S4Tune

I think i read on here that a Stage 2 S4 will run 12 seconds flat, neck and neck with an M5. Does anybody know if this is true? What does that count as, a chip and exhaust? Anybody have quarter mile times for just an X GIAC chip? Also, what time does a stock M3 get? Hope this isn't too many questions, but I'm having a philosophical disagreement with a Camaro SS owner, maybe you can help.

John CC

no it runs 11's all day long al you need is my apr emcs chip with race program and a cliff

NASA racer

Did you mean 13 flat? M5s are NOWHERE near 12 second flat cars...NOWHERE near that. 13 flat...that's realistic and with exhaust and stuff it's possible to get high 12s. E46 M3s supposedly run 13.1s stock with amazing drivers and significantly slower over on bimmer.org with real drivers.

and I watched a chip + cat-back S4 TROUNCE an SS camaro with a 13.4 vs. 13.7.

1/4 times vary widely due to driver/track/car/mod variations. The best posted (with video) is a chip + turbo-back exhaust and an intake and I don't know what else at 12.8. Now there are alot of mid-12 second Camaros and it's pretty cheap to get that sort of speed in a camaro but what's NOT so easy is the 1.7-1.8 second 60' time that the S4's put down so to beat one of these S4's requires much MORE than a faster timeslip. Pat runs his S4 avant in street races for money and trounces many a "faster" car by smoking them off the line with 4WD by so much that they can't make up anywhere NEAR the difference by the end of the 1/4 despite being "faster".

TYPICALLY with good gas (absolutely vital), good driver and good conditions an S4 is capible of:

13.9-14.2 stock
13.5-14.0 with chip only
13.3-13.8 with chip + cat-back
12.8-13.3 with chip + downpipes + catback.

Note there was a 13.1 done by The R with JUST a chip + cat-back and there are S4s that break into the 12s with fewer mods than I've listed but I'm giving you a range from reasonably documented and verified timeslips/runs/videos that have been posted.

Best documented S4 run to date is here...<ul><li><a href="http://www.giacusa.com/s4_12_8.wmv">http://www.giacusa.com/s4_12_8.wmv</a</li></ul>

John CC

The R ran the 13.1X w/t apr race gas program - just to clarify

NASA racer

FUEL. It made a .9 second difference on my tip S4. High cylinder temperature and pressure = NEED for the highest octane gas you can run without going leaded. I have yet to use 100 octane in the 996 but with a 12.5:1 compression ratio I'm sure the timing is being cut on hot days with the 91 octane water we have in CA.

The 12.8 is also a GIAC 100 octane only program (X-R). That means they basically have more aggressive timing advance than is possible with anything LOWER than 100 octane or the car will pre-ignite. The penalty for modding a boosted car is the need for high-octane gas.

S4Tune

Did I say 12? Honestly, I've never timed, been to a timed quarter mile, or even understood what was going on in the fast and the furious. So 12, 9, 45, whatever, all the same to me. Anyways, glad to hear that a modded S4 can lay it down on the Camaro, that will be my new goal. After the chip, some tints, we're shooting for pipes...

NASA racer

due to distance at speed a tenth is a HUGE deal in dragracing. It's not a tiny margin its as much as a carlength and some cars are lucky to pick up .2 over stock with hundreds of dollars worth of mods.

Drag racing is interesting, has its challenges and is alot of fun.

John CC

they tested a few vehicles with good gas and bad gas. If I remember correctly, they measured a 6% performance drop in an M3 between bad vs good gas.

They also said something like it had more of an effect in higher performance cars with complex motor managements...

NASA racer

with a sophisticated ECU like on an M3 or S4 or 996, the MOMENT any preignition is detected, the timing advance is cut to 0 and the power is interrupted to stop damage. This isn't always noticeable to the driver because it can cut and then advance the timing VERY quickly so the car "feels" okay but IS just slow. The M3 has a compression ratio similar to the 996 and that makes it have a lower "threshold" for preignition. Octane is basically a measure of the resistance to preignition of gas so though octane doesn't "give" you horsepower, it ENABLES the engine to develop the kind of power its capible of.

Crappier systems (like a Ford) will simply preignite like crazy.

The R

He was on race gas, but no race programs. If I could get my car running right, look for a 13.0 or better coming....fingers crossed.