the a4 is gone forever!

after receiving a number of offers, i negotiated a deal with a fellow audiworld'er for the sale of the a4.

the a4 is now in a condition suitable for sale. most aftermarket parts have been sold or spoken for. i put for-sale signs on the car and placed an ad on cars.com. i installed brian's oem 16" rims since they look a little nicer than my stock 15" rims.

purchased and installed a salvaged ecu out of a passat after recoding it for a 5-speed quattro.

installed oem exhaust and downpipe from the car of the person that bought my neuspeed exhaust. completed reinstalling vacuum lines for stock setup.

removed 440cc injectors and reinstalled stock injectors.

reinstalled the stock turbo, exhaust manifold, catalytic converter, airbox, and plumbing.

finally removed most of the t-28 turbo kit which came out relatively easy in one piece.

removed neuspeed g2 exhaust, 3" downpipe, and high-flow cat, which were very easy to remove.

removed sparco grip pedals and front euro plate.

removed stoptech brake kit and reinstalled oem calipers, rotors, and front lines, and performed a full brake system bleeding. removed o.z. superleggeras and reinstalled stock 15" wheels.

removed rs4 grille and reinstalled stock grille, removed racetec 4-point strut tower brace and derale efk controller. i was able to remove the front-mount intercooler and re-install side-mount intercooler and associated plumbing without having to remove the bumper. the front lower grilles and fog lights were reinstalled. the awe center vent boost gauge and cellphone mount were removed, as well as the hard-wired gps antenna, hard-wired v1 and its remote display, and the steering wheel shroud was replaced with a stock one.

removed sparco milano seats and reinstalled oem seats. i had to purchase new locking pins for the seat sliders from laurel.

got the car dyno'd at grd in naperville (dynapack dyno). the car pulled 231.3 ft/lb and 212.5 hp at the hubs.

replaced a dirty air filter with a k&n filter (model RF-1039 is a direct replacement for the filter included in the pes t-28 kit.)

installed a derale thermostatic electric fan controller to help lower coolant and oil temps. i originally wired both 12v leads to the battery to allow the fan to run after the car turned off, but after logging coolant temps with prodiag, the temps were not moving quick enough. i rewired the shut off wire to the 12v switched ignition.

installed new front axxis ultimate brake pads to remedy a "clicking" problem with the old pads.

installed a top spin 5-point harness. the passenger side harness is still being shipped.

replaced a cracked oil dipstick funnel, a $1.97 part at the local vw dealer

oil change with 4 quarts of mobil 1 supersyn 5w-30 and a bosch 3421 oil filter. the car has been idling rough lately; the maf harness and maybe the maf itself need to be replaced.

installed an spp electric fan kit and an evolution motorsports front mount intercooler.

had a custom 3" downpipe and high-flow relocated cat fabricated and installed, mated to the rest of the 2.75" neuspeed exhaust.

oil change with 4 quarts of mobil 1 supersyn 5w-30 and a bosch 3421 oil filter.

installed ngk laser platinum pfr7b spark plugs. the car seems to pull much smoother to redline with these plugs and the misfire is gone.

had to replace the maf sensor wiring harness after one of the wires became brittle and broke in half.

installed ecs tuning rear slotted brake rotors.

had awe's stage 3 clutch (which is actually a south bend clutch) and lightweight flywheel kit installed at dubwerks. the clutch engagement point is a bit lower on the pedal, feels heavier, and is a bit more abrupt, but not harsh by any means. the clutch requires about 500 miles of break-in until i can actually boost again or go over 3500 rpms. while the car was there, they replaced a leaking cam adjuster seal and a leaking final drive seal on the rear axle.

installed a custom-painted rs4 grille, purchased from and painted by avalon motorsports. the grille's outer surround piece and rings were painted with the factory brilliant black paint to match the hood.

installed labree motorsports 3" to 2.5" test pipe (for testing, of course) in place of stock catalytic converter. a relocated catalytic converter will probably be installed under the car later, if not a complete custom 3" turbo-back.

replaced coolant temperature sensor to remedy a wandering coolant temperature gauge. part number 078 919 501b.

attemped to install pes t-28 turbo kit, but the 45 degree oil return line connector was the wrong size. i installed a temporary workaround with an adapter found at home depot, but after the rest of the kit was installed, the ecu was not responding. i shipped the ecu back to pes and they installed a new chip on it and shipped it back with the correct oil line fitting. the ecu was still dead, so they sent me a new socket and chip. i replaced these in the ecu and the car was finally running after 7 days of downtime.

installed two sparco milano 2 front seats, in black leather, with sliders. defeated airbag warning light with 1/2 watt 4.7 ohm resistors.

my battery died after leaving the radio on too long while working on brian's car, so i had to jump start the car. it was fine for a day, but then wouldn't start again, so i bought a new diehard battery from ntb. installation was really easy, and all is well now.

did the rear window one-touch up modification, which was very easy.

installed phatnoise phatbox digital car audio system purchased from clairparts.

had a set of falken grb fk-451 tires installed at discount tire. the p-zero's had lost their grip and i wanted to go with a wider tire.

installed pagid blue rear brake pads while waiting for my stoptech brakes to arrive.

had 60,000 mile service done at laurel in westmont. also had timing belt, tensioner, and waterpump replaced. they also fixed the annoying rattle in the rear end.

installed racetec 4-point strut tower brace purchased from supreme power parts as part of a group buy. the racetec fits properly and doesn't hit the windshield wiper jets like the lltek does.

installed neuspeed g2 cat-back exhaust and "toy guy" integrated v1 remote display with mute button. the g2 has a nicer finish and fit than the older version.

had the front driver's side wheel bearing replaced at laurel (for free under warranty, of course) and with both bearings now replaced, the car is completely quiet once again.

had the passenger side wheel bearing replaced and an oil change at schaumburg audi, who refused to cover the work under warranty due to my "modified suspension". i'm never going back to schaumburg audi again. on the plus side, the s4 xenon housings that i bought as part of the group buy from avalon motorsports came today, so i attempted to install my new xenon kit from spp in the new housings. that didn't work as the s4 housings expect oem ballasts, which are much smaller than the philips ballasts from the spp kit. so, i gave up after many hours of frustration and just installed the xenons in my stock housings.

brought the car to laurel to have the headlight washer pump replaced (again) under warranty. also replaced the front foglights which had both gone out a few days prior.

winterized the a4; installed oem audi sport rubber floor mats from clair parts, ace lola 17" rims and dunlop winter sport m2 tires (225/45). the rims were purchased from supreme power parts and the tires from tirerack. tire mounting and balancing was done at discount tire.

installed a bailey motorsports bypass valve, replacing the stock (?) 710 valve.

installed an awe center vent boost gauge. the bailey bpv came, too, but i didn't get a chance to install it. the gauge has a bit of chatter at 5 and 15 psi, even with the filter installed that came with it. todd from awe said the gauge should not make any noise, so he sent me a new gauge to test. it, too, made noise, so i could return the gauge, upgrade to an electric one, or just live with the noise. for now i'm just going to deal with the noise.

did an oil and filter change; 4 quarts of mobil 1 supersyn 5w-30 and a bosch 3421 oil filter. for future reference, to reset the "oil" service reminder under the odometer, push and hold the right button, turn the ignition on, let go of the right button, then pull and release the left button. when display shows "---", push and release the right button and the display will show "insp". pull and release the left button and turn ignition off. turn key from off to accessory and display should not read "oil". also, the oil pan bolt should be torqued to 36 ft/lbs.

attempted installation of the neuspeed 19mm rear sway bar from greedspeed, but the allen bolts on the stock uplinks stripped out. the dealer wanted $90 for stock uplink replacements, so i ordered cpp uplinks from awe. after two days of having the car up on the jack stands, the uplinks arrived and i was able to complete the installation. the sway bar stiffness is currently set to the medium setting and it's incredible how level the car stays around turns. i wish i would have done this modification earlier.

installed denso iridium spark plugs. the plugs come pre-gapped at .04, so they're just plug and play. car idles a bit easier now.

installed an awe dts purchased in a group buy organized on audiworld ($50 discount). installation was pretty easy and the only hard part was trying to get leverage for the torque wrench while upside down. the transmission is stiffer and shifts with less jerking and overall movement. i liked this modification much better than the snub mount because installation was a lot easier and i didn't break anything. the snub mount didn't really make much of a difference other than introducing a bit of vibration, but the dts did make a noticeable difference in cleaning up movement.

got chipped at the apr event at motopersona. opted for the 93 octane program with flipswitch.

installed a new driver's side headlight washer from laurel to replace the one i broke taking the bumper off for the snub mount install. also installed some custom head shielding to block engine heat from being sucked in by the new intake.

talked to lltek; apparently they shipped me the right intake and they've replaced the metal u-tube with a plastic one due to a design flaw in the metal one. reinstalled the lltek in about an hour and a half. hard acceleration seems to be a bit smoother and the turbo spool is much more audible. need to add some custom heat shielding, though.

installed lltek strut tower brace. attempted installation of lltek cai when, halfway through the installation, it became apparent that what they shipped me was the wrong product. the u-tube was black and plastic, not red and metal. will have to call lltek tomorrow and find out what the hell they sent me.

installed an apr snub mount purchased from motopersona. definitely the messiest, hardest, and most time consuming upgrade i've done yet. had to purchase jack stands and a hydraulic lift, so at least now i'll be able to change wheels a lot quicker. the installation took about 4 hours total, not including all the trips to the store, napping on the couch waiting for the dremel battery to recharge, and leaving with eric and dave to swindle an old lady out of parts for his talon. the bumper was a pain to get off, and i broke the driver's side headlight washer in the process. i initially installed the apr mount with only slight sanding by the dremel and the vibration in the cabin was too much, so i took it all apart and sanded it down some more. the vibration was still pretty noticeable, so i decided to just put everything back together anyway. after putting all of the bumper bolts back on, though, the vibration magically disappeared. the car is smoother during shifts, mostly during downshifts. heel-toe is definitely much smoother.

brought the car to laurel for a final checkup before it went out of warranty. i told them the front brakes were squeaking, so they went ahead and just replaced all four rotors and pads and did the 50k mile service all under warranty. no complaints here.

installed sparco grip pedals.

brought the car to laurel to diagnose a vibrating noise when cornering and to replace a vacuum hose that cracked and was causing a cel. they replaced the hose and even though they couldn't reproduce the noise, replaced both lower control arms anyway since my original warranty is up in a month. they replaced the dead passenger-side high beam headlight and one of the license plate lights, too. the noise is still there when cornering hard and when going over bumps, so i may have to bring it in again.

o.z. superleggeras and pirelli p-zero's finally arrived after ups delayed the shipment 2 days. installed them in my driveway after pondering for a half hour over where to jack up the car. it rides a bit higher with the larger wheels (18x8) but the ride quality did not diminish at all. handling is improved with the better tread pattern and wider tire. my valentine one also arrived and was hard wired into the fuse box to turn on and off with the ignition.

got the car back from laurel. the "tinny" rattle is gone from the cat, but the neuspeed is still clunking around and getting worse. just driving on the highway, it moves around enough to produce a rattle audible in the cabin. also, since midas pulled the exhaust out and moved it around to try to fix it, it looks rather silly. perhaps i'll take it to another exhaust shop and see if they can secure it long enough that i don't have to buy the apr exhaust soon. need more important mods...

was driving along and had a flock of geese challenge me to a game of chicken. i won, but one of the geese put two dents in my hood on his way out.

took the car back to laurel to have the mileage fixed. they had to replace the instrument cluster again since the mileage can't be rolled backwards once it's set. had them look at the exhaust; they said they can't fix it under warranty since it's an aftermarket cat-back system and that i should take it somewhere else. they must have done something to it since the deep rattle immediately became accompanied by a more annoying "tinny" rattling between 2000-3000 rpm. i brought the car to midas where they agreed that there are two rattles; a "tinny" one from the front, and one from the back. they repositioned the piping to fix the one from the back, but said the "tinny" one from the front was from the catalytic converter and would have to be taken to audi to get fixed. guess it's back to laurel next week...

took the car to laurel for 40,000 mile service. had an alignment done for the new suspension. had the fuel sensor replaced because the gas gauge was never accurate. also had the instrument cluster replaced due to some of the led's in the trip computer being faded. the tech burned the wrong mileage into the new cluster, so the mileage read 407,346. the car also developed an annoying deep rattle around left-hand turns that was later discovered to be a loose exhaust.

got the windshield wiper fluid tank replaced at laurel audi. got the valet key i was supposed to get last time, and picked up my new license plates.

brought to laurel audi for free "we owe" work - paint touch ups and re-badging. was given a 2002 a4 3.0 tip as a loaner until may 7. dealer must have broken windshield wiper fluid tank; was empty when i picked up the car and a re-fill at home just leaked the fluid all over the garage. grr.