Stern control arms and completed headers
Today we put the transmission back into the car and buttoned everything back up. If everything works out tomorrow the brakes and cat-back should go on!
Below you can see the high-flow cats mate up to the new headers. JHM offers a pre-lengthened set of O2 sensors since the O2 bungs have been relocated on the longtube headers.
Some "better" photos of the JHM/Stern motor mounts.
Here the Stern control arms have been installed.
The S4 goes under the knife…
Monday the S4 went under the knife to receive the first round of performance modifications. Take a look at the OEM exhaust manifolds. Proceed to cringe.
To gain access the exhaust manifolds we had to lower the motor. Pictured below, the transmission has already been removed.
The motor is supported so it can be lowered down enough to gain access to the exhaust manifolds.
Here you can see the JHM longtube headers installed.
This version of the headers uses v-band clamps.
JHM/Stern Motor Mounts
Thanks to JHM for hooking me up with a set of their modified Stern motor mounts. B6/B7 S4 motor mounts are 110mm shorter than the aftermarket mounts that are currently available; these mounts have been modified so they will fit.
VF Engineering supercharger
After almost a year of testing, VF's production forced induction system for the B6/B7 S4 is in my hands. What a work of art!
VF has reported 496 HP and /434 ft/lbs.
GMG 2.5″ RS4 exhaust with Labree mufflers
The last piece of my exhaust puzzle was the cat-back exhaust; having previously run a 2.25" APR downpipe and exhaust I needed something a little larger to mate up to the 2.5" JHM longtube headers. After poking around I found S-Fore, a local forum member, parting out his S4. He had originally purchased a GMG RS4 exhaust, but found that the internal drone was too much. To rectify this little problem he replaced the GMG mufflers with Labree mufflers and hasn't looked back since. When I asked S-Fore to describe the sound, he said hands down it was the best sounding S4 exhaust. Ever. Once the headers and exhaust are on I'll see how the quad tips fill the RS4 bumper; if it doesn't look right I'll have ...
Ceramic coated longtube headers
My JHM longtube headers have made it back from Performance Coatings! They've recieved a satin black ceramic coating to dramatically reduce radient heat.
We're looking at a 110-120 degree temperature reduction in the engine bay; this should be good for a 11-12% increase in engine efficiency. Gotta love free horsepower!
For a 450-500HP motor we can expect a gain of 50-55HP. Show me a better mod for the money!
Thanks to Performance Coatings and JHM!
JHM stage 4 clutch and lightweight flywheel
Thanks to the guys at JHM! My stage 4 clutch and lightweight flywheel combo have made it safely to the shop. One of my concerns when I was planning out my motor mods was the ability of the OEM clutch to handle the additonal power of the supercharger; after speaking with JHM we found a perfect soultion.
Using a ceramic/kevlar clutch we've gained an extra 400 ft/lbs of clamping pressure over OEM. This clutch should have no problem handling the added power. The 13lb lightened flywheel should help with some of the parasitic loss caused by the 26lb OEM flywheel.
18×10 Volk TE37s and some Star Specs
My tires finally came in from TireRack and Steve at Hartmann Wheels was gracious enough to help me get everything mounted. All I can say is, "WOW...my stars have somehow aligned!" because everything has worked out perfectly. The setup is a set of Volk's 18x10 TE37 with 265/35/18 Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Specs. This is the literally the absolute widest tire I could fit on this rim. That being said, this tire fills the wheel PERFECTLY. The fronts have approximately 2mm of clearance on the inside and fill the front fenders perfectly; the rears have approximately 10mm of clearance on the outside to play with, and quite a bit on the inside (though the tire makes contact with the inner fender when the rear end is in ...
JHM longtube headers have shipped!
I received word from JHM that my longtube headers have shipped. The JHM longtube headers replace the OEM headers and downpipes; other cars have been seeing both 20-50 ft/lbs and 20-50 AWHP gains throughout the powerband. JHM reccomends wrapping the headers with an exhaust wrap, I choose another route.
Performance Coating in Auburn, WA will be coating the headers with their satin black ceramic coating; we expect to see a temperature drop of 110-120ºF.
Read more about the headers on JHM's site.
Stock B6/B7 headers:
JHM prototype headers:
034 Motorsport dyno of stock headers and JHM headers; note the vehicle dynoed was an auto. Click image for fullsize.
Re-pinning OEM Audi plugs
The taillights on the B7 have different plugs than the B6; the B7plug is a tad deeper than the B6 plug. The new B7 plug utilizes five of the six available pins, while the B6 uses all six. The extra pin on the B6 connector is for the rear fog light; I'm still trying to figure out how to make it work on the B7. You will save yourself a lot of trouble if you just pick up a de-pinning kit; I was using two flat head screwdrivers and cussing up a storm. After I found the tool kit, everything was a breeze. New pin layout for driver side connector. Keep in mind, your wires will be flipped on the passenger side connector (e.g. pin #1 should ...