Anyone in Central NJ have AWE DTS installed? Just want to compare level of vibration and noice...m
 

Installed my DTS yesterday, drove it about 50 miles and was not happy with the additional vibration and noice. Reinstalled DTS today ensuring proper torque values, test drove the car and to my disappointment -- no improvememnt.

The car sounds like it has a transfer case of a 4 x 4 and a noticeable vibration which increases proportionately to engine speed.

I may be overly meticulous but just want to ensure this is normal for this type of mod. I have several other mods, e.g., exhaust, short shifter, 18" wheels, chip, etc.

Shifting is 100% better though.

Let me know your thoughts...

Thanks Alan L, AudiOx, DakineS4 and Giga2Envy for your reply on my pervious post.

Some have definitely complained about the extra vibration...
 

I feel and hear nothing though.. =T

I noted *some* vibration with mine, but this was very minor and I had to think about it
 

in order to feel it. It seemed more prevalent yesterday, but today when I drove it I decided it really wasn't that noticable at all. Not sure if I was just being overly sensitive yesterday or if it smoothed out.

Your description sounds like a far more intrusive result than mine. Did the parts all fit easily into place or did you have to force anything?

You could possibly remove the crossbar (the hex bolts at the ends and the 2 in the middle) just to see if the noise goes away again. Leave the brakcets at the ends in place along with the plate/block on the tranny and you should be able to pop it back in quickly.

Yeah, even with only one bolt in, no noise, no unusual vibration.
 

Shifting is fantastic. Did scrape on a speedbump already though :)

I'm supprised you waited this long :p

About vibration.
 

The 1.8, being a four cylinder, will have more vibration that a 2.7 V6 naturally.

Anytime you stiffen up the driveline, there will always be some additional vibration transfered to the cabin. More-so with the 1.8t. This is no doubt, Audi didn't make this car that way originaly,in order to totally isolate/insulate the driver from driveline noise. They were willing to sacrifice performance for "cush" Interestingly though, the new 2002 A4 has a DTS built in!

As the mount breaks in, it will soften and the vibration that some of you are experiancing will subside. On the S4, most of you will never notice any vibration at all, even initally. If you have an APR snub mount too, then that may add vibration that may not subside, because urethane is like a rock and does not give very much.


One thing to check if vibration seems noticable, it that the downpipe is not making contact with the DTS. The downpipe has an adjustment, if it is touching, or if it's too close. Just loosen the spring bolt on the downpipe, and push up on it while you tighten it. A jack will help you with this.

Rest assured, the few that are having trouble with the supplied mount will be taken care of promptly.

If you guys ever need assistance, you can email me if AWE is closed or on the phone. Both AWE and myself want you to be completely happy with your DTS.

Happy shifting!

Yeah, well the bar was expensive and I had other mods in mind first...
 

But when I put the APR snub mount on there, it was like a gateway drug. It helped shifting so much that I suddenly was willing to spend a lot more than before to tighten up the shifting. I hadn't realized how bad it was. The DTS made a much more noticable difference, in the half mile I've driven it since putting the bar on the car, but I'm very happy with the feel of the two. I guess both the engine and tranny are prone to slopping around under the car.

It makes me wish I had coilovers, though, so I could raise the car a half inch or something. The combination of the Intrax and 235/40's has left my car really too low. I have like three and a half inches of clearance under the DTS. Speedbumps are going to have to be taken even slower now, and I know of a few I'm sure I can't get over any more.

Clearance, and cost were the two reasons I waited so long to do it. The $289 group buy helped the cost... I'll just have to deal with the clearance issue. The bar looks pretty damn durable, A few scrapes on the brackets isn't going to kill it. (And thats what hits -- the stock plates that were on there were scraped to hell and bashed in a bit.)

My noise level is essentially unchanged with the DTS. I'm in Cherry Hill BTW
 

I occasionally hear a high pitched whine but that's the girl sitting in the passenger seat when she doesn't get to listen to her radio station. If I put softer bushings on her, would it quiet her down?

hahah I popped my DTS' speed bump cherry the other day leaving the hospital
 

I cringed a bit and then reminded myself that it's UNDER THE CAR it's a utility device not a show piece...

Regards,

James R.

Yea, but it might change her movement a bit :-)