From 911 to S4

Hello everyone.

Used to post on the B5 forum a few years ago. Bought a Porsche 911(993), sold the quattro and have been off these forums since then and over to the 911uk forums. The porker is my daily driver and I use it as Porsche intented and do not wrap it in cotton wool or only drive it on sunny days so far from a garage queen.

I am back here as I am after a B6 S4 (saloon or avant). Got to make a few trips up north over the coming months and the Porsche is not comfirtable on longer journeys as I'm quite tall and there isnt much space with the bucket seats I installed.

My budget for this second car will be around the 5k mark. I had short listed a few cars the S4 being one of them. The others were 2008 civic type-r (not roomy enough), BMW 335i which is a great car but I think the S4 pips it to the post as the interior isnt as well put together and the power delivery isnt as smooth as the S4's 4.2 V8. A 2009 ford mondeo 2.5t was also considered (great engine the same as the volvo t5) but although great cars there not german!

I'm posting here as I'm coming pretty close to pulling the trigger on an S4 but wanted to get the forums opinion on a few things.

What are the main things to watch out for on these cars? Any weak spots or achillies heels? Timing chains not belts right?

With a miltek and a remap I have read they can achieve upto 380hp? Is this accurate?

From those in the know is it worth buying one with the recaro sorts seats (with the extra high/deep bolstering) or do the satndard sports seats suffice?

Suggestions, opinions and feedabck are very welcome and are indeed needed.

Few pics of the 911 below for your pleasure.

-Ollie

DieselJake said:

Nice Porsche! Would swap with cash if I had an S4.

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Thanks! It's not for sale the S4 will be an extra car. Hanging onto the Porsche as its gone up 40% in value just since I've had it. It's the last hand built air cooled model built and collectors are going nuts about them at the moment.

Bought the Mrs a 3.0 Avant (b6) a few years ago and it's a great car so an S4 seems the obvious choice.

dualmono21 said:

the achilles heal on these cars is absolutely the timing chain
you need to make sure it isnt rattling for anything longer than a second or so on a cold start up
if you find one which has had an oil accumulator fitted buy that one as it protects the chain and wont damage the timing chain guides

clutches on the manuals can be costly to replace , make sure the tiptronic version has had a gearbox service ...even though audi say it doesn't need one

upper ball joints have a tendency to go , most owners swap for a full kit

tuning wise it takes a a bit more than a cat back and a chip tune to get to that kinda power im afraid
the pre cats are very very restrictive on these cars , the only way you will get to that kind of power is to either remove the guts of the pre cat or fabricate new pipes completly ... they are fiddly to remove but when done the noise and power is very very addictive

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Thanks that's some good advice. Is this a very common problem with the 4.2 v8 unit? Will all suffer from it at some stage or will regular oil changes prevent it (I'm a big advocate of changing the oil every 5k or 1 year whichever comes first).

Guess the the control arms/bushes are to be expected on any car.

I've looked into clutch kits and they are pricey. Every Audi I've had (4) have all had high biting points on the clutch. Is this the case on these too?

Exmuse me I meant a full exhaust not just a car back with remap.

dualmono21 said:

regular oil changes do definitely help
however the problem is actually mechanical , the tensioning units are hydraulic and over time they lose a little bit of pressure
so as when the engine starts the chain rattles a little until there is sufficient pressure to hold the tensioner
when this happens the chain rubs on the plastic chain guides and wears them prematurely

the oil accumulator makes a big difference , there is zero chain rattle after fitting

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I see. Its kind of put me off tbh. I've done some digging and its a very common problem. Very few cars seem to have the oil accumilators fitted and the ones that have are well looked after with the relavant premiums.

I'm after something as a second car that I can still have fun in. I owned a B5 RS4 for a short time and before that I had a B5 2.8 v6. I'm not after huge power bur rather refinement and comfort for a long journey with overtaking ability.

Thanks for your help all its appreciated and I see this forum is as good as its always been.