Matt Danger's B5 S4 Owner Log

I ordered Evolution Raceworks side mount intercoolers yesterday. I was divided between those or a front mount. FMIC kits are cheaper and have yielded better results, but I didn’t want to deal with cutting everything up to mount it and then not have things fit well and deal with more boost leaks.

I am currently running RS4 intercoolers and further cooling the charge with water/meth. The IATs hover about 20* over ambient and I know they can be lower.

Conveniently, my friend Brad with a K04′d S4 just had ERs installed along with a fueling kit and tune for e85. Last week we met up and ran some logs.

Here’s a plot of the two setups:

I talked to someone in Canada with the same Vast 93+meth tune, but with ERs. He said his IATs hover around ambient, so I’m hoping that’s where I end up.

For kicks, here’s a plot of 4 setups. Brad’s stock SMIC car on K04s, my stage2+ car on just RS4 SMICs, my current RS4+meth setup and Brad’s current ER setup. Soon I’ll add a ER+meth plot

I’ve been wanting to install some height adjustable coilovers ever since I bought the car. I went back and forth on what to buy. For a while I wanted a set of Vogtland GTs because of the good reviews they were receiving. Unfortunately, it seems that their quality control has taken a dive and many owners are complaining of low speed clunking coming from the rear. So then I thought I might purchase a set of Konis, but I worried they would be too soft.

I was exhausted with the research and the idea of spending over $1000 for something that I might not be happy with. So I went the opposite route and bought one of the lowest priced coilvers on the market: Vmaxx.

I picked the Vmaxx setup because of the price and because Strat, the US distributor, is right down the street in Victor and I wouldn’t have to pay shipping costs. The guys at Strat were very nice and answered all my questions. Their kitchen is nicer than the one in my apartment…

This weekend I installed them. I didn’t attempt to remove the front upright pinch bolt. Instead, I disconnected the shock at the tower and at the lower control arm. I then disconnected the front sway bar and lowered it, so I could push the upright downwards and lift the shock over and out the front. I used a floor jack to compress the shock for a little more clearance. This whole process went pretty quickly, with the exception of a stripped sway bar bolt.

Removing the rears were more difficult because several bolts were corroded. My weak Craftsman impact wouldn’t budge them, so I had to use a long breaker bar. This took forever. After the old coilover and housing came out I had problems getting the new shock up into the housing. The mount was slightly larger than the housing so I had to break out the grinder and trim it. I then used a punch to line up the shock mount holes in the housing.

This was when I first set the height.

The front was too close so I raised all 4 corners up 1/2″. I still need to dial in the height, maybe sometime this week, and probably roll the fenders a little. When turning, the driver side tire occasionally rubs the liner.

My old setup was a Bilstein shock/spring combo. They had almost 100k on them and one of the rear shocks were blown so the old ride quality was poor. My initial impressions of the ride quality with the Vmaxx are good. I think they’re a little software than I’d like. I would not say they’re bouncy. I’m sure they’re no match to a more expensive setup but for me they’re fine.

Went up to Innovative Tuning today. Put down almost 400 wheel, not bad for a base tune with no revisions. I’m very happy with the torque numbers, although that boost spike needs to be sorted and will likely bring the numbers down a little. Time to throw the MBC back on.

This weekend I painted my wheels a lighter shade of silver (Duplicolor ultra silver) and put on the center caps I ordered. So much better.

I then finished a project I started 2 years ago. RS4 style bumper grills. This used to be the cool thing that S4 guys would do. It might be played out now, but I wanted to finish the project. If I decide I like it I’ll cut out and install the RS4 mesh in the center section. If I get sick of it I’ll put the old grills back in.

I also got rid of the faded S4 emblem when I buffed the car a few weeks ago.

My friends Steve, Jack and I worked late Thursday night repairing the wastegate line so that we could be ready for our trip to Vermont on Friday. We were traveling there so Steve could pick up a 16 swapped MK2 Scirocco.

The car performed very well, the only incident being the washer tank leaking from a cap on the headlight washer squirter.

I have been experiencing over boosting ever since I got the car back together. I installed a manual boost controller (MBC) in parallel with the n75 and the boost would still creep up, so I suspected a torn wastegate line.

I hooked up a air nozzle with about ~10psi and could hear a loud hissing from the lower passenger side. When I crawled under the car I saw that the wastegate line on the actuator had torn clean in half.

Removing the old line was not as difficult as I feared. I was able to reach my hand up from the front of the motor, underneath the exhaust maniflold and above the motor mount and slip the hose off the actuator. and installing the repaired line.

I cut the metal line just past the bend and slipped on a new vacuum line. I should have used actual wastegate hosing with some shielding but it was late and was leaving for a trip the next morning.

Installing the repaired line was much more difficult than the removal. The wastegate actuator nozzle was just far enough out of the reach of my hand that I could not get my hand to push the hosing on. It took about 20 minutes to finally get the hose on and then a worm clamp over it to secure it.

My hand looked like I had pulled it from a garbage disposal.

I borrowed a Porter Cable polisher from my friend Karlis and went to town on the car this weekend. I got most of the fine scratches out, but another pass is probably still required. The advantage of a silver car is that it doesn’t snow scratches or swirls as easily.

No pics now because of rain, but hopefully.

I’ve put almost 100 miles on the car so far and it’s been mostly great. My 7 year old stock battery bit the dust so I picked up a 15lb Odyssey battery. I also installed my extra power steering pump. Fuck pzp107.

The vibrations from the Stern transmission mounts were unbearable. I learned that the mounts I received were an early style that had a design flaw. The mounts have since been revised with a larger diameter bolt hole. Not sure how a flaw like this made it through testing (if there was any) but PureMS (where I bought the mounts and waited 1 month for them..) suggested I bore the hole out to 15/16″. Tonight I spent some time with a dremel and the difference that it made with the mounts is awesome. So much better now. There are some vibrations at idle and the cabin noise is louder on deceleration, but everything else is great.

I finished putting the car together today and took it out on its maiden voyage. It road very nice and there were no real hiccups.

There are two problems right now. First, the replacement power steering pump from pzp107 (Audizine) is very weak. I have another pump that I will swap in.

The second problem is that the transmission mounts are VERY harsh. I’ll have to see if they settle down and break in. Otherwise, I’m going to swap to something more street friendly.

Overall, it was a nice feeling  to drive the car. The Vast tune definitely feels more torquey in the low RPMs.

Today was rear wheel bearing day. I almost stripped the axle bolt but managed to break it free by slipping a box end wrench over the 14mm socket. The rest of the suspension was a challenge, but with a hammer and an air chisel it came apart. I took the knuckle to my friend Darrel’s shop to use his press. I almost ruined the new bearing when I pressed the hub in without supporting the bearing from the bottom. Oops. It went back together very smoothly though.

After that I plumbed the meth up and installed the new coolant tank. Then realized I didn’t have enough G12