A6 turbo quattro questions...

First off...let me start by saying I am not an owner YET but it will be mine very soon. I am very excited to do so. Now for a quick couple of questions...

1. What kind of reliability issues are there with the Turbo A6 quattro that might arrise...either stock or with light modification?

2. What kind of perforamnce mods are there for the A6 that are pretty easy and dont compromise drivability?

Any URL links that could help me out with this research is greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys and I cant wait to join the anuls of A6 owners.
Michael

Reliablilty of the motor is the same as the rest of the 2.7t(Read s4 motors). The weak link is the tranny. I would suggest a stick if your gonna do any mods. Otherswise the auto will work ok.

Mods for the engine are the same as the s4. Suspension mods are also available. The only thing thats harder to come by is exhaust.

For exhaust hit up the gentlemen at

LLTek - www.lltek.com
Or search around for it

honestly I dont know if I am going to get an exhaust for this car. I am thinking something in the realm of filter, ECU upgrade, MAYBE intake/filter, and BOV. Droped and 20's and I think I am done right there. I am not planning on going crazy with this one. I want it to remain reliable and fully street-able. Exhaust is great and I know they are reliable but I dont think I want the volume increase. but who knows.
Michael

Don't do an intake unless you're doing exhaust

quote:

ORIGINAL: rowingdude

Don't do an intake unless you're doing exhaust

OK...why???

I'll jump in here. Mike - think of your engine (any combustion engine, that is) as a big air pump. You're putting in some gas and a LOT of air, and a LOT of air is coming out under a great deal of pressure after the combustion process has added mega Joules of heat energy to the air you put in. If you are going to improve the intake end of the equation without improving the exhaust end, you're not doing the math. The dual exhaust system on the 2.7T will probably handle adding a K&N filter element without modification (I have one in mine), but entertain this scenario: in 2004, I was rear-ended by a 17-year-old going too fast on a wet road. Totalled his Corsica, and did ~$1,800 worth of body damage to my car, mostly cosmetic. The (at the time unknown) fact that the impact had folded up the exhaust tips resulted in another $4,000 worth of damage to the engine and electronics. So be careful how much more air you make your big air pump.....well, PUMP!

quote:

ORIGINAL: BiTurbo Pilot

I'll jump in here. Mike - think of your engine (any combustion engine, that is) as a big air pump. You're putting in some gas and a LOT of air, and a LOT of air is coming out under a great deal of pressure after the combustion process has added mega Joules of heat energy to the air you put in. If you are going to improve the intake end of the equation without improving the exhaust end, you're not doing the math. The dual exhaust system on the 2.7T will probably handle adding a K&N filter element without modification (I have one in mine), but entertain this scenario: in 2004, I was rear-ended by a 17-year-old going too fast on a wet road. Totalled his Corsica, and did ~$1,800 worth of body damage to my car, mostly cosmetic. The (at the time unknown) fact that the impact had folded up the exhaust tips resulted in another $4,000 worth of damage to the engine and electronics. So be careful how much more air you make your big air pump.....well, PUMP!

OK...let me start by saying that I am going to try and not be offended by this little example of an explanation to my questions of reliability and drivability. Also a LITTLE history on me...I am not a 16 year old looking to get himself a turbo car because its "cool". I am 27 and have driven and modded MANY a turbo car including the Stealth that I drive now...that I converted from a non turbo to a Twin Turbo car on my own. I am not here to debate resumes on cars because its not important. But let me see if I get what you are saying here in this response you just gave me. If I read this correctly...you just told me ...in a weird kind of Barney way...that I shouldnt get and intake without an exhaust because if I get rear-ended it CAN POSSIBLY cause additional damage to my cars electrical system??? Ummmmm...I just hope that is a joke. OK now I am going to take it as though what you are trying to say is that if I dont do the exhaust when I do some sort of intake it wont be as efficient as it COULD be. OK thats fine I can take that. BUT...I am not racing so I am not caring. I am not changing my turbos or anything crazy. The stock exhaust will be capable of releasing any pressure that the stock turbos can throw at it. My mods are realistically going to be simple...ECU upgrade, drop in filter, and lower it with Rims. Other than that...all cosmetic.

Now this brings me back to the original question or change it around a little.

Would anyone say that the ECU and filter upgrade would effect the reliability for the A6 TT quattro?

My Lancer sold OFFICIALLY today so I will be looking to actually purchase something here VERY VERY soon. Like in the next few weeks. I am looking forward to it!!

Most people I heard of, rechip them and take the extra 65 horses and never touch the exhaust. I guess if you are going to replace the turbos, then mabe its a good idea, but I don't think its required just for rechip.

As I understand it, the stock turbos can take chipping, but it will put more stress on them. They weren't really ment to run that much boost presure. As well, the pre 2001 cars also had smaller oil lines for the turbo as I recall, so they will suffer more stress. All and all, rechipping is part of the issue, its also how u drive afterward, but thats the same even if you never rechipped.

If its Tiptronic, guys recommend rechipping that too if you rechip the turbo. I think I read it takes the shift times from 1 second to 0.2 seconds.

Okay, about the guy that got re-ended. I guess is would depend how much your tips got bend and restricted the exhaust to cause that kind of damage. And how much you drove. Not sure what damage it did. No idea how it would hurt electrical either. I would guess that long term, you might suffer burn exaust valves and stuff like that.

I wasnt aware of any differences in the differences in oil lines on the pre-2001 cars. Nice to know. Is there any other differences in them? I have been looking at a 2000 very closely so anything is helpful.

Now, when we are talking about "re-chipping" the ECU we are talking about a chip that reprograms Boost, fuel mixture and curve, shift points, etc. When YOU are refering to "re-chipping" the turbos...are you referring to a boost controller? Either manual or electric? Just trying to follow you is all. And I am aware that increasing boost on the stock turbos will increase the wear that they endure. And thats pefectly OK with me.

As far as what the other guy was talking about getting rear ended and it messing up his electrical system...I can see that IF he pinched his exhaust too much it would do some damage...but that doesnt mean ANYTHING when referring to why I should get an upgraded exhaust. If I have a upgraded exhaust and I get rear ended hard enough to pinch my exhaust...its still gonna cause the same damage no matter what. Thats what I was getting at. And I read his thread and felt like I was being patronized and thats not OK with me.

Thats the only difference I have read about. There are some guys on here that know the A6 quite well, and understand cars too, and they are the ones that mentioned the changes to the oil lines. I don't know of any other differences, nor read of any.

Yes, the ECU is rechipped with a single chip. And this chip runs a program. Boost is one of the things the chip controls. I have read about some 'fancy' versions that actually let u select 3-4 different programs using the display control on the dash. You can have different programs to use under different scenarios. (E.g. Fuel economy vs. Performance.) Given the chip can control boost pressure, I assume that means the A6's waste gates are controlled electronically, vs different springs with different sensitivity.

Its my understanding that the Tiptronic is controlled with a seperate chip, not the ECU chip and that to change shift points, you must rechip it too. Again, no confirmation on this, but some guys on here and other boards seem to know the car and have mentioned this. It makes sense, but at the same time, I would have thought the main ECU would control these things.

I really should buy a VAG COM and laptop software. I would luv to see whats all in there to play with.

There are guys on all boards that you have to 'take with a gain of salt'. Some are experienced DIY's that know alot, others are scary. If one has to ask if they can change their own brakes on the A6 and is it hard? My default reaction is to not recommend they try. I mean, the A6 is a car like any other, and some proceedures are generic whatever type of car you have. When I ask for information, I usually ask for very specific information. e.g. Which way do I need to turn the piston on the rear caliber to get it to retract?

I do like seeing people want to become DIYers, I think it takes the mystery out of cars and reduces out reliance on garages that try to make things always seem expensive and difficult.

Yes, the engine and trans are controled by two different computers. Most chip manufactures tune the torque curve and boost curves alittle different for manual cars versus automatic cars also. The oil lines is the only difference I know of on the pre-2001 cars also, but I am no expert by any means. If you do "chip" the car you need to upgrade the throttle body boot and the diverter valves also, both are weak from the factory and are prone to failure. On the TBB side there are a couple of different options: companies like Samco and AMS offer upgraded parts that are a direct replacement for just the boot or you can go with the APR bi-pipe which replace the upper pipes along with the boot with a metal one piece pipe. Hope this helps some and good luck with the purchase.


Andy