a2vrturbo

Pickin up a urs4 next week. need to know what to look for and also good mods that would keep the car reliable but more powerful... will be dailying the pics coming 2moro... 93 114k blk on blk for $3500

GoHeels

Nice. Thats low milage for a '93, so that's a good price if its in good shape.

This might help... http://web.archive.org/web/200103092...ers_guide.html

* old site, but it opened for me.

eta - just noticed you're in NC. Nice. You wont mistake it for another at the mall, they are rare in the Carolinas.

Easiest upgrade for more power is a Stage 1+ chip. Adds ~50 hp and ~50 torque. Nearly turns your S4/6 into a 4 door Carrera.

UrS4boy

Here is a link to a newer UrS buyer's guide:

http://s-cars.org/site/archives/630

Joe100S

Honestly, I have just flipped 200k on mine and I put a huge number of miles on the car. I commute from Seattle to Portland and back weekly which puts a whopping 1600+ miles a month on the car.

I change the oil every 6-8 weeks (2500-3000 mi) and I am very diligent about maintenance. The car has been upgraded by Alex and IA and has a full stage 3+ kit in the car and I'm running 26+ lbs of boost with a 2.2 bar spring in the wastegate in the winter (with the aluminum wheels and snow tires) and the 3 bar spring in the summer (with the forged wheels and proper sticky rubber) and the car couldn't be more reliable.

Granted there are little things that go wrong or wear out, but these cars were very well constructed and if they are properly cared for the i5 20v Turbo motor is essentially indestructible unless you do something really stupid. The pain points are the boost hoses, coils and the POS's.

Motor mounts and suspension are also key. I'm going to be redoing my motor mounts VERY soon as the telltale vibration you feel from sagging mounts is becoming apparent. This happens with increased frequency as you increase the power on the cars.

I should mention that rarely do you run into anything inexpensive. Labour and parts are not cheap, despite what you may pay for the car. Stay away from Chinese parts and find a dealer or parts source you can trust. There will be lots of folks here who will point you in the right direction.

This is after all, a supercar of sorts. Just go into AAN S4 ownership with your eyes open and you'll be a happy owner.

J

GoHeels

I'd say you change your oil too often Joe, unless you're taking dirt roads to Portland.

However, can I get first refusal when you decide to sell her.

Joe100S

One thing I've learned over the years is that frequent oil changes are cheap insurance. Considering a 5 quart jug of Mobil 1 is only $23 I'm more than willing to do this with the frequency I've maintained. Call me crazy but I get about double the milage most people claim from their engines.

You can be first on the list when I sell it. Six speed, custom Bilsteins, H&R springs, Ecru and carbon interior trim and all...

GoHeels

Wow, think I paid close to $40 for a big jug of Mobil 1 at AutoZone last year. $23 is an excellent price.

No doubt your S4 sounds really nice, and fast. I've never driven a full stage 3+ before.

Joe100S

I hate Walmart but I will buy oil from them Goes on sale from time to time and I usually buy a bunch of jugs all at once.

Yeah, Alex does good work and he has inherited an incredible amount of expertise from Ned. I find that Alex is also exceptionally pragmatic and knows what if any difference certain changes will make. I would not hesitate to suggest him to anyone on the forums who wants their ECU done or any other work done on the car. He also stocks a lot of spares so when I had coil/POS issues we were able to quickly diagnose things without going and buying unnecessary bits.

J

a2vrturbo

hate to sound like a noob but what is a POS

UrS4boy

Normally, "POS" is bad as in piece of sh*t, but in our case, it is the power output stage, a transitorized switch, controlled by the ECU, that causes the coils to fire by taking the primary coil power to ground. Without them, the ignition does not work.

Go to this link below and click on the N122 and N127 POS label near the top for more info (the other labels are "hot" too):

http://members.shaw.ca/speedtek/UrS%...ice%20Map.html