Hey guys, I've been driving a 96 a4 for the past 3 years. It was my first car, and got it when i was 16. So you could imagine i was in love with it. Now that i'm working at a valet gig, getting 4-8 calls a month, and making anywhere from 80 to 200+ dollars a night, i thought i'd buy a car. It's about that time, where i was getting pushed to anyway, dad's selling his car to drive mine.

So why i'm here is to ask you s4 guys for a little advice. I got 2 s4's in the area that i'm very interested in, and fit my budget. one is a 2002 S4 stage 2, APR chipped with a apr catback, and stage 2 flywheel. He just hit 100k miles, and has a rebuilt title from being stolen. He wanted 8,000, but when i mentioned this other s4 we are looking at, he mentioned he is flexible on the price. I figured with the mods he had, he was looking at a little over 300hp?

The other is a 2000 S4 stage 3 with 167,000 on the body, 100k on the engine, and 30k on the stage 3 setup. He wants around 10,000, and i'll list a few things he has told me. K04 KKK Turbochargers , RS4 inlets , VAST Performance Stage 3 Tune (spikes at 24 psi, tapers to 22) , Siemens 630cc injectors, and a borla 3inch single muffler catback. He said he's touching around 470 hp.

I would like some advice from you guys, I heard the 2001.5's and up have a stronger engine and turbo kit that last a little longer. My dad and uncle have owned mechanic shops their entire life, and just got away from it a few years back, So maintenance has always been an in-family deal, saving us a ton of money. I want to know what you guys thing is a "better" buy. I know which is more appealing to me (stage 3) but is it worrisome that an engine with 100-105k miles is pushing a stage 3 setup over 450 hp? I may be out of my jurisdiction, and may be mis-using terms and i apologize.

 

first, there is always some terminology controversy as to what exactly constitutes a stage x vehicle. at least that has been my (limited) experience.

looking at the two you have listed, each has its obvious advantages and disadvantages. either way pushing the mods is bound to put some wear on the mechanicals. sounds like with the "family" discount on maintenance you should be OK with either one should "something" happen.

just shooting from the hip here, but I'm leaning toward the 02

just my opinion

let us know

 

Ah, the way i understood it was, You chip it, stage 1. Exhaust, stage 2. Ko4's, or some other kit, stage 3. I hope i can get a better understanding of this stuff here.

On the same hand, i'm still young (19) and i grew up in a family where my brothers (30, 31) built race cars. Which are now low to mid 8 cars at the track. Not saying i want to follow the line of a track car, i just want something with a little getup, And driving my buddies g35 coupe, which i heard is around 280hp, it's got a little kick to it. So i mean, i'm sure the 02, 300hp or so would give me a good thrill for awhile.

I appreciate the response, and will keep your opinion on deck. Hoping to hear from some 00's and 02 s4 owners. Would hate to get the 2000 "stage 3" and have a major issure 5k miles into it.

 

02 sounds waaay better. stage 2 apr ecu, a nice cat-back and an upgraded flywheel sound like a good balance. the down side is gonna be when you have to replace those stock turbo's.

the stage 3 sounds cool, but its high mileage and 30,xxx miles of 470 crank hp that you didn't oversee sounds scary to me. other peoples fixed up cars always make me nervous. youre gonna have problems with both cars before 5k miles thats for sure.

you really need to find out what maintenance has been done on each car. timing-belt, control arms, diverter valves, cv boots, tranny, boost hoses, vac lines, etc. take your time when purchasing. wait till you find the perfect one. DON'T JUMP THE GUN!!!! i cant stress that enough.

these cars are very expensive to maintain and upgrade, but well worth it in my opinion.

 

Much appreciation Fonzo. It being my first car i'm going to buy, i am a little anxious. But trying to hold that back before i make a dumb choice. I'm going to check into the things you mentioned for both of them.

How much are we looking at for replacing turbos. Kind of turns into a, "why not go bigger" phase for me. Haha

 

around $2k for stock turbos. going bigger would be a little more expensive. k04's, frankenturbos, tial 605's, tial 770's, k06's, etc. the franken's are about $1400 and seem to be very popular right now. all of these require additional pieces to get them on the car.

 

Thank you again Fonzo. Kind of sitting here thinking and talking over with my old man and uncle, the 2002 is starting to make more sense. Like you said, other peoples super cars, like this 470 hp s4, seem destine to fail me.

I'm sure the 2002 has enough power to suit me till the end of college. With the chip, it's probably around 320 right?

I will look into those turbo's you listed. I appreciate it yet again fonzo!

 

FrankenTurbo | F4 Hybrid Bi-Turbos for Audi 2.7T

https://vastperformance.com/index.php/products.html

www.raimotorsport.com

European Performance Labs - www.eplabs.net - Stratford, CT (site might be down, but one of the best in the biz.)

2000-2002 (B5) S4 & RS4 - JH Motorsports Inc. - -- JHM. Shifting you to the next level of Audi

034 MOTORSPORT

these should help.^

you should easily be at 320hp on a stage 2 ecu. stage 1 gets you about 300hp. adding things like down pipes, water/meth, intercoolers, etc will help a lot.

 

Thank you very much. If i do pull the trigger on the 02, i wont be in any rush to do anything to it.

I did hear, that the 2001.5+ models have ( i think it was ) stronger, or bigger inlets that manage the turbo better and make it last longer. so weather that gets me, to owning the car for 5k miles, or 50k more miles, i'll take it in stride.

Loving the forums so far, very helpful.

 

01+ have better intake manifolds and a traction control button. inlets are replaced the second you do a turbo upgrade so if thats what youre planning to do dont worry about those. not sure what else is changed from the 00 to the 01-02.