SnjoNegri

Im a new owner, just bought a 2001 S4 under a month ago. I had been a 2001 A4 owner for the last 6 years tho, until it was stolen and crashed.

Anyway, Ive lurked here on and off for years, S4 section included. I couldnt afford one 6 years ago, but I figured I would replace my old car with a better model this time around.

My only issue is that its tiptronic. Probably a blessing in disguise since Im 25 and full of testosterone lol.


Anyway, a few questions, most that the search function wouldnt easily find.

I have 177000 kms on the car, bought it around the 173000 mark. Its had a plethora of replaced parts since the last owner, all OEM, and then aftermarket headlights with the LED strip and xenon bulbs.

What I want to know is:

-Is it smart to put a chip in the vehicle? If so some decent information on which ones are good/ bad and what the approx price and process will be? Its frustrating not being able to search and find anything solid on the subject.

-Exhaust upgrades. With the turbos there (the first turbocharged vehicle Ive owned) what kind of system can I setup? Can you put headers on there?

-How poor are the stock turbo chargers reliability?

-Stock, how fast is this car compared to modern competitors?

Ive been an avid audi fan since I was a teenager. If anyone has solid detailed info maybe this thread can be stickied.

S4biturbo1

The Search feature is your friend, trust in it!! lol, but really just search around!

donromani

You don't need to put in a new chip, you can simply have it flashed. I suggest getting whichever brand has a dealer closest to you - they are all quite good. With a high km car like yours the chip may cause some already ageing parts to fail, assuming you drive the car harder and use the new power the chip will provide.

you can get headers - very expensive, not much value unless you have a highly tuned car. You can get all kinds of exhaust upgrades - bigger pipes, more noisy, etc.

the stock turbos are pretty solid - these things just fail, no way around it. 150k miles is a pretty common time for the turbos to go, but some people are at 200k on stock turbos.

A stock s4 does not stack up well against modern cars. A new v6 Honda accord can make 250hp. A Civic Si makes 200hp and doesn't weigh as much. The v6 mustangs put out 300hp.

AnimuS'Avant

As mentioned below, chipping your S4 will definitely increase the stress on your aged turbos. If you decide to chip the car, you will definitely feel a strong improvement with most of the major chips (APR, GIAC, MTM, etc.), especially if you decide to do a catback exhaust at the same time. But be prepared to replace the turbos real soon afterwards, especially if you get into the boost a lot.

With the higher mileage (kilometerage?) on your vehicle, you should replace most of the rubber in the intake system about the same time. There's a lot of preventative stuff you can do that will help, including replacing the diverter valves with the TT ones (710N's, I think). You can fairly quickly run into a lot of money replacing all these parts!

Last time I did a T-belt, I also replaced all the water hoses, and while it was a huge pain, I think it will make the car more reliable long-term. I think the 2001 S4 no longer has the F-hose that fails, but you should check.

Running stock, no boost, you should easily get 250,000km or more from the turbos. But you'll need to take good care of them to achieve that if you go to "stage 2" with a chip + exhaust, etc. Watch your oil temps, use synthetic oil, listen for the turbo-lady whine (search is your friend), and bursts of smoke from the tailpipe. Good luck!

pdq356

I went down this path on a 45k car some years ago. What the chip manufactures don't mention is that the increased boost (12lbs to 17 lbs)will make short work of the shafts on the KO3 turbos. The mainshafts are about the size of a pencil and were not designed for 50% more stress. When they break just replace them with KO4 turbos. The main shafts are about the size of your finger and will not fail. There are a few companies that will rebuild your KO3's and turn them into KO4's by replacing the internals but it still won't be cheap. Then you can go to KN filters, sport exhaust, bigger inter coolers, etc, and have a great time. BTW the factory Sport Exhaust turned out to be a stock unit without a center muffler. So if you know a good welder you can save a bundle as there are a bunch of those laying around garages everywhere. Guys that went to the after market $1200 units will give you the stock one for $100, just ask me how I know.Good luck.

twv5004

Dont forget, to have a side bank account for your tipp, let me be the first to warn you, as no one clyed me in, tip tronics will catastrophicly fail eventualy, etir blown clutch pack or torque converter ect, now if your gona upgrade dont make my misteak, upgrade ur tip a bit so it can.handle your upgrades, im just finishing up a full stg 3 6 speed conversion, and yeah it aint cheap when you break the tip, few companys make upgraded tc n valve bodies I cant recomend any personaly bc I just swaped then deal with that, but b4 you go looking into chips and then an exhaust and the ohh what the hell power adder parts, look around at tcs, they can be had for a couple hundred, and should help preserve ur tip....mine not so much

SnjoNegri

Thanks a bunch for the advice. Ill have to check and see what parts were replaced, and what can get replaced easily.

Will be lurking and posting my boisterous opinions from time to time.

S4Per

I've been Stage 3 custom tuned on my Tip for ~60k miles - no issues. So I guess, just as is true with manual, your mileage will vary with different parts going / not going over time. Sorry to hear about yours!

SnjoNegri

How much did it cost you guys to convert to K04 turbos?

Ive found out mine are original, and will go eventually.

S4Per

take a look at any one of tuners website for the cost of the kit. install is usually somewhere around 40 hours (might have changed over the years, I had mine done 5 years ago). For Tip - add a torque converter and optionally a valve body (each around $700-800). I think I spent about $10k when all said and done.