Bob01A4

I have a 2001 A4 TQMS completely stock at present.

I love the car, and I'm tentatively planning on doing some mods once the warranty is up. But...

I started wondering over the weekend.. once you add 17" wheels and rubber, a chip, perhaps a Stage 3, various other mods, aren't you getting into the price range of an S4? Do you end up with a 4-cylinder S4 for roughly the cost of a real S4? Or is this really a cost-effective way to get the same or better performance?

TIA for any thoughts....

Bob

WClark

I wanted the potential economy of a 1.8 when commuting, handling better than an S4, short burst acceleration close to a stock S4, insurance rates of an A4.

Starting with the A4 1.8TQM is an economical way to get to that. If I simply wanted straight line acceleration of the S4, or I wanted to outrun an S4 in a straight line, I would have bought it. My goal for spending was to keep it under about $6k of add-on/upgrades. I have been able to do very high performance wheels/tires, springs, shocks, larger front brakes, pads, larger rear swaybar, short shift kit, chip and boost gauge (plus a bunch of other non-performance things) and have kept the price tag under $36k total. Without the larger brakes, rear bar, shocks short shifter and chip I was able to easily beat a bunch of stock S4 in the autocross event at last years Audi Quattro challenge, where handling, not acceleration was key to low times. Of course those driver may have just sucked.

Ray Khan

he complained about his tires being bald...I think you may hav upset him with your times:>)

DocWyte

Why buy an A4 if you're going to do big brakes, complete suspension, stage 3 kit ($5000!) etc.

You'll end up spending more money than an S4 will cost and you won't have any warranty at all or the resale value that the S4 will have. Mods do NOT increase the value of your car!

Now if you're buying a used A4 and doing some minor stuff than sure, an A4 is the way to go. However, I can't see spending the $30,000 for a new A4 and immediately spending $5000+ on brakes, wheels/tires and suspension. Then the K04 or APR Stage 3 kit. You'll have completely destroyed your warranty and have paid almost as much as an S4....

Audi2Ody

More, more, more!!!

Sean T

The whole "I'd just buy an S4 and leave it alone" line is total BS. Sure, if you spend 5k+ on your new a4 you destroy your wrantee blah blah and it's still not an s4 but costs almost as much. BUT, how many people HERE would leave their S4 stock? Pretty close to none I expect. So instead of a 25-30k base for mod spending youstart at 37 or whatever it is.

So basically, nothing wrong with spending dough on an a4, you'd just spend it on an s4 anyways.

Sean
99A4

ajp

I'd probably leave it alone-I drove one when they came out and came away feeling good about the superior handling characteristics of my car w/neuspeed race/bilsteins, but the s4's entire setup would certainly be more comfortable for all round driving.
alex
99.51.8tqm

Dead

Could you really get an S4 and not pump mod money into it?
Insurance will go up.
It is cheaper to hop up engines with less cylinders and inline engines are cheaper than Vs.
You would have better weight distribution with the the A4.
You own the A4.
Plus a hundred other things. It all come down to what YOU want.

WClark

$41k-$43k seems typical for an S4 (no haggle price).

EdP

Now WHERE the heck have YOU been????