David Z

Alright, I give in.

I've spent weeks reading this board in this period waiting for my '01 S4 to arrive. Now I'm afraid when it arrives, I don't know enough about it to deserve to turn the ignition key.

I picked the S4 for a variety of reasons. #1 reason, to be honest, was 0-60 time. #2 was all the fancy toys and gadgets it has (I'm a computer guy and love electronic toys). #3 was that I COULD NOT for the life of me find anything but a stellar glowing review of this car by ANYBODY who parked their butt in the driver's seat (leather standard, 10-way electroncially adjustable with lumbar support :-) ).

All the other "junk" the car has... 2.6 l engine, quattro, bi-turbo, 4-link suspension or transmission or whatever the hell it is... I have no idea what this stuff is. I've been trying to read Car and Driver to figure it out. I've only recently figured out what "understeer" and "final drive" mean.

The most frustrating part is that I don't have any conception of how the parts and specs relate to the car's performance. I have basic ideas: Turbos increase the density of the gas/air mix in the cylinders and I can deduce the more gas exploded per cycle means more power per stroke. Better-flowing exhaust means less back-pressure to keep the air/fuel mix flowing in, OK.

A lot of what I read here or in C&D is a mystery... Who cares whether the suspension arms are aluminum or steel? Why doesn't EVERY car on the road have turbo or supercharging? How come the fastest car on C&D's list is not turbo or supercharged? Won't chipping my car somehow damage it in the long run? Is a higher or lower final drive better? People agonize over tires... can tires really make THAT big a difference in performance? Why will regular octane gas ruin a high-performance engine? Why won't high-octane gas benefit a regular engine? How do people seem to innately know all this???

Basically... What are my resources to get started in being a gearhead?

Thanks for help... flames cheerfully ignored.

]:8) D

Warren Wang

You don't have to know every nook and cranny of your car to deserve it. BUT, if you want to, more power to you, and welcome to a group of excessively **** retentive car owners =)

I really didn't know squat about cars 2 years ago, but I learned a whole helluva lot by hanging around this site. Check out the archives too on topics that interest you. There's a lot of good info in there. 2 years ago, I never would have thought about doing a brake job on my car, or swapping out other bits and pieces myself. Now I do minor things myself, or with the help of friends.

SOoooo, keep reading, and check out links that are posted, etc. The BMWUUC list is another fabulous place to learn stuff. It's a bimmer only list, but much of the info applies to all cars. Rob Levinson of UUCMotorwerks started the list a few years back. Good info. Just lurk on it, which reminds me, I need to resubscribe w/ my new address. Please don't go posting flame wars and stuff, it's a private _BMW_ list. If you want to subscribe, email me or Rob for the URL. I don't really wanna post it here since it's not directly Audi related.

Warren

RAudiS4

I would wager that there aren't ten people on this board who are "gearheads". It's mostly just fanatics with too much money and idle time. ;-0 Myself included.

If you had never visted this site and you still knew what an S4 was, you would be perfectly happy-no...estactic, if all you did was wash your car and put gas in it.

Now your ruined! ;-) You've been exposed to an organisim far more dangerous than the Ebola virus-the upgrade bug!

I'm praying that I will hit a plateau where I'm satisfied that my car is all I want it to be. I'm led in this direction not by my own desires, but those who have gone before and 'been there, done that'. My infection started with a 1.8T and has led to my present state. Where will it all end???

Just pay attention, go to events such as QCUSA driving schools, drive other's car's if they let you and have fun.

Congrats on your fine choice. I get complements just about everytime I drive mine.<p><a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=3258"><img SRC="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/mnpsig2.jpg" BORDER=0></a>

RS4.org - DaveH

Buy a car you cannot afford, and give up everything for it

Russ Burns

buy a $700 car and try to keep it running for 5 years with no money.

el rojo

start reading all the magazines, preferably when yu are 10 years old, or now, and get some gearhead friends and talk and ask a bunch of questions. the ones in your post are are good start. e/mail me and wll answer those!

Alex Milenkovic

1. Why doesn't every car have a turbo?

It's harder to make turbocharged cars. You have to make the engine tolerant of the higher forces, you have to have a complicated (relatively) system of intake/exhaust recycling, you have to make sure the air is cooled, the turbos are more prone to breaking than a NA (naturally aspirated) engine, it requires more maintenance.

2. The "fastest car" has nothing to do with turbo or supercharging. Ferrari makes some damn nice V12 engines that get 500+ HP, but can't handle being turbocharged (the engine would NOT be happy). Mitsubishi makes a 150 hp 2 liter 4 cylinder that can take 650+ HP with some minor (<$1000) mods to the heads. The way an engine performs has nothing to do with the tolerances it can be taken to. As for "fastest car" you are looking at things like gearing (the viper has a crappy top end because 5th is too short, IE the engine is spinning faster than the wheels, and 6th is a cruise contorl gear, and is too tall, which means tha the engine can't spin fast enough. It basically needs a 5.5th gear to get optimal speed.) aerodynamic drag, etc. Top Speed in NO WAY equals how fast a car feels. Remember that always.

3. Will chipping your car damage it in the long run?

Not really. The engine was designed to be run at the specs at which the Chip sets it to. Because of emissions and warranty concerns, they were not set to that for the US spec cars. Remember, the car manufactuerr emissions, and the emissions you take at the gas station are TOTALLY different. The ones imposed on new cars are FAR FAR stricter than the "re-verification" tests that you do once every 2 years or so. Look at it this way: Basically NO other car gets 60 HP and 125 LB-FT of torque from a chip. None that I know of to be certain. The most they get is 10 HP and 10-12 LB-FT of torque. Now, either (A) ALL the audi tuners know what they're diong 5x better than any other tuner (doubtful) or (B) the Audi tuners are simply unleashing performance that was already there, but taken away because of US considerations.

4. Re: Final Drive. "Better" in what sense? If you want to get an idea for how gearing affects a car, buy Grand Turismo/Grand Turismo 2 for the playstation. It lets you control all the individual gears and the final drive as well. You will see that the lower you gear your car, the FASTER it accelerates, but the SLOWER its top speed is. Usually car manufacturers make some gears that are "lower" geared for that pull (2nd gear comes to mind) and others that are "higher" geared for cruising (5th and 6th).

5. Can tires make THAT big a difference?

Oh christ yes. You have -no- idea. I had no idea until I bought a set of R-Compound (racing compound) tires. Those tires LITERALLY glue you to the road. You feel as if you are on a rollercoaster because of the intense G-Forces that you feel while cornering. I have two loose panels on my old eclipse because my knee was wedged into them trying to keep me from falling into the door! I cannot say it enough. People haev NO idea how important their tires are, and how much of a difference the make. Until you go to a performance event (Autocross or Track day) you won't believe it either. After that, you will.

My best suggestion for learning a lot about your car quickly is to (A) read everything here and (B) get some performance driving experience. It will teach you important techniques and concepts about your car. Where do you live? I'm sure we can find you some good places to go. Go to autocrosses, go to track days, and have fun with your S4!

Alex.

Bichon

"Who cares whether the suspension arms are aluminum or steel?"

Aluminum is lighter. This is particularly important for parts of the suspension that are unsprung weight (those parts that like the wheels and tires, move quickly over a dip or bump while the rest of the car stays relatively still).

"Why doesn't EVERY car on the road have turbo or supercharging?"

Supercharging (including turbocharging) is a tradeoff. First, there are drivablity issues like turbo lag. Then there are maintenance issues - supercharged engines require stricter adherence to oil change intervals, etc.

"How come the fastest car on C&D's list is not turbo or supercharged?"

There are other things that make a car quick. Lighter weight. Bigger engine (more displacement).

"Won't chipping my car somehow damage it in the long run?"

If the chip (especially if accompanied with upgraded turbos) is improperly engineered, it can do major damage (like exceeding the duty cycle of the fuel injectors, running too lean and melting a hole in the pistons). If the chip is well engineered, it may increase wear (by running parts closer to the design tolerance), but should not cause damage. Note that there are many things you can do with a stock car, e.g. reving engine near red line and dumping the clutch, that are much more likely to cause damage than driving a chipped car sensibly.

"Is a higher or lower final drive better?"

Given that the ratios in the gear box are the same for both cars, a higher ratio will give you better acceleration off the line, while a lower ratio will give you better fuel economy on the highway.

"People agonize over tires... can tires really make THAT big a difference in performance?"

Yes, they make a huge difference. Softer rubber compounds increase traction. Stiffer construction (tires don't flex or roll onto their sidewalls under cornering loads) increase steering precision and improve handling. And more.

"Why will regular octane gas ruin a high-performance engine?"

Octane is resistance to pinging. If you run a low octane gas in a car tuned for high octane, you will experience pinging. Over time, pinging will damage the engine. If the car has knock sensors, the engine computer will compensate somewhat (by retarding timing, lowering boost) resulting in lower performance and protecting the engine, but I wouldn't suggest relying this.

"Why won't high-octane gas benefit a regular engine?"

If the engine is tuned so that it doesn't ping on a given octane, and the ECU isn't programmed to take advantage of higher ping resistance (by changing timing and/or boost maps) raising the octane (ping resistance) won't be a benefit.

Camosun

A car engine uses air/gas mixture in about a ratio of 15:1. With fuel injectors it has no problem putting in the small amount of fuel needed, but car engines have a hard time getting the large amount of air needed to have high performance. Turbo/supercharging helps get that amount of air into the engine more easily.

Why don't all cars do it? Most cars are not after the sport market - most people aren't looking for a rocket like the S4. Cars would be too expensive, because once you make the engine more powerful you need better tires, suspension, brakes etc. People would be priced out of the market.

My mom is happy with a lame cruiser, it keeps her comfy, a turbo would be a waste. I, on the other hand, am a different story. ;-)

Geza

A lower final drive ratio (numerically higher) will provide greater acceleration.