. Dads 1970 Canstal Clubman:







Dads 2004 Elfin Clubman which I use:

[BaCoN]

And now finally we come to my present RS4 :excited:

Here are a few pictures but until the modifications start there isnt much exciting that you havnt seen before:

[BaCoN]

23/2/15

Well the job is all done so here are a few pics from my carbon clean:

And it begins:


Progress pics with my mate in the shot:


Me getting at one of those bloody air-oil-separator bolts.....


Out she comes:


Empty bay:


Dirty girls on the bench for cleaning:

[BaCoN]

a few pics of the dirty valves in no particular order:

[BaCoN]

These were the easiest job out of the whole process:



Then we settled in for plenty of carby cleaner, scrubbing and picking and generally just lots of 'being hunched over':



Also cleaned up the manifold side:





clean enough to eat off



After many hours it looked much the same..............but cleaner:

[BaCoN]

And a few pics of the clean(ish) valves:
















It was a long day (12 hours) but we managed to get the whole job done on Saturday 'drive-in, drive out' (except not drive-in as i let the car sit overnight for fuel pressure and heat reasons)