relsteamboat

I have a well maintained 2001.5 S4 avant with 125k miles. I've owned it since 35k.

Question: is it worth the $15k I'll need to spend to do it right?

I'm considering APR or AWE.

Opinions are appreciated.

nooB5

For me, going stg 3 was something I always wanted to do. The value in spending that kind of money was not based upon some sort of financial investment, I mean c'mon, this is probably the worst kind of thing to spend money on if you expect a return. I spend money on this car with the complete realization that I will never see it again. But then again the money I spend on this car is completely disposable income. Do not go stg 3 as an investment!!!

You have to ask yourself, can you really afford to do this? I mean, can you afford all the potential headaches? Being an S4 owner, you know where I'm coming from on this point. How much do you really want to go stg 3? If you plan on selling the vehicle in the future, are you prepared to take a huge hit?

In the end only you can answer whether it is "worth" it or not. The good news is that if you do go stg 3 and do it right, your car will be virtually brand new.

Good luck with your decision.

relsteamboat

thanks. I'm not looking at this as an investment with a $$ return in the future. I enjoy this car, despite the expense to maintain it. I plan to keep it for a long time.

The "virtually brand new" comment is my justification.

When did you convert your car to stage 3? and why did you choose AWE over APR?

thanks again.

nooB5

Went stg 3 at 98K miles. No regrets. Tony and his guys at EPL completely revamped my engine and all of its maintenance items. I went with the AWE Twin 2 because I prefer the more subdued sound of the exhaust.

I too enjoyed my S4 completely stock. But the enjoyment I get now makes the $$$ worth it.

LazerB5

what do you mean by do it right? fully tranny rebuild, new pullies, oil pump, sensors ( if so which ones?) alternator, powersteering? anything else? do you haave a list of everything that was done? if so can you please post?

mailmanj15

In my experience I would not choose AWE or APR. If you are serious about getting horsepower out of your car go with MTM. Depending on where you live there should be a dealer around you. The shop I go to in Colorado has built 5 or 6 cars with Stage 3 MTM upgrades. They've won the One Lap of America race with a B5 S4 with Stage 3 MTM which bumps the Horsepower up to around 450. MTM is a high altitude tested chip and is much better on your turbos then an APR or AWE chip. Check it out.. http://www.mtm-online.de/

DxC

hey guys its amazing to see life on these forums again.

AWE and APR are old news as far as stage 3s go ... they used to be the only option in 2003 or so, but now there are MANY more stage 3s. EPL ASP VAST SSP are probably the strongest tunes out for stage 3.

complacentsee

EPL ASP VAST, I thought greg was done with S4s these days.

B5s4.200qt

Naa greg still does s4's... Actually it seems like he only does s4's lol. There were like six of them at the shop last week. He just did mine and now im waiting for the fueling.