New owner thoughts

[S4DJB]

Hi guys

I have owned my B5 S4 for a few weeks now so I wanted to express some thoughts about the car and hear your responses. The car has been remapped (320bhp ish) and has 150k miles.


Positives:
- Excellent mid range acceleration in all gears
- Unbelievable grip, on both wet and dry roads
- Very refined with very smooth power
- So understated, especially when debadged.
I've already had great satisfaction in edging away from a number of cars, including a 911 Carrera and (an unexpecting and very annoyed!) Scooby owner

Negatives
- Seems to drop the power higher up the revs -
- Bad over speed bumps
- Cornering not quite as precise as my last BMW (328i sport) - don't kill me for saying that lol
- Shocking consumption when pressing on

Here are some questions for you guys...

With my car being high mileage, what would you recommend replacing?
What price would I be looking at (parts) for new shocks all round? / Go with Audi OEM?
Has anyone modified the standard exhaust? I'm looking at having a straight pipe fabricated in place of the mid silencer to keep the standard look. Should I expect much sound increase?

Has anyone upgraded to KO4 turbos? (or different)
Are you glad you did? What BHP are you running? How much was the upgrade in total?
What else did you change as part of the upgrade?

Sorry for all the questions! Just wanted to hear from some of you guys.
If you can answer even one or two of the questions I'd appreciate it.

 

[Bradderz_1988]

I'd start with a full service get the timing belt and waterpump done if not already done. Get the vac pipes replaced to start of with as the old one will have perished then see if it doesnt drop the power but it may be the remap that may need tweaking !

 

[aragorn]

Replace every bush and balljoint on the car. Will tighten everything up nicely.

 

[S4DJB]

Thanks for your replies guys.

I am tempted to get my car booked in with the exhaust place next week. Do you think that the removal of the mid-silencer will make much difference to the sound?

I want to keep the standard look but fancy hearing a bit more of that wonderful v6!

 

[aragorn]

I'd spend the effort on the front end of the system.

Some nice fat downpipes and a pair of sport cats will open it up nicely, both in terms of flow and noise.