Hey guys,

I have been hearing things about getting a little better performance by insulating the MAF and intake tubes? I have a 2000 a6 4.2. Does anyone know how to do this or have any of you done it? Any help would be great.

Thanks.

 

Hook the a/c duct into the filter box! You can try going to Home depot A/C isle that stuff is flame retardant but Unless you are spending some serious cash on your ride where every .5HP helps I wouldn't bother because it will look like crap. If it's power you want disconnect the Powersteering and a/c compressor. Get a new serpentine belt that only fits the waterpump. There's your power and cheap. Who needs that crap in a 50K luxury car anyway-stupid rich people, they don't know.

 

I'm not too mechanically inclined. I never heard of disconnecting the power steering or the a/c compressor. Just out of curiosity; how does that increase power? How easy is it to do myself? You mentioned hooking up the a/c to the air filter? Is that a separate thing in addition to the other things you mentioned?

 

Please don't. If you're not mechanically inclined then I really wouldn't go around tampering with all these systems, either buy a fast car or be happy with what you have (and a 4.2 is fast!). And Jackmup was being extremely sarcastic - excellent work.

By disconnecting all accessories that are "non essential" (for some people), you will inevitably get more power to the wheels. One major law of physics is that you can only convert energy from one form to another. The AC and power steering use power and therefore use energy that can otherwise be used for power. It's not like it would add 50hp or anything, and generally the engine's rated HP is around the maximum that it can output (accessories off). This explains why race cars generally don't have full air conditioning units or luxury power steering (yeah, they have to have PS to some extent), they are meant to be fast. If you want your car to be faster, take out the seats!

Again, you have a fast car already - faster than probably 90% of the Audi's that exist in the world and probably 95% faster than all the rest of the cars in the world. If you have money you can actually buy performance upgrades, but doing crap like "insulating the intake tube" is just ridiculous and generally full of crap (unless as mentioned, you're looking to get .5 extra HP from an already performance-tuned car). Use some common sense in that you will generally not see a good return in performance for low cost - exactly like all the stupid MPG-saving devices out there that just want to take your money before you realize how stupid you are.

 

I was kidding! It is something you do on an old mustle car because it was easy power on a saturday night. If you want that type of car get a old mustle car and drop a worked big block in it with a 4/11 rear and work the rear suspension for traction. you may not be the fastest but when your front tires leave earth you will be the baddest. and you'll have enough power left over for A/C. I myself would rather sacrafice power for luxury. I do believe the Ladies are impressed with that as well.

I don't care who you are or what cars you like we all know what the baddest *** car in the fast and furious movie was.

 

thanks for clarifying. I am already doing the exhaust, intake, ECU and TCU upgrades, and I'm in route to getting the CF hood and trunk; so I know the car will be fast. I just recently heard about little things like the insulating the intake and relocating the IAT sensor that could possibly increase performance so i thought "what the heck" why not add a little more but if it really doesn't make a difference, or is not recommended, then i won't even bother.

 

By just changing old ATF and gear lube you may regain lost power. Try flushing your power steering fluid. Check your coolant and water pump. Check the belt idlers and AC clutch for worn bearings. Check the spark plugs for fouling. Check your fuel filter. The sum of a lot of small losses may in time ruin a car.
Beware of ebay modifications to good to be true! Relocating or modifing the IAT sensor may result in poor emissions and gas mileage.
If you want more power it may be cheaper to buy a newer A6 with the more powerful 4.2L, which meets your specifications.