I just bought a 2001 Audi A6 2.7t with 7K miles.
I love the car but the power is only there
on the freeway. Not crazy about the transmission.
Will a chip set shorten the life of the turbos?
Will a low level chip set make much of a difference? I do not want to trade reliability
for performance. I'm not crazy about the suspension either. The car rolls on hard corners.
Will bigger wheels resolve this without changing
the suspension? The car only has 16" wheels.
Anyone out there who has done work to an automatic A6 2.7T let me know the results.
Thank You

 

If you do not like the suspension or the tranny why did you get the A6; family? I would of gone with an S4 avant or just and S4. I chiped my A4 and i love my car even more. Just get a chip from good companies; like APR, MTM (mine), etc. for handling: suspension and wheels.

 

To add to M3's post (btw, which engine is the S54 again?)

Body roll is only reduced with suspension setup (ditto for U vs O-steer). Grip can be added with sticker tires (will also help braking).

Chip tuning, I say go for it...

And I agree, if you don't like the tiptronic transmission, nor the suspension, why did you buy that car?

You can (or could?) get the A6tq with the 6spd and sport suspension (17" wheel package came with that).

 

Thanks for your input. I got the A6 for the extra
room. I did drive the A4 and thought it felt tighter. The A6 has a "soft" ride. This is
a family car so I needed the extra room.

 

For the ride/handling: Yes, going to 17" wheels with 235/45 tires will make a big difference over the stockers...in fact, it will be surprising how much difference...especially if you go with a maximum-performance tire like the SO-3. A very nice suspension up-grade (inexpensive, can be a diy but better with another set of hands) is the PSK or sport-suspension rear anti-sway bar. It "firms" up the rear of the car (less "wagging-of-the-tail) and reduces the initial on-set of understeer. The car should come this way. Eibach makes a "sport-spring" for this car...it lowers it about 1.25" and may settle more over time. Eibach also makes a "matching" set of sport dampers (shocks) to go with their springs...strongly suggest you do both at the same time as the springs alone will not work well with your now worn stock shocks. Koni also makes shocks for the A6 2.7T. For coil-over suspensions your choices are KW with their var 1 and var 2 sets, and H&R. I have the PSK bar, 18" wheels w/SO-3s and H&R coil-overs on my A6 2.7T. Each change will have a noticable effect on the ride/handling so I do not suggest you do all of them at once as you may not like the end result. If you are planning on 17" wheels do that first and see how it changes the car...it may be enough for you. Will you keep the car a long time? Sell it? Trade it in? The mods you do may not help sale or trade unless you can restore the car to "stock". Any change to the engine will impact reliability...hell, there are blown turbos on completely stock/never tracked/raced 2.7T motors. Most who chip strongly suggest you also replace the diverter valves and the throttle-body boot as even the "improved" ones have failed...even on unchipped motors.

Engine chip and tranny chip. Most A6 2.7T/tip owners who chip do so with a chip that has a lower torque output (about 300-310 lb/ft max) as that is the design "limit" for the tip tranny. Hp is still about 300-310 with the chip. A tip chip quickens the shifting. Check with the chip manufacturers to see if they have a low-torque chip for the 2.7T/tip. I have a 6-speed so I don't have any first-hand experience with the tip chip.

HTH

 

the S54 is the new engine on the E46 M3's that are blowing up. I have that BMW will come with a fix.

 

"that are blowing up"

That doesn't sound good. The new I6 is a neat powerplant, as is the engine from the 7xxLi...