Lurker/Audi Guy
 

Hi All,

I've got a 93 A-Package with a few mods at the moment. I'm hoping to turn it into a turbo 93 A-Package soon, though.

Unfortunately, I ran it into a bit of a problem last summer--- <crunch>!

Right now I am weighing options for repair or replacement. There's a nice 90 Turbo in the for sale section right now, but my post count is too low to contact the seller!

I've read here on and off for a bit. I've been an Audi guy all my life, and know pretty much everything there is to know about A4/S4 B5s, but am way behind on Miatas. I really want to learn more though. SO far I've read the Keith Tanner book, Corky Bell's book and gone to a few driving schools, so I hope I am not a complete n00bie!

Anyway, greetings!

Unfortunately, here is the miata's current condition :(

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1121/...d88295cc_o.jpg


on the upside, here is the S4's condition!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/246/4...a6303944_b.jpg

I have Audi envy.

oh shit, your gay and a soccer mom??!!?!1




j/k-welcome...very clean avant, is it the 3.2? i hear those fly with the right mods

one thing you should know about the miatae is that you dont need as much power to be just as fast, as you know its a light car and people with 220-230whp say they can beat stock STIs
good luck and make sure you search plenty, there is a ton of stuff covered here already

I figured I had the car stereotype comments coming.

My S4 actually has the 2.7L V6 twinturbo (hence biturbo in my name). It should have around 330hp right now, and 400 lb-ft of torque based on other people running the same modifications on a few dynos. It'll surprise a lot of people (my E46 M3 driving house mate included)

I got the miata because it is so fun to drive, and I don't plan on spoiling it with too much HP- I want something balanced. I think 160-180whp will be my final target, at most.

Welcome, you've come to the right place; many knowledgeable guys in this forum (I'm not one of them BTW :giggle:).

Fwiw I like Audis and especially the S4 but; station wagon?

Also, some non requested advice on how much HP you're looking for in your Miata; 160-180whp = not nearly enough. You'll see. :) I'm over that figure already and I still find my car lacking some horsepower. This car turns so good, you want more ponies.

Welcome.
If you're driving a 400ftlb station wagon, you'll need the same for the Miata... otherwise it'll just be another gay car. :D I think 180whp is going to put you to sleep in the Miata.
I'd start the turbo project then worry about the body work since you've got a dd.

that body work doesn't look too bad, bumper, fender, headlight, hammer and you're good

ed

180=not enough, i guess we should let you find out yourself...
what are you plans to start with, cause you will be upgrading...

There's a guy on this forum named Braineak... just wrecked the right rear of his red NA... might make you a deal on the front body-panels you need. I don't know what he's planning on doing with the hulk after he strips it of all the aftermarket stuff, but if he parts it out, you're a prime candidate for the front end.

As for your power goals, let me help.
Megasquirt... build it yourself, have Braineak build it, buy the PnP.
460/550cc Fuel Injectors... purchase used and have cleaned/flowed.
Begi"S" kit w/GT2554r w/BOV.
ACT HD clutch.

This will get you around 160-170whp@6-7psi for well under $3k and is all top-quality components... should be uber-reliable and easy to install/tune. Plus, in a year or two, you're just an intercooler and EBC solenoid away from 12psi and 220whp.

Don't forget in all of this, a cat-back. You can have your own built for a couple hundred, or buy one of the manufactured systems for around $400. 2.5" is the minimum to look at with turbo in mind.

I should mention my miata currently has the JR intake, JR catback, JR cat (my old one died), and Tokico Illumina suspension. I think a custom turbo build is the only way to go.

As for the station wagon (ahem: Avant), I think it is by far cooler than the S4 sedan, and there are ~1,000 6-spd manual S4 avants in my body style in the entire US- I like the rarity.

Also- the body work on the miata looks okay in the shot I posted, but the radiator bearer and the subframe for the fender both got tweaked in the accident- putting the repairs out of my experience level for panel beating. If I had the time and equipment I would love to do the work myself. I have an OEM bumper cover and fender in my basement right now.

Wagon is by no means an insult and I dig the rarity too. My pal had the same gen s4 sedan and it is a sweet ride. Turbo Miata just makes everything else seem expensive for the "return" on cash spent.

Interested in selling the Audi?

Man i wish i was gay look at all the sweet shit you get when your significant other isn't blowing money on shoes and purses.

PS welcome to the forum, nice cars. Get that NA fixed or give it to me... whichever works

I couldn't agree more. I want one badly, but am a little worried about reliability, I heard Audi's weren't that reliable.

I love the RS4 B5 Audi, only in Avant :)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...udi_RS4_B5.jpg

I know of maybe 5-6 B5 RS4s in the US. I'd love to get my hands on one some day...

I'd say the car is mostly reliable, but it requires a good deal of preventive maintenance and if you're unlucky you can get hit with some crazy bills: the turbos blow, which necessitate an engine pull (new snails w/ labor end up around 5k), the synchros on 2nd gear are crap, and a new tranny is 1.5-2k). Front control arms are a pain, there are 8 and they fail all too often.

That said, my B5s have been pretty great, and I've done all of the wrenching myself, which saves serious cash.

I was serious about it being for sale...

Not for sale. It's just where I want it right now.

Well, except for window tint... and maybe a Stage III turbo kit (~450 hp), and... oh no, there I go :)

B5 S4 wagon rare as hell. Please tell me its not a autotragic either.

Definitely a 6-spd manual. I looked for ~2 years before I found the right one (though, I still hope to get a different color some day... tired of silver, but I'd only change if the perfect car landed in my lap.)

I had a dusty mauve turbo slc corrado for a while (EIP 2.9l with the eip kit) with OZ Futuras. With that said, after the rado, jetta, TT-225, s4 wagon, and multitude of other vr6 and 1.8t cars, I'll never consider another european car. This became evident when I was driving the 150k mile track car more than the stock, daily driver VW.

Oh, and I've driven a sequoia green b5 rs4...it still felt fwd but accelerated pretty damn hard...not APR stage 3 S4 hard, but pretty fast. Those stage3 apr cars are so fast.


Although it seems BEGi is pretty awesome, I wish we had a miata based company like APR, back in like 2001 when they still used quality parts, before they went to cheap, mass production.

With stiffer springs and a thicker rear anti-sway bar, the car will lose a lot of the understeer. Also, a company called Stasis Engineering makes a 4:1 center differential that makes the car oversteer, a bit scary in the snow, but helpful on the track.

And the most devious underhanded muckraking mudslinging advertising against their competitors and also outright lies that prey upon the ignorance of the populace. Such as their "zero friction" diverter valve...

Shame about not selling, one of my coworkers is looking for an S4.

I worked at a VW shop back in the day and we stopped using their stuff when they went from cast aluminum parts to stamped steel and crap like that. I didn't know they made their own blow off valve. :giggle:

I currently run APR software, mostly because it runs the lower boost than a number of programs. It's done fairly well, but I have not purchased any of their other products.

Its cast, presumably made in a 3rd world country. The leak from the factory and fail all the time. I have one here in my desk... diaphragm retainer came apart and the design of the spring perch has a nasty habit of causing metal to metal contact. As a result the valve is full of metal shavings, well not that full, I'm sure the lion's share ended up somewhere else :eek5:

Are you still on the original K03's?

Another S4 driver here.

http://patrickschmidt.baked.net/albu..._IMG.sized.jpg

Count the VAG products in this picture.

http://patrickschmidt.baked.net/albu..._IMG.sized.jpg

And I'll say it again; one S4 admirer here. Congrats man, that car looks really good! Me want one :cry:

Still on the original K03's at 107k miles. I try to treat the turbos really well: no boost until 150F oil temps, cool down before shutting off, frequent synthetic oil changes.

Keeping my fingers crossed that they'll last until at least mid-year... then it will be K04 time.

Miata is going in next saturday for $2300 in body work. Bittersweet, expensive, but driving her in the sun with the top down today (for the first time since last summer) was intensely gratifying.

Wow- going from the avant to the miata, though, really reminded me of how slow it was (though, the miata sounds faster... even with gutted downpipes and a big exhaust the S4 is pretty darn quiet)

at least the fixes mean new fenders, bumper, and all the little dents pulled out!

the audi is sick, welcome to the miata world.

I haven't seen Oettinger wheels in a while.

Huh- those don't look like any Oettinger's I've seen (RE's and RZ's) Logo on the center cap does look like Oett though. They look a bit like Abt wheels to me...

They are Oettingers. They also got pretty thashed by my wife.

The car now sits on fake-me-out LMs

http://patrickschmidt.baked.net/albums/S4/S4.sized.jpg

I'm so torn on the LM replicas. They look awesome, but the replica status bugs me for some reason (despite my car riding on loose replicas of RS4 wheels :p )

Replica status bugged me too, but then I saw the cost of actual LMs. :)

I didn't install the BB5 centercaps and only diehard fanbois can tell the difference.