salS8

Hello All,

Extremely happy I was able to pull the trigger on this rare beauty. It was completely stock when purchased. I am the third owner.

I brought it down to the Audi dealership for a 300-point inspection so there weren't any gotcha's with the purchase - all was good.

Anyways, I'll post pictures of the car after I get it washed up again. Looking to get some advice on possible performance upgrades / enhancements. I am currently looking @ the APR ECU Stage 1 upgrade (anyone else get this done?). I know brakes are in the pipeline but was looking for some experienced owners to bring me up to speed what they might have done or what's out there.

Thanks for any advice!

J

TSHong

Congrats on the purchase. Can't wait to see some pics.

I think the consensus here on the board is that there are no huge benefits of a tune on a normally aspirated engine. These motors are "tuned" by Audi to deliver the most streetable HP. You might get some marginal HP gains but not worth the money. I could be wrong since there is always exceptions in life.

Jack88

I'm with Hong, you won't see much out of a tune. Audi didn't leave much on the table with the S8, they have it pretty well perfect in that regard. A lot of people enjoy opening up the exhaust, but that's just for noise, you wouldn't get an appreciable performance gain. Brakes from the factory always have room for improvement, a lot of people seem to like the EBC Redstuff pads. You can also adjust the rideheight via VCDS, if you have the cable. If you plan on doing your own maintenance, you will need the cable anyway. Buy it directly from Rosstech, ebay and other second party sites will either charge more or sell you a knockoff that doesn't really work. Congrats, and I look forward to the photos.

Greg5OH

yes in for pics as well! wondering which part of the country you purchased this one in? I was on the hunt for a solid 8 months for ours.

salS8

@Greg: I am in New England - Boston area. Honestly, it has been on my radar for years now. Need to advice on winter though. Do I punch through the winter or baby her. I have the original set of rims and tires, could put some winter specials on them and sell the tires...just worried about salt degradation, etc. I have a membership for a pretty nice car wash, I could ride through once a week if need be to rid her of all the salt.

@Jack: I'll have to look into that VCDS stuff. Right in my wheelhouse I think. Brakes are a definite for me - new rotors and pads, just dont know with whom yet. I like the exhaust the way it is now, no need to be louder.

@ TSHong: I have to agree. I dont think a boost of 25 HP is going to be felt, and I bet it will reduce my mpg as well.

Anyways, it's raining up here today and tomorrow, will get her cleaned afterwards and post.

Thanks for all the advice!

J

carl viking

I'm also in Boston area - happy to share my experience. I do drive north for skiing so I needed snows (I think have a picture or two posted here with snows on the car.

Before you buy brakes - check out my ad in Classified (link below, kind of forgot I still have them actually!). I'd love to sell them locally versus shipping!

:-)

salS8

@Carl: Awesome, thanks for the heads up. I think I will roll her out for the winter. I love the brakes btw, but I want to do my research. I just wonder how much bigger that are compared to stock since my rims just first without spaces.

Anyways, didn't get a chance to clean again yet but here's a lunch pic.

Greg5OH

wow that is nice!!
I did not see that one for sale when I was searching, was it a private party local deal?
is it lowered and how much? wheel specs? they fit more flush than the stock ones for sure.

carl viking

I think you mean your current wheels "just fit"?
Are they 18 or 19"?

Feel free to PM me when you are ready to talk and we can do an offline phone call instead.

salS8

@Greg: Funny story, it was a private sale that went south, then he traded the car in and I jumped on it before they completed the post online.

@Carl: Sorry, for that. Ya, they were a natural fit, no spacers required. They are 20" Niche Misano rims with Nitto Motivo's (staggered). I'll shoot you a PM bud, thanks.