markcincinnati

Why doesn't Audi just change the computer / engine management program itself and allow customers to buy from Audi what APR apparently sells? I know, blasphemy.

I have chipped previously (a TT) and the results were remarkable. I did not have any failure of any part of the car and the Audi dealer (in 2001) put the chip in for me (fed ex out and back all done in 2 days).

These days nuttin' has to be removed if you don't want -- plug in, copy and go.

What is the big deal -- driving one of these things with a stage one chip program mod is AMAZING. Everyone should want one (if only they knew.)

Now, I am not saying this is technically easy, but it would seem Audi could "easily" offer us the APR chip's effect for a price of $599 -- why hold the engine back? Or they could partner with APR and everybody would win.

I am, hope you notice, NOT suggesting the engine be programmed (or chipped aftermarket) to its MAX, livin' on the edge, ready to explode, etc etc -- Stage one is a relatively mild boost typically yet the impact is anything but mild -- so why not partner with APR or someone and give us a choice of power or more power?

Just a thought.

Arin@APR

You'll see the second option before the first simply because of the monstrous amount of corporate red tape a company has to go though to get engineers to change their 'beautiful' calibration. The calibration is essentially the collaborated effort of many different departments. One department tells the calibrators "the engine does this". Another department says "The engine should only be calibrated to this level". Another department says "The emissions must be this". Another after that says "We must have this level of sound output". Finally someone says "It can't come from the factory faster than this car". So in the end, collecting the efforts of so many departments, and battling so many debates is easily avoided by partnering with APR and saying "We want a performance lineup that runs your software. We'll test it and if it's good, we'll sell it. What can you do for us?" And from that, easily a performance lineup is created.

That's what happened for us with VW:
http://www.goapr.com/news/2009/03/31/golf-gti-v50/

bimmers2

Wondering if set to manual mode, how much faster can it go 0-60 compared to stock

bimmers2

Also, why didn't APR & AGIC provide 0-60 numbers? can they bring 0-60 to 5.x secs range?

dockt

Wow, this topic went in some very interesting directions -- I appreciate all the replies. Good point, Arin. btw, looks like the A4 quattro is ~200lbs lighter than the S4.

To bring it back down to my situation -- I'm an average street driver who doesn't take the car above 5000rpm very often (I'm not afraid to admit it, boys) and drives short distances daily. Of course, I could settle on much lesser cars, but that's another topic...

Again (and not to sound pompous), even if I can afford an S4, it doesn't mean I shouldn't look at other similar options to save money while getting 8/10's the enjoyment re: aesthetics and feel. Just thinking things over...

Thanks again!

scottacus

The best way to decide will be to test-drive both (once you can test-drive an S4, that is) on the roads you drive day-to-day. Which one you prefer will be up to you - if you're not always going WOT and really pushing it, you may find the 2.0T more than adequate, or of course you may still prefer the extra push of the S4.

Toecutter

If you're not in need of the extra performance of the S4, then other things to consider are:
- A4 S-Line has available the Alcantara interior
- A4 sport and S-Line has available the perforated leather steering wheel (oooooh!)
- A4 gets slightly better fuel economy
- S4 probably costs more to insure (depends on your insurance company and how many times you've gone to the slammer on charges of wreckless driving I suppose)




*I'd still prefer the S4 despite all of the above. If it were available when I bought my car, I would have picked the S4.

dockt

Yeah, it's the age-old question for man -- what I need vs. what I want. I've already accepted the fact that I will always want more; even w/ an S4, I'll want the RS4 or an M3, etc. So I'm sure I'll be wanting an S4, even w/ a sweet A4 S-line. But, in these times, you want to feel like like you're being smart w/ respect to monthly expenses, you know?

On the other hand, I'm driving a nicely modded GTI right now. Two things would sway me away from the A4, no DSG/S-tronic (love it in the GTI), and the possiblity of getting tired of the 2.0T (although I'm not yet and I hear the updated version is slightly better). Other smaller issues: S-line seats and steering are similar feel to what I have now...

Thanks for everyone's input.

dockt

I meant steering wheel, not steering.

CEB

...because the manufacturer needs to program the ECU to be bulletproof, gas efficient, powerful etc, etc.and to comply with all laws (emission and otherwise) The stock ECU is developed to work within the operating limits of the weakest link and to be a compromise for everyone.

Unfortunately, any mods to the ECU will have a downside somewhere - either increased gas consumption, decreased driveability or decreased reliability. If it was that simple then the manufacturer would do it.

I'm sure that the "code writers" at APR and all the other places will try to modify the propriatary Audi code to not blow up anything, but the fact remains that they know that there are downsides - they'll just not tell the consumer what they are.

What incentive does the manufacturer have to "dumb down" their ECU if a modified one could do everything better? Audi's TTS doesn't make more power by just modifying the ECU - there are lots of hardware changes as well.

There is no free lunch - and no free power...