As I posted this morning, my little gift from FedEx showed up; a simple build-it-yourself adjustable relay. I didn't know how to build a relay, but I followed the directions and about 30 soldering connections later, I had my relay!

Anyway, this evening I set about wiring it up to my car (see link in my sig for more info) and with the exception of one little hiccup, it all works exactly how I had hoped. The little hiccup was that I thought I could power the relay with a 9 volt battery even though the documentation stated clearly that it needed 12 volts to operate. The package was right. Once I wired up another 9 volt battery in series though, I was good to go.

Anyway...a HUGE change has taken place. Full throttle now immediately equals full throttle. No throttle now immediately equals no throttle--violently so. I accelerated up to about 5500rpm and "side-stepped" the gas pedal (took my foot off quickly) and was absolutely THROWN into my seatbelt. If I hadn't been wearing it, I would have honked the horn with my face--I'm not kidding. The same holds true you when I apply the throttle--instant, violent response.

A side benefit is that shifting becomes much more intuitive, now that the car doesn't flip between two different throttle maps with each application of the clutch pedal.

The only downside is that the relay on 18 volts sounds like a cricket on speed. I have to find a little less industrial version.

If anybody is interested shoot me an email or post questions and I'll tell y'all what to do!

PS--AvramD...you got rid of your S4 a week early. I am convinced you would have reconsidered your decision if you tried this.

 

Whoa, keep us updated. I want that raw feeling.

 

Actually, can we meet up sometime so you can show me in person what you did?

 

I need to straighten everything out a little bit. I have no on/off switch yet and the whole apparatus is just sitting in the storage thing under the armrest. Functionally, it's perfect though, so any time you want to meet, I'm game. Evenings are best; send me an email.

 

couldnt you just run 12v power of the car?

 

Awesome. I will send you an email shortly.

 

I didn't want to deal with that tonight though. That will be the permanent solution.

 

So what exactly did you do? I don't really understand what this relay does.

 

The DBW system has 3 problems.
1) The Throttle Map
2) the selanoid and other hardware that doesnt read 100%
3) The way the two systems interact.

Chips fix the throttle map. This relay fixes a little of 2 & 3. What you have to do is slightly over compinsate and then you only need to correct one system or the other.

 

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/41217/throttlemod1.jpg"></center><p><ul><li><a href="https://forums.audiworld.com/s4/msgs/935010.phtml">Don't know if it's the same/similar problem for your B6s.</a></li></ul>