500+ bhp 2.8S4 - Story + Impressions + pic ( very long)
05-04-2003, 01:40 PM
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500+ bhp 2.8S4 - Story + Impressions + pic ( very long)
<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/49561/001.jpg"></center><p>
CREATION OF THE MONSTER...
The car--2002 Audi S4, wheels--OZ Superleggeras, tires--Yokohama Parada spec-2
Called Don Istook to get ideas on how to make the car go faster, yet keep reliability
Discussed the AWE stage three kit
Considered this idea for a couple weeks
Went back to Don and discussed other additional mods
In talking to Don, we felt that there was definitely more power attainable than just the stage three kit
Don was reasonably confident that MTM would do the ECU
After very careful consideration, I decided to cross my fingers and roll the dice
Here's a list of what we decided on:
RS4 cylinder heads
RS4 Intake Manifold
RS4 Modular Mass Air Flow housing
RS4 KO4 Turbo's
RS4 Clutch
RS4 Fuel Injectors
Istook Racing Custom Stainless Steel Downpipes
Istook Racing Custom Stainless Steel Exhaust
RS4 Intercoolers
Istook Racing snub mount
RS4 BiPipe
RS4 Y Pipe
RS4 Fuel Pump
Stop-Tech Brakes
S8 Rear Disks
Time passed, parts came in, Aaron (crew chief for Istook motorsport racing) began his work, the engine was out by the following day
I was quite impressed with how rapid the job was progressing
After awhile, I got a call from Don saying he'd acquired a race car with 2 extra engines, one of them being a 2.7 bored out to a 2.8
Don suggested a trade for my stock engine for this new race engine because he could not use it when racing
I jumped in the car and went down to look at the engine
I was impressed with how clean and well produced it looked, so I decide to roll the dice again
As the car came together, I started to feel nervous, so I decided to add an RS4 oil cooling unit as well
Don concurred with this idea
Periodically, photos were taken to document the car's progress
In the middle of the job, Don called me to tell me that MTM was not interested in doing the ECU on this particular car
Keeping positive, we discussed alternative chip companies
AMS in California was very close to finishing a stage 3 chip at the time
We decided to wait for their results
After many weeks and still no word on their results, I was getting very impatient
I called a major meeting with Don to discuss the progress of the ECU problem
Don seemed confident that the AMS stage 3 chip would work in the car
After careful deliberation, I decided that custom tuning was absolutely nessecary
I decided to further investigate the chip issue. I made some inquiries to APR, AMS, and GIAC
APR said that they don't do custom tuning. AMS wanted the car in California on the dyno to do the custom tuning and GIAC said the same thing
AMS and GIAC were positive about tuning the car
After much thought, I decided to go GIAC
In the meantime, Don was close to completing the exhast system. I was very impressed with Don's work
Aaron also did a great job on the intercoolers and was able to fit them to the car perfectly
The completed car was shipped to GIAC in Irvine California
GIAC TUNING:
The car arrived at GIAC with no problems
Within a week, I received a call from Andrew saying that they felt that the AWE Modular Mass Air Flow housing would be a better way to go than the RS4 one
They also felt that the Hitachi air mass sensor was more reliable than the Bosche
Early on and after much effort, it became apparent that this was a difficult job indeed
Weeks went by comprised of well over a hundred Mustang dyno (and hair as well) pulls
Finally the phone call came that I'd been waiting for!
These are the numbers GIAC arrived at...
Stock S4-----171 whp at 91 octane
2.8 S4--------348 whp at 91 octane
The car was making more than twice the whp than a stock S4
After a bit more work, maps were made for 100 and 105 octane
100 oct----362 whp
105 oct----?
I was guardedly ecstatic! Afterall, I'd not driven the car yet
A friend and I flew out to meet with GIAC and pick up the car
We arrived at Irvine intl airport, and Garrett was nice enough to pick us up
We imediately went to the GIAC office where I was reunited with my S4 for the first time in months
Garrett took us out in the car for a quick romp... Big smiles all around
As Garret would say, "this car will get up and boogie!"
After the ride, we concurred
It took some time for all of this to sink in, but I was very pleased, to say the least
That night we all went out to an East Indian restuarant and had a spectacular meal
The next morning we met with Moses (a.k.a Chaka), and he took the car out for a test drive
MORE BIG SMILES ALL AROUND!! ( I understand Chaka is very hard to please, so I valued his impressions)
That afternoon, Andrew made a quick call to Les at European Car Magazine and we arranged to meet up with him the next morning for a test drive and photo shoot in the mountains above San Bernardino.
Beautiful weather, lovely mountains, the shoot went well, Les was pleased, then off we went to Texas!!
MY INITIAL IMPRESSIONS:
Before I begin, I'd just like to remind you that I am still learning what the car can do. It still needed a bit of break-in time and we did have to make it back to Texas in one piece, afterall!
I agree with Chaka that the most impressive thing about how this car goes, is the near instantaneous throttle response. If I didn't already know it, I'd have thought it was normally aspirated. But it gets better! Not only does the throttle respond immediately, the car pulls hard all the way up to the redline. There are no dips or flat spots anywhere in all gears. In Arizona we did a little acceleration test that we filmed. We began in third gear at a steady 50 mph and got to 150 asap. Each shift was between 6200 and 6500 rpm and we reached 150 mph in approximately 25 seconds. We did a short blast to 162 mph as well (@ 6200 rpm in 6th), but traffic stopped us from going faster. The car was always solidly planted and pleasant to drive. Another dividend of instant throttle is in the twisties. Even though I've had only a short time with the car, it instills gobs of confidence in whomever is driving it. General drivability is off the scale!
Before I forget, the car sounds positively lovely. Under hard acceleration, it sounds deep, throaty and agressive (some burbling when coming off throttle--no cats) yet refined. Before tuning it was like listening to Bob Dylan on a bad day, but now it's more like Pavorotti's pipes. This entire exhaust system was designed and built by Don Istook. Well done Don!
IN SUMMATION:
The overall experience was up and down - sometimes just plain frustrating. You really do have to have patience. I spent alot of money, but I have a seriously fast Audi that is everything I was hoping it would be, and more.
CAUTION! I know some of you might be eager to try something like this, but just let me put at least 10,000 miles on it before we declare it reliable.
It was great meeting Andrew and Garrett of GIAC. What the tuners do is a real art, whether it's GIAC, APR, MTM or AMS.
It was great meeting Chaka - a real character, but well informed. I look forward to seeing him again in two months as well as the lad's at GIAC. They're a warm, talented and positive group of people - an excellent experience.
It was great meeting Les from European Car Mag also- another character that know's his stuff. We had fun!
And of course, many thanks to Don and Aaron for a job well done.
There is some more stuff that I need to do to the car, but nothing major.
Here's the full list of mods:
RS4 cylinder heads
RS4 Intake Manifold
A.W.E. Modular Mass Air Flow housing
RS4 KO4 Turbo's
RS4 Oil Cooling Kit
RS4 Clutch
S4 Engine bored out to a 2.8 cc
RS4 Fuel Injectors
Istook Racing Custom Stainless Steel Downpipes
Istook Racing Custom Stainless Steel Exhaust
RS4 Intercoolers
A.W.E. Drive Train Stabilizer
Istook Racing snub mount
RS4 BiPipe
RS4 Y Pipe
RS4 Fuel Pump
Stop-Tech Brakes
S8 Rear Disks
O.Z Light weight Wheels
H & R Coilovers
GIAC Custom ECU Tuning
Cheer's mates...
Chris
CREATION OF THE MONSTER...
The car--2002 Audi S4, wheels--OZ Superleggeras, tires--Yokohama Parada spec-2
Called Don Istook to get ideas on how to make the car go faster, yet keep reliability
Discussed the AWE stage three kit
Considered this idea for a couple weeks
Went back to Don and discussed other additional mods
In talking to Don, we felt that there was definitely more power attainable than just the stage three kit
Don was reasonably confident that MTM would do the ECU
After very careful consideration, I decided to cross my fingers and roll the dice
Here's a list of what we decided on:
RS4 cylinder heads
RS4 Intake Manifold
RS4 Modular Mass Air Flow housing
RS4 KO4 Turbo's
RS4 Clutch
RS4 Fuel Injectors
Istook Racing Custom Stainless Steel Downpipes
Istook Racing Custom Stainless Steel Exhaust
RS4 Intercoolers
Istook Racing snub mount
RS4 BiPipe
RS4 Y Pipe
RS4 Fuel Pump
Stop-Tech Brakes
S8 Rear Disks
Time passed, parts came in, Aaron (crew chief for Istook motorsport racing) began his work, the engine was out by the following day
I was quite impressed with how rapid the job was progressing
After awhile, I got a call from Don saying he'd acquired a race car with 2 extra engines, one of them being a 2.7 bored out to a 2.8
Don suggested a trade for my stock engine for this new race engine because he could not use it when racing
I jumped in the car and went down to look at the engine
I was impressed with how clean and well produced it looked, so I decide to roll the dice again
As the car came together, I started to feel nervous, so I decided to add an RS4 oil cooling unit as well
Don concurred with this idea
Periodically, photos were taken to document the car's progress
In the middle of the job, Don called me to tell me that MTM was not interested in doing the ECU on this particular car
Keeping positive, we discussed alternative chip companies
AMS in California was very close to finishing a stage 3 chip at the time
We decided to wait for their results
After many weeks and still no word on their results, I was getting very impatient
I called a major meeting with Don to discuss the progress of the ECU problem
Don seemed confident that the AMS stage 3 chip would work in the car
After careful deliberation, I decided that custom tuning was absolutely nessecary
I decided to further investigate the chip issue. I made some inquiries to APR, AMS, and GIAC
APR said that they don't do custom tuning. AMS wanted the car in California on the dyno to do the custom tuning and GIAC said the same thing
AMS and GIAC were positive about tuning the car
After much thought, I decided to go GIAC
In the meantime, Don was close to completing the exhast system. I was very impressed with Don's work
Aaron also did a great job on the intercoolers and was able to fit them to the car perfectly
The completed car was shipped to GIAC in Irvine California
GIAC TUNING:
The car arrived at GIAC with no problems
Within a week, I received a call from Andrew saying that they felt that the AWE Modular Mass Air Flow housing would be a better way to go than the RS4 one
They also felt that the Hitachi air mass sensor was more reliable than the Bosche
Early on and after much effort, it became apparent that this was a difficult job indeed
Weeks went by comprised of well over a hundred Mustang dyno (and hair as well) pulls
Finally the phone call came that I'd been waiting for!
These are the numbers GIAC arrived at...
Stock S4-----171 whp at 91 octane
2.8 S4--------348 whp at 91 octane
The car was making more than twice the whp than a stock S4
After a bit more work, maps were made for 100 and 105 octane
100 oct----362 whp
105 oct----?
I was guardedly ecstatic! Afterall, I'd not driven the car yet
A friend and I flew out to meet with GIAC and pick up the car
We arrived at Irvine intl airport, and Garrett was nice enough to pick us up
We imediately went to the GIAC office where I was reunited with my S4 for the first time in months
Garrett took us out in the car for a quick romp... Big smiles all around
As Garret would say, "this car will get up and boogie!"
After the ride, we concurred
It took some time for all of this to sink in, but I was very pleased, to say the least
That night we all went out to an East Indian restuarant and had a spectacular meal
The next morning we met with Moses (a.k.a Chaka), and he took the car out for a test drive
MORE BIG SMILES ALL AROUND!! ( I understand Chaka is very hard to please, so I valued his impressions)
That afternoon, Andrew made a quick call to Les at European Car Magazine and we arranged to meet up with him the next morning for a test drive and photo shoot in the mountains above San Bernardino.
Beautiful weather, lovely mountains, the shoot went well, Les was pleased, then off we went to Texas!!
MY INITIAL IMPRESSIONS:
Before I begin, I'd just like to remind you that I am still learning what the car can do. It still needed a bit of break-in time and we did have to make it back to Texas in one piece, afterall!
I agree with Chaka that the most impressive thing about how this car goes, is the near instantaneous throttle response. If I didn't already know it, I'd have thought it was normally aspirated. But it gets better! Not only does the throttle respond immediately, the car pulls hard all the way up to the redline. There are no dips or flat spots anywhere in all gears. In Arizona we did a little acceleration test that we filmed. We began in third gear at a steady 50 mph and got to 150 asap. Each shift was between 6200 and 6500 rpm and we reached 150 mph in approximately 25 seconds. We did a short blast to 162 mph as well (@ 6200 rpm in 6th), but traffic stopped us from going faster. The car was always solidly planted and pleasant to drive. Another dividend of instant throttle is in the twisties. Even though I've had only a short time with the car, it instills gobs of confidence in whomever is driving it. General drivability is off the scale!
Before I forget, the car sounds positively lovely. Under hard acceleration, it sounds deep, throaty and agressive (some burbling when coming off throttle--no cats) yet refined. Before tuning it was like listening to Bob Dylan on a bad day, but now it's more like Pavorotti's pipes. This entire exhaust system was designed and built by Don Istook. Well done Don!
IN SUMMATION:
The overall experience was up and down - sometimes just plain frustrating. You really do have to have patience. I spent alot of money, but I have a seriously fast Audi that is everything I was hoping it would be, and more.
CAUTION! I know some of you might be eager to try something like this, but just let me put at least 10,000 miles on it before we declare it reliable.
It was great meeting Andrew and Garrett of GIAC. What the tuners do is a real art, whether it's GIAC, APR, MTM or AMS.
It was great meeting Chaka - a real character, but well informed. I look forward to seeing him again in two months as well as the lad's at GIAC. They're a warm, talented and positive group of people - an excellent experience.
It was great meeting Les from European Car Mag also- another character that know's his stuff. We had fun!
And of course, many thanks to Don and Aaron for a job well done.
There is some more stuff that I need to do to the car, but nothing major.
Here's the full list of mods:
RS4 cylinder heads
RS4 Intake Manifold
A.W.E. Modular Mass Air Flow housing
RS4 KO4 Turbo's
RS4 Oil Cooling Kit
RS4 Clutch
S4 Engine bored out to a 2.8 cc
RS4 Fuel Injectors
Istook Racing Custom Stainless Steel Downpipes
Istook Racing Custom Stainless Steel Exhaust
RS4 Intercoolers
A.W.E. Drive Train Stabilizer
Istook Racing snub mount
RS4 BiPipe
RS4 Y Pipe
RS4 Fuel Pump
Stop-Tech Brakes
S8 Rear Disks
O.Z Light weight Wheels
H & R Coilovers
GIAC Custom ECU Tuning
Cheer's mates...
Chris
05-04-2003, 01:52 PM
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question...
when Audi was designing the engine, they debored because (I think) they didn't think the cylinder walls of the 2.8 would be able to handle the extra boost. Did you reinforce the walls to counter that, or is that not really an issue?
