Performance Upgrades
Performance upgrades: UUC
shortshifter, UUC Velocimax 2 with resonated tips (barks),
Milltek cat-back (humms), APR EMCS chip (stock, 93, 100 octane),
Greddy turbo timer, Dunlop Winter Sport M2 tires on stock Avus
wheels, driveline stabilizer(UUC then AWE), H&R Coilovers
(street version), Milltek downpipes/high flow cats, new f-hose, tbb, bpv's,
17x8 BBS RKs + Pole Position S03s, AWE boost gauge in left vent,
spare set of Avus wheels with P6000s for track. AWE DBA/RS4 rotors
and pads. ~350hp.
Performance downgrade: mudflaps
Other Stuff: Rubber floormats for winter, RS4 grille on hood and
RS4 mesh pattern fabricated lower bumper grilles, RaceTech AC22
accelerometer, lined coinholder, New Beetle sunglasses holder,
-T TBB, AWE backlit maple shift knob, Euro aspherical drivers
mirror, VAG-COM diagnostic software, mobil 1 0w-30 and 0w-40,
cut down splash guards, anti-theft kill switch, 02 A4 compass
mirror, debadged.
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Owner Diary
Dear Diary, I never thought I'd be seen dead in a Yellow car... I'm an accountant for crying out loud.
Was looking for a Santorin S4 - loved my silver A4, but wanted something different, black perhaps too hard to keep clean, really like Nogaro/alcantara, but would get sick of the blue door inserts staring at me, laser red nice but too flashy (yeah yeah), have had a couple of hibiscussy cars, loved the green one I saw in Ireland, but thought US Cactus was too metallicy... then I saw a Yellow one when passing Huntington Audi one night. Wow!
03/14/00 Picked up car from Huntington Audi (Colin Nugent) who I'd go to again (so far anyway!). They seemed pretty good folks, certainly not the pushy/snobby salespeople that I've had at other dealers. Upgrading from 98 silver A4 1.8T quattro sport tiptronic almost at the end of its 2 year lease.
Mmmmm. Quieter; smoother; really nice seats (despite less headroom and no memory); better steering and suspension (seems much more composed than A4's sport pack which was a surprise); lots and lots and lots more torque; great lights; engine sounds better than expected.
Minor complaints: Radio - old one was smaller and more discrete (do people still listen to cassettes?), seems more difficult to find the right buttons, but will get used to it, DO like the in-dash CD; sunroof/ interior lights panel seams more plasticky than in old A4 although roof control more intuitive (was always twisting the old one the wrong way); thought the new sunroof was going to be bigger; power seats offer less room for tall dudes and I think are unnecessary luxuries as is the trip computer; liked the aluminum interior trim on the 1.8T, although the maple is growing on me; 1-2 shift notchy, other gears ok; still has the same cheap clunky crappy glove box; and silly headlight switch; having to get in and press the clutch pedal to start the car on a snowy morning will be a minor pain.
None of which is important, except perhaps the shifting. Getting a shortshifter on Saturday.
Everyone loves the yellow, but wouldn't be seen dead in it. Unless they can have a drive of course...
03/15/00 looked under the hood - someone seems to have stolen the engine and replaced it with some big plastic covers.
03/16/00 back to dealer to fix up some things detailed in maint log. Corolla for the day - yikes! Ordered mudflaps from Clair Parts.
03/19/00 800 miles. Installed mudflaps today. Short shifter was installed by UUC folks yesterday at NJ meet - a small, but a big improvement! Also rode in a VM1 exhaust equipped car. Wow. Noticed a small electrical hiccup - intermittently, indicator doesn't flash, just 'on'...
03/27/00 1300 miles - miles fly when you're having fun. Indicators still 'hanging' periodically. Must get that seen to. Took the car into Donaldson's to get them to drive it around the block : 1-2 shift will smoothen over time, engine sounds fine. Sounds a little coarse to me at higher revs (later found out this is the 'sandblaster' sound people talk about). Certainly doesn't feel as quick as the Subaru Impreza Turbo - S4 hampered by weight I guess (its and mine).
4/6/00 1600 miles or so. Haven't had indicator problem since last entry. ABS light has come on twice with 3 people in car, but at no other time...
5/12/00 3038 miles, still haven't had ABS seen to. Shifting and engine much smoother now.
6/21/00 4700 miles or so. Driver window one-touch up and down not working this morning!?! Someone emailed me the other day - Q: 'do you still like the yellow?' A: 'YES!'
6/30/00 5200 Miles. Car in for service. Velocimax 2 exhaust fitted yesterday by Gary Bossert at Camptown. Nice job, looks pretty good - tips don't stick out too far. Impressions: Yeehaaa! Noticeable performance improvement, car much more responsive. A tad noisy at certain rev ranges (slogging low revs, blasting high revs) but apparently this will mellow over time. Idle is more rumbly but it's surprisingly quiet when off the gas cruising at 50-70. The sound when punching the gas in a a tunnel is a blast! Big smiles all round.
7/1/00 5500 miles. Long drive today - exhaust fantastic. ABS light problem seems to have been fixed yesterday, but won't be going back to Donaldson's for service, nor should they expect an 'excellent' service rating...
7/16/00 6200 miles, Bronxville BBQ yesterday, with the CT/NY folks. In-dash CD has CD ERR1 since service... grumble
8/29/00 7820 miles . Had APR chip installed at NE aftermarket event near Boston a couple of weeks ago. Wheeeeee! This car now has some serious power. Brilliant. Love it. Also got the stock program and the throttle and dtc reset package. You really feel the difference the chip makes when you switch back to 'performance' from the 'stock' program! Installed Greddy turbo timer yesterday finally after having various interior panels off for the last week. Clever little device and looks almost stock.
Service #1 completed today at Huntington Audi. Fairly good service, possibly even an excellent. Replacement in-dash CD on order. Lined ashtray with felt and removed annoying metal bits to make a more useful and quiet coin holder.
09/26/2000 9400 miles. Repl radio still on backorder.
11/06/2000 10500 miles. Radio still on backorder. Took off one front mudflap to see whether I like it or not...
12/03/2000 10600 miles. Radio to be replaced tomorrow @ Huntington - finally!
12/19/2000 11,000 miles. Dunlop Winter Sport M2 snow tires from Tirerack fitted for Christmas trip by a local crowd in town ...for free - they scratched a couple of my rims. I warned them! Now that I've attacked them with spittle and a rag, I think I got the better deal and I'll let them scratch them up in future so I don't have to pay.
12/26/00 - 12,100: Back from brilliant Niagara Falls trip. Tires performed perfectly and no other problems except washer liquid froze. Min was 5F (-14C) and the car had a few inches of snow overnight. Washed car at Bayport do-it-yourself today, but water kept freezing on car! Removed about a ton of salt, sand and misc crap.
1/12/01 - 12550 miles. Off on holiday to NZ. Car gets a rest for two weeks
2/2/01 - 12850 miles. Installed RS4 grille, retaining the S4 chrome trim and leaving off the S4 badge. Revised mud guards to go on today. Saw RS4, S6 and S6 Avant in NZ. VM2 tips suddenly headed to the right...
2/20/01 13900 miles. NJ drive last weekend - what a blast!
04/08/01 14500 miles. 15k service performed recently by the new Audi dealership in Smithtown. Solid 5 all round. Inserted Mobil 1 at this time and they removed a stone that was caught in behind the brake rotor shield that was rubbing during hard right turns for the past few days. Bought a Race Technology accelerometer recently - did a 6.1 sec to 60. I think I'm babying this car... H&Rs on order.
04/12/01 - 15100 miles. Visited Rick at the Broadway Auto Clinic in Albany yesterday. VM2 tightened up (had rattles and leaks), TBB replaced for peace of mind, ADS installed. ADS is a surprisingly good mod!
04/18/01 15200 miles. Snow tires finally off yesterday and RE040s back on. Decided to run them into the ground after toying with the idea of getting new rims/tires. Maybe later.
Guess what... snow flurry on the way to work today!
04/22/01 Autocross at Nassau. Yeehaaa! That was fun.
05/14/01 Kensico Dam meet yesterday, complete with two Cactus Greens which looked great. I fabricated RS4 style intercooler grilles from expanded aluminium mesh last week to match the hood grille. PITA, but they look great. I still need to do the center one under the front plate.
06/01/01 - 17300 miles. Center bumper RS4 fabricated grille installed last weekend. Looks good!
08/13/01 - 19,000 miles. H&R Coilovers in and then reinstalled with the correct springs
(received a set of the wrong fronts). AWE lit maple shift knob installed last weekend.
09/04/01 - 20,600 miles.
Aspherical drivers side mirror installed thanks to Junker's
group buy. Check engine light on. Grumble...
10/10/01 - 21,500 miles. Sterling
service from Smithtown Audi - replaced a coolant temp sensor
while I watched and asked dumb questions. First frost this
morning. Buying a house - no more car money. No more money
actually.
10/23/01 - 22,500 miles. Service
and alignment done at Smithtown. Fun fun fun at Daphne and Jon's
Pocono Trackday.
11/05/01 - 23100 miles. Indicator
hung twice last night, greased and taped shifter to eliminate an
annoying squeak.  01/14/02 - 25100 miles. Wound up the coilovers a smidge at the
rear.
02/06/02 - 26000 miles - kill
switch fitted.
02/16/02 - Replaced VM2 with
Milltek catback. Nice quiet sound but seems a little slower to
spool. Certainly sounds slower!
03/20/02 - 27500 miles. New
house, longer commute. BBS RKs and Pole Position S03s on the
feet.
05/07/02 - 30000 miles. Compass
mirror, Milltek downpipes/cats and AWE ADS await installation. EMCS
stock/93/100 oct loaded.
06/09/02 - 31000 miles - DPs in
place (wheee!) and AWE boost gauge inserted into driver's left
air vent.
08/28/02 - 33000 miles. Both
banks running lean. Smithtown Audi replaced MAF in about 10 mins
without an appointment. Brilliant. Bought a spare set of Avus
wheels for track usage.
10/16/02 35000 miles - hit truck
tyre carcass on offramp. Without car for three weeks due to slow
insurance. Radiator, A/C condenser, PS cooler, I/C, foglight
damaged. 
 Rebuilt
grilles with mesh from Achtuning as the metal was starting to
chip.
3/26/04 52,000 miles - Replaced
BPVs (all by myself!). Car running much better...
9/23/04 57,800 miles - Noticed
oil seepage around diff (replaced seals) and brake pads almost out...
6/16/06 Almost 75,000 miles - In the
meantime, rotors and pads replaced, leaking F-hose replaced (boy
is that a pain in the butt), an SLK came and went, but now the
RS4 is finally here, so it's time to say goodbye to my baby...
maybe after one more winter...
The car
has now been sold . Thanks for your interest!
Darryl Bond, Long Island, NY.
15,500
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