Well despite the fact that a couple people have been slandering my business behind the scenes, sending sleazeball PM's to customers of mine, full of lies about me and my work, Im still staying very busy. Sometimes you just have to deal with bum people in life, it wouldnt be business without this sort of stuff.
Nice try, but Im still remaining busier than ever. You know who you are.
OK I love my truck and I will NEVER get rid of it, but im sick and tired of working on it. Its wearing me out and I just dont have time for it. I put it back to stock when the most recent engine went in and its staying that way. Well ok, its not completely stock. It has an EGR-cooler delete.
Maybe ill finish putting together the built engine this winter, I dont know.
The novelty of a stupid-fast truck has kind of worn off. Its a shame my first built engine blew up because everything (budget and enthusiasm, mainly) went downhill from there.
ok long story...
During the 3 months my truck was down with the broken crank, my good friend Jed (tacojedbob) let me drive his audi allroad. What a fun car, twin turbo (like, 1 per bank; real twins), 6spd manual. I kinda started thinking about buying it from Jed or finding another fun car of some sort. I was pretty much set on a small audi of some sort because it seems like everyone has a bmw. The audi's are a little more unique and in my own opinion somehow dont seem to scream "im an asshole" as much as, say, an M3 haha.
Plus, a bunch of my friends build audi's so if I ever broke anything on it I wouldnt be in the dark. I was almost all set on buying an A4 1.8t and building it all up with a big turbo and stuff. You can pick up used A4's for peanuts and there is good aftermarket support for them. But then I started thinking to myself...do I really want to get into the whole addicting "modding" thing all over again??? Or I could just spend a little more initially and have a car that I could leave STOCK (read: RELIABLE), yet it would still be quick and fun to drive. AND I registered it under my LLC, so I can write it off as a business expense. Perfect!
So I kinda started looking around at S4's. I wanted a B6 or B7 (platform/generation, think GMT-800 GMT-900) because unlike the B5 before it, the B6/B7's had a naturally-aspirated V8 instead of the bi-turbo V6. And I personally like the body style and interior better...even though my friends all snicker and say the B6's trunk looks like some fat girl sticking her butt in the air. :rofl:
B7 was out because they first came out in 06 so they are still too new/expensive, so that made me decide on an 04-05 B6. Its basically the same as a B7 chassis/powertain/interiorwise, just has new front and rear sheet metal.
After looking around I found a couple black ones that I checked out. (I wouldnt be caught dead in a "nogaro blue" or "imola yellow" S4) I test drove one that was at a dealer about an hour from me, and that was it...the first time I started up the V8 there was no turning back!
I talked to the dealer, went back and forth, and ended up talking him wayyy down from what he was originally asking, so the payments wouldnt be too bad. The reason audi's have terrible resale value and are dirt cheap is because everyone is afraid of working on them/cant afford to pay someone work on them. Which makes them awesome cars for guys who do all their own maintenance!! Went to the bank and checked out a small-business loan and was on my way. (Yes, I paid for the car all myself, I know some people out there think I dont pay for any of my own stuff...you jerks can PM me if you want a scanned copy/proof of the loan/payment stuff). :thumb:
Its a 2004 S4. A "saloon" I guess is what the europeans call it? I dunno, it has a trunk. It has 98k miles, clean history report, and 1 owner. Its a 6-speed manual...which actually was harder to find than I thought it would be. Probably half of the S4's I looked at were 'chicktronic'. WTF anyone would buy a car like that with an auto is beyond me? Kyle (01duramax6spd) would be SO proud of me.
The interior is perfect, brand new. The exterior has nicks on the bumper, the grille has a crack in it, and the front bumper looks like the guy drove over freshly painted road lines. The wheels are all curbed pretty nicely too. Id rather having something with a nice interior and mechanicals than a show-quality exterior, so that stuff doesnt bother me at all. It drives like new, just had a whole bunch of maintenance done to it.
Before I even picked it up Ive been stupidly cruising the audi forums looking at aftermarket stuff. Audi forums stink compared to dmax forums...as someone who builds engines, twin turbo kits, custom electronic modules, and transmissions, seeing a DIY-section that comprised of "cold air intake installs" was kind of a let down. The aftermarket for the 4.2 V8 used to be nonexistant. Everyone focused on the earlier S4's with the V6 bi-turbo. Recently in the past year or so though, a shop out in california has been going hard at it with the 4.2's and is doing some pretty crazy things with them that, for years, people said "wasnt possible or worth doing". With just a tune, clutch, exhaust, downpipes, and lightened crank-pulley, they are running high 12's...naturally aspirated! With headers and a custom intake manifold they are running consistent 12.70's...which isnt bad considering they weigh 3,800lbs and dont have any "help" in the form of a turbo or NAAAWWWSSSSS.
Im leaving it stock though...the first time I drove it I was blown away at how much fun was. It has awesome cornering, ridiculous brakes that stop on a dime, and is PLENTY fast enough for me. I think they run mid 13's stock or something like that. The big V8 roar coming from such a small car is priceless, and what a feeling it is driving something naturally aspirated compared to the turbo-charged vehicles ive driven for years. So smooth and obviously no lag...it just goes. For a gasser it has very nice low end torque too; it will pull hard on the highway in 6th gear under 3,000rpm. At idle and when you first start it up it has this kinda whine noise along side the roar/rumble...it sounds supercharged, or like a jet engine or something. Or just a shot power steering pump. I think its because the cams are all driven with this ridiculous elaborate chain setup and not a regular timing belt.
The seats are awesome, they arent exactly "lay-z-boy" sofa-comfy like my dmax seats, but they hold you right in place, and they look like seats out of a jet fighter or something. The interior is ALL black, headliner, everything which looks neat I think. Stereo is nice enough for me, mine wasnt optioned with Bose though. The instrument cluster is really cool and has a full-color LCD driver info center thing. Clutch is really nice and very smooth. Transmission shifter has a kinda long-ish throw, but it 'clicks' into the gears nicely. Brakes are ridiculous and the stability control is well implemented IMO. Stock rotors are 13.6" in dia. I have no idea why people would have any desire to put "big brake kits" on these cars.
You would think you would feel vulnerable in a small car like that compared to our trucks, but not at all, I was VERY surprised. Being german, it was designed to be incredibly safe at 135mph, not just at 35mph like american cars. It feels like you are in this tightly sealed vault no matter what speed. The faster you go the more planted and solid/stable it feels...
Ok now the downsides/things I dont like. My truck gets better fuel economy, no joke. The back seats are small but Ill never be sitting back there.
It doesnt have steering wheel controls like the dmax does...I constantly fiddle with the volume and have song ADD (listen to a minute and a half of a song, then go to the next song) so I will miss having those buttons. No cupholders!! Well ok theres 1, but its pretty lame. Another german thing I guess...you arent supposed to be sucking down a big gulp, talking on your phone and muching on a Whopper when you are cruising down the autobahn at 130mph.
Also some maintenance quirks. 9.5 quarts of oil. No...that was not a typo. The frikkin thing takes the same amount of oil as a duramax.
The engine is all aluminum...and when I say all aluminum, I mean ALL aluminum. Even the cylinder walls! No liners or anything. WTF audi. Its not normal aluminum though, its called alusil? Basically its like a hyperutectic-aluminum. So they are sometimes known for having high oil consumption, ill keep an eye on it. Then the timing chains... Supposed to last the life of the engine, but they dont. Well the chains last, but the tensioners dont. They have a plastic guides that wear out. They are hydraulically tensioned (think hydraulic lifter in a pushrod engine), but when they start to wear the engine rattles and the cam timing becomes relaxed, so it throws misfire codes, etc... But thats only when they get REALLY bad. Most of them have a nasty rattle for half a second at startup when the tensioners are still in good condition, but just "less than new".
Mine has "the 4.2 rattle" for a split second on start up, but oh well. I dont plan on ever getting rid of the car so at some point long time down the road Ill have to do new tensioners in it. Problem is the timing components are at the BACK of the engine. Yeah. Like a Powerstroke. So the engine has to come out; I should get a picture of the timing chain setup, you guys would laugh. Your brain goes in a knot just looking at it and trying to figure it out.
OK sorry for the long essay Ill shut up now...but this stuff is all so new to me and I love learning new things...its a lot of fun reading everything I can about them, kinda like back when I was just first starting out and first learning about Dmax stuff.
Now I feel like a total idiot writing that entire thing and then only posting crappy 640x480 blackberry pics. Ill get more tomorrow.
Ben
Nice try, but Im still remaining busier than ever. You know who you are.
OK I love my truck and I will NEVER get rid of it, but im sick and tired of working on it. Its wearing me out and I just dont have time for it. I put it back to stock when the most recent engine went in and its staying that way. Well ok, its not completely stock. It has an EGR-cooler delete.
Maybe ill finish putting together the built engine this winter, I dont know.
The novelty of a stupid-fast truck has kind of worn off. Its a shame my first built engine blew up because everything (budget and enthusiasm, mainly) went downhill from there.
ok long story...
During the 3 months my truck was down with the broken crank, my good friend Jed (tacojedbob) let me drive his audi allroad. What a fun car, twin turbo (like, 1 per bank; real twins), 6spd manual. I kinda started thinking about buying it from Jed or finding another fun car of some sort. I was pretty much set on a small audi of some sort because it seems like everyone has a bmw. The audi's are a little more unique and in my own opinion somehow dont seem to scream "im an asshole" as much as, say, an M3 haha.
Plus, a bunch of my friends build audi's so if I ever broke anything on it I wouldnt be in the dark. I was almost all set on buying an A4 1.8t and building it all up with a big turbo and stuff. You can pick up used A4's for peanuts and there is good aftermarket support for them. But then I started thinking to myself...do I really want to get into the whole addicting "modding" thing all over again??? Or I could just spend a little more initially and have a car that I could leave STOCK (read: RELIABLE), yet it would still be quick and fun to drive. AND I registered it under my LLC, so I can write it off as a business expense. Perfect!
So I kinda started looking around at S4's. I wanted a B6 or B7 (platform/generation, think GMT-800 GMT-900) because unlike the B5 before it, the B6/B7's had a naturally-aspirated V8 instead of the bi-turbo V6. And I personally like the body style and interior better...even though my friends all snicker and say the B6's trunk looks like some fat girl sticking her butt in the air. :rofl:
B7 was out because they first came out in 06 so they are still too new/expensive, so that made me decide on an 04-05 B6. Its basically the same as a B7 chassis/powertain/interiorwise, just has new front and rear sheet metal.
After looking around I found a couple black ones that I checked out. (I wouldnt be caught dead in a "nogaro blue" or "imola yellow" S4) I test drove one that was at a dealer about an hour from me, and that was it...the first time I started up the V8 there was no turning back!
I talked to the dealer, went back and forth, and ended up talking him wayyy down from what he was originally asking, so the payments wouldnt be too bad. The reason audi's have terrible resale value and are dirt cheap is because everyone is afraid of working on them/cant afford to pay someone work on them. Which makes them awesome cars for guys who do all their own maintenance!! Went to the bank and checked out a small-business loan and was on my way. (Yes, I paid for the car all myself, I know some people out there think I dont pay for any of my own stuff...you jerks can PM me if you want a scanned copy/proof of the loan/payment stuff). :thumb:
Its a 2004 S4. A "saloon" I guess is what the europeans call it? I dunno, it has a trunk. It has 98k miles, clean history report, and 1 owner. Its a 6-speed manual...which actually was harder to find than I thought it would be. Probably half of the S4's I looked at were 'chicktronic'. WTF anyone would buy a car like that with an auto is beyond me? Kyle (01duramax6spd) would be SO proud of me.
The interior is perfect, brand new. The exterior has nicks on the bumper, the grille has a crack in it, and the front bumper looks like the guy drove over freshly painted road lines. The wheels are all curbed pretty nicely too. Id rather having something with a nice interior and mechanicals than a show-quality exterior, so that stuff doesnt bother me at all. It drives like new, just had a whole bunch of maintenance done to it.
Before I even picked it up Ive been stupidly cruising the audi forums looking at aftermarket stuff. Audi forums stink compared to dmax forums...as someone who builds engines, twin turbo kits, custom electronic modules, and transmissions, seeing a DIY-section that comprised of "cold air intake installs" was kind of a let down. The aftermarket for the 4.2 V8 used to be nonexistant. Everyone focused on the earlier S4's with the V6 bi-turbo. Recently in the past year or so though, a shop out in california has been going hard at it with the 4.2's and is doing some pretty crazy things with them that, for years, people said "wasnt possible or worth doing". With just a tune, clutch, exhaust, downpipes, and lightened crank-pulley, they are running high 12's...naturally aspirated! With headers and a custom intake manifold they are running consistent 12.70's...which isnt bad considering they weigh 3,800lbs and dont have any "help" in the form of a turbo or NAAAWWWSSSSS.
Im leaving it stock though...the first time I drove it I was blown away at how much fun was. It has awesome cornering, ridiculous brakes that stop on a dime, and is PLENTY fast enough for me. I think they run mid 13's stock or something like that. The big V8 roar coming from such a small car is priceless, and what a feeling it is driving something naturally aspirated compared to the turbo-charged vehicles ive driven for years. So smooth and obviously no lag...it just goes. For a gasser it has very nice low end torque too; it will pull hard on the highway in 6th gear under 3,000rpm. At idle and when you first start it up it has this kinda whine noise along side the roar/rumble...it sounds supercharged, or like a jet engine or something. Or just a shot power steering pump. I think its because the cams are all driven with this ridiculous elaborate chain setup and not a regular timing belt.
The seats are awesome, they arent exactly "lay-z-boy" sofa-comfy like my dmax seats, but they hold you right in place, and they look like seats out of a jet fighter or something. The interior is ALL black, headliner, everything which looks neat I think. Stereo is nice enough for me, mine wasnt optioned with Bose though. The instrument cluster is really cool and has a full-color LCD driver info center thing. Clutch is really nice and very smooth. Transmission shifter has a kinda long-ish throw, but it 'clicks' into the gears nicely. Brakes are ridiculous and the stability control is well implemented IMO. Stock rotors are 13.6" in dia. I have no idea why people would have any desire to put "big brake kits" on these cars.
You would think you would feel vulnerable in a small car like that compared to our trucks, but not at all, I was VERY surprised. Being german, it was designed to be incredibly safe at 135mph, not just at 35mph like american cars. It feels like you are in this tightly sealed vault no matter what speed. The faster you go the more planted and solid/stable it feels...
Ok now the downsides/things I dont like. My truck gets better fuel economy, no joke. The back seats are small but Ill never be sitting back there.
It doesnt have steering wheel controls like the dmax does...I constantly fiddle with the volume and have song ADD (listen to a minute and a half of a song, then go to the next song) so I will miss having those buttons. No cupholders!! Well ok theres 1, but its pretty lame. Another german thing I guess...you arent supposed to be sucking down a big gulp, talking on your phone and muching on a Whopper when you are cruising down the autobahn at 130mph.Also some maintenance quirks. 9.5 quarts of oil. No...that was not a typo. The frikkin thing takes the same amount of oil as a duramax.
The engine is all aluminum...and when I say all aluminum, I mean ALL aluminum. Even the cylinder walls! No liners or anything. WTF audi. Its not normal aluminum though, its called alusil? Basically its like a hyperutectic-aluminum. So they are sometimes known for having high oil consumption, ill keep an eye on it. Then the timing chains... Supposed to last the life of the engine, but they dont. Well the chains last, but the tensioners dont. They have a plastic guides that wear out. They are hydraulically tensioned (think hydraulic lifter in a pushrod engine), but when they start to wear the engine rattles and the cam timing becomes relaxed, so it throws misfire codes, etc... But thats only when they get REALLY bad. Most of them have a nasty rattle for half a second at startup when the tensioners are still in good condition, but just "less than new".
Mine has "the 4.2 rattle" for a split second on start up, but oh well. I dont plan on ever getting rid of the car so at some point long time down the road Ill have to do new tensioners in it. Problem is the timing components are at the BACK of the engine. Yeah. Like a Powerstroke. So the engine has to come out; I should get a picture of the timing chain setup, you guys would laugh. Your brain goes in a knot just looking at it and trying to figure it out.
OK sorry for the long essay Ill shut up now...but this stuff is all so new to me and I love learning new things...its a lot of fun reading everything I can about them, kinda like back when I was just first starting out and first learning about Dmax stuff.
Now I feel like a total idiot writing that entire thing and then only posting crappy 640x480 blackberry pics. Ill get more tomorrow.
Ben
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