Jenner

I met Jeff F.(JT) at Hoffman Audi in East Hartford yesterday. I needed some Lake/Light Silver touch up paint, and Jeff was picking his '99 A4 up from a service and needed Aluminum Silver touch up for his ride. The first thing we both noticed was a Silver S4 parked out on the road.

We talked and dealt with a few things and then went out to look at the S4. First impressions;
HUGE brakes! WOW!
Love the rear badging and front grill
CD Player in the dash looks nice.
Dislike/hate white needles and numbers of the facegauges

We then went back into the dealership and passed an A6 4.2. WOW The fender flares are AWESOME on this car. Great job Audi the new A6 4.2 looks awesome, but the rims on it sucked because you can't see the brakes or anything at all, they are too closed up.

So we go back in haggle a friend of mine Anthony(Financial Manager) and Tom(salesman) for a ride/test drive of a the A4. Tom said "HE" would take us out in it, so I wasn't expecting to get to drive it. We go out and Jeff takes shotgun and I sit in the back. The S4 is as tight or tigher than the A4 in the back thats for sure. We didn't like the "silver" leather(looked light white to me) or the green marble wood trim this model had. We drive down the block and my first comment was, wow this suspension is NICE and tight. But that also could be due to the 17" wheels/tires.

Then we pull over and Tom looks at me and says drive. I was like WOW! So we do a switch up and I am off driving the S4. Steering/handling A+! Awesome! 6 speed shifter A+, New white facegauges D-. They suck plain and simple they should have kept it all RED! Seats felt great, the V6 biturbo was SOOO smooth! In fact, the entire setup was so smooth. Thats what this car is. Smooth. So I play around and put 8-10 miles on it and then Jeff drives. Jeff had fun, even missed a gear which cracked me up, so we get back and we realize that while the S4 is a great car, its not a HUGE leap over a stage 2 A4, and its not like we can't live without a stock S4. So that leads me to believe this car is super undertuned. Tom was telling us a new chip will take it to 345hp. I'm sure that would have made me mess my pants on the test drive.

I guess I expected a little more or maybe I just love the kick in the pants when a chipped A4's 15psi of boost kicks in. Not sure, but was a little "less" than I was expecting.

S4 owners DON'T get mad at me! I am NOT saying the A4 is better, its not. The S4 just isn't as big a difference as I thought and I also drove it a maximum of 10 miles. So please just take these as first impressions.

Next we wanted to see the Nagro Blue S4 with the two tone seats. We walked to their back lot and checked it out. 1 word. AWESOME. The seude leather combo is awesome and that Nagro blue is very very nice as well. Also saw a 180hp quattro TT next to it and a 2000 A4 avant also. It had the 10 spoke "sport" rims on. Let me tell you, they are NOT sporty looking and kinda ugly IMHO.
Something you must see for yourself, and I have a feeling at alot of 2000 A4 sport package owners will be going aftermarket asap or using them for snows.

So mission accomplished with a few bonuses.
Picked up Jeffs car, got our touchup paint, test drove S4, saw the Quattro TT, A6 4.2, 2000 A4's, saw the 10 spoke '00 rims and new facegagues in person and have to say I don't know what Audi was thinking.

I hope JT reads this and posts his impressions as they may have been similar or very different from mine.

-Jenner
'99.5 1.8T QMS Spoiler/Garrett/Mintex/17" MM Spiders(in route!)

T2

Agree about the new A6 4.2 - the look is great (I even like its wheels)

Geza

nt

MichaelD

Could you fill me in on how you connected the pad sensor wire to the new set of Mintex pads. I am looking to replace the stock pads due to the dust, but the Mintex pads don't have a connector to fit the US vehicles, only the European models.

Thanks,

Mike

Jenner

Re: Jenner - You have a set of Mintex on your 99.5?

Jenner

I don't have them installed yet. They are being installed by Audi at my 10k service for $70.
They will cut the sensor off the old pad, solder the ends together, and stick it back in the harness. I am sacrificing the brake pad warning light for less dust and better stopping. To me its worth it. By soldering the ends together, they circut is still complete and the sensor won't ever worry about it. If you are going to do it yourself make sure after you solder you weather proof the solder(ie electrical tape it sealed). Does this answer your questions?

-Jenner
'99.5 1.8T QMS Spoiler/Garrett/Mintex/17" MM Spiders(in route!)

MichaelD

Yes, thanks! Make sure to let us know your impressions after installation.