I recently purchased an 05 A4 2.0t, with the auto/manual transmission.

I'm looking to get as much power out of the vehicle as I can within reason. Everything in it is stock. I have read around here a bit and found that an intake isn't really going to do me any good, so I've ruled that out.

What other performance mods could I easily make to this vehicle?

 

Best bang for the buck is an ECU flash with one of the bigger names; APR, GIAC, Revo...
A test pipe or exhaust would be next. After that, if money is no object, you're talking bigger turbo, stage 2 or 3 tuning + parts.

Considering it's an 05, you'll also want to upgrade the diverter valve to at least the latest OEM revision if previous owner hadn't done that already.

You might want to replace, or at least inspect the cam follower, but you're most likely covered under an extended transferable warranty for 10 yrs or 120k miles for cam follower/cam/hpfp if there's a problem.

I would also have your dealer check your VIN for recalls if the previous owner hadn't done so already. On a number of B7's there is a recall for coil packs, PCV valve and fuel pressure sender.

Cheers.

 

Awesome, thanks man.

Money is an object at this point in time, so I will pass on the bigger turbo for now. With that excluded, how much would I be looking to spend, and how much of a performance increase would I see?

Thanks!

 

With an ECU flash you're looking at about a 40-50 hp gain and about 60-80 torque gain. The flash, depending on the company you go with, will run somewhere around $500-600.

A test pipe will run you anywhere from $150 - 250 depending on make, and will get you maybe 10-20 hp. But the problem is you will fail an emissions test for state inspection.

Exhaust system will run around $1,000 for something decent and maybe give you similar gain as test pipe....and of course a nice sound if you're into that.

So you can probably see why most people at least go with the ECU flash because you get the most performance gain for the money. You can go to goapr.com, giacusa.com, and revotechnik.com. Each of their stage 1 ECU flashes are pretty similar, and you can search for any dealers close to you that do the tuning. I personally have a GIAC tune simply because they were the only dealer close to me, but I've been very happy with.

Oh, and if you do get an ECU flash and still have an original diverter valve, you'll want to upgrade it to the latest OEM revision. The original was a rubber diaphragm prone to tearing and will be even more susceptible to tearing with the extra boost. The latest revision is a heavier duty piston design and can handle the increased boost. You can pick one up online from like ecstuning.com for about $65. If you're handy it's a pretty easy install, just 3 bolts.

Cheers.

 

Also, just to give you an idea of what to expect....I have just the GIAC flash and a k&n drop in air filter on my 05.5 b7 a4 2.0t Quattro manual transmission, and on a good run I can do 0-60 in a little over 5 seconds.

 

That is awesome.

Any idea how it will effect the tiptronic transmission?

 

Can't say for sure but I believe my buddy's tiptronic with GIAC is somewhere around 5.5 seconds, so not a huge difference.