[docurley]

Alittle something I found on the web

So you got a B5 A4 I.E. 1996-2001.5(1996-1999 = pre facelift, 1999.5-2001.5 = facelift), NICE! However, everyone else has an A4 and lots of them are faster and nicer then yours so before you ask dumb questions, use the search button a lot. also read everything on here. I REPEAT, SEARCH! AND READ EVERYTHING HERE BEFORE POSTING A QUESTION.

Lets start out with factory options. Sport suspension has red shocks. To see them, look behind your wheels with a flashlight. If you have the cold weather package, good for you. Now onto the important stuff. Tiptronic basically sucks, its not “both”. You have a clutch or you don’t, I hate when people try to say they have both. If you have stick, awesome. 5 speed is the superior! As for motors, if you have the 2.8 (30v or 12v) some people like it. Basically all you have is an intake, exhaust, short shifter, and chip(30v only). The chip is not going to do as much as a 1.8T chip but still helps. 30v's also have the PES supercharger (www.pes-tuning.com).. If you have the money go 4 it! PES states that you can bolt the supercharger to the 12v but you need s/w. I.E. standalone

Im going to focus on the 1.8T here because most of us have that. Here are pretty much all your mods that you can do…a lot are universal so can be used for the 2.8 too

1. Intake – Ok so many cars can gain power from intakes but we cant… The only one that people like is the Carbonio but is it worth the $300? It has been proven to show increases and some think it is but its all preference. there is also the Evoms one but the stock heatshield that comes with it sucks. if you want to hear your turbo spool and your DV or recirculated BOV go psssht! then get a cone type filter(Evoms or homeade) and get the "true heatshield" LINK. all in all the stock airbox is good for about 300hp

2. Exhaust – Because our cars are turbo, freeing up room for the turbo helps bring out power, so an exhaust is important. There are many companies (Borla, Milltek, APR, and Neuspeed are the most popular off the shelf ones). Some like it louder, and some like it softer. Borla would be the loudest then neuspeed. miltek and APR are stealth type exhausts so they are very quiet.. Make sure you get a good diameter depending on how much power your going to be putting out.

2.25"-ko3 power
2.5" to 2.75"-ko4
2.75" and up- BT

3. Test Pipe/High Flow Cat – As I mentioned before, freeing up room for the turbo is essential. A test pipe (TP) replaces the catalytic converter (cat) and makes for a quicker spool, more power, MORE NOISE! and a CEL(check engine light). to get rid of the CEL you have to do the "anti-fouler mod"~search it in the forums. Its an awesome mod but many stay away because it may be illegal in your state and the fines could be huge. it can also smell. Check if your state runs emissions tests on inspection.. a better way is to get a highflowcat (HFC) Miltek makes one that is good but $$$.. best one to get is the Labree one.. only slightly more than a TP and will be legal in a lot more states. and the HP differences between the two wont be noticable.

4. Chip – A chip is probably the best bang for your buck and the most favored by most 1.8T owners. It remaps the feul and boost to push more hp on your car. The main companies are GIAC and APR. there is also Dahlback and neuspeed . Many choose based on which dealer is closest~very important. GIAC is the only one with upgrades for K04.. Dahlback also does but you need their expensive KO4 too..

5. Turbo Intake Pipe (TIP) – The OEM turbo intake pipe or hose can be faulty and collapse under added pressure. A new TIP is a popular mod to make sure the collapsing never happens. APR is the most stout but is only available for the K03 and K04. The Neuspeed is 2nd on the list. It is less stout but still very good and can work for the K03/K04 and the eliminator applications.

6.Boost Gauge – A boost gauge monitors boost from the turbo and is VERY recommended to make sure everything is running smoothly. AWE makes a nice one, as well as ECS Tuning's pod and VDO guage combo.. VDO is a cheap and good guage and the lights match our interiors very nice

7. MBC/EBC – A manual boost controller or electronic boost controller is used to limit the boost that is put out by the turbo… EBCs are better but cost more and there are some MBCs that are better than others -DO NOT HOOK UP ON OF THESE THINKING THAT YOU WILL CREATE MORE POWER- our ecu's do not work that way

8. N75Valve – This controls the smoothness of the boost essentially. Many people throw in an N75J or N75H valve to increase performance (which it does) but it makes the boost come in very harshly and can possibly put your car into limp mode (when your ECU restricts boost because it knows something is wrong)

9. Diverter Valve/bypass valves in general – A diverter valve is most popular and is required for all chip and turbo applications that run more boost. It holds the extra pressure better. Forge 007, Bailey, Hyperboost, and other DVs are good. an OEM 710N DV will hold chipped boost without a problem and is a cheaper soulution. The blow off valve (BOV) is asked about. some say don't do it and will flame you. but as long as you take the necessary steps it can work. you just need to run a recirculation kit to make it work, basically taking the "blown off" air and runnning it back into the intake tract like the DV does initiallly.

10. Short Shifter – Some consider this an Interior mod some consider it an engine mod. Basically it shortens shifts so there is less time in between. Neuspeed and B&M are popular. DieselGeek is also an awesome one for less money too. Ebay is also a great cheap one that people have had good luck with.

11. Snub Mount/D.T.S. – this is the front engine mount of our motors. the stock one is a squishy rubber that allows a lot of play in the drivelines. upgrading to a polyurethane unit cuts out a lot of the slack and rubberish feeling while driving. The APR, Greedspeed, Vastperformance, and 034 snub mounts gets rid of the shifter/drivetrain clunking when hard shifting occurs. Its cheap and an easy DIY for us, go for it! the DTS, or drive train stabalizer, is a unit that bolts directly to the undercarage of the B5 using existing hardware and mounts. it also bolts up to the transmission reducing yet even more driveline slack. it's an easy install. a word to the wise though, throw away the junk rubber mount that comes with it and get a polyurethane one More info here. the two places that sell them are AWE and ASP. both are the same only a slight difference in price. but ASP is the only one that has a DTS for a TIP transmission.

12. Clutch/Flywheel – a great man once said "Stock clutch wasn't rated for stock power" . When going past a simple chipped setup, with the added hard driving a clutch may be needed. It allows for better launches and better grab between shifts. ECS tuning sells a decent clutch but Southbend clutches are the best. The OFE SS is the top dog while the HD is a step lower. Make sure you get a new OEM dual mass flywheel when you get the clutch. Everything should be around $1100 without install.. our cars have a heavy DualMass Flywheel, DMFW, that assists in balancing and honing the engine. it's dualmass is separated by rubber bushings so this is yet another source of the rubberish feel to our cars. there is no problem with the DMFW other than its ~24lbs. a lot of people keep it after a clutch upgrade for numerous reasons. depending on the shape of it you can easily resurface it with a heavyduty scotchbrite pad.. as for a Light Weight Flywheel, LWFW, there are many options, Unorthodox, Fidanza, AWE-tuning to name a few. they will help your car rev quicker but some say it's too much for a daily driver. hard to shift smooth and creates chatter at idle due to our internally balance enigines.

13. Intercooler – An intercooler is an effective and sometimes essential (for K04 or bigger) way to cool down IATs (Intake air temps) from the turbo so more power can be made. The FMIC (front mount intercooler) is the most effective and is placed in the front bumper. Evolution Racewerks is the best-once released that is. Racetek and APR are also nice pieces.

14. Exhaust Manifold – A turbo manifold will open up your exhaust ports, allowing for more flow for the turbo. ATP makes a crappy one that most people use. APR has an awesome one on their Stage 3 kits, and there are some other ones that I cant think of. It is not required with the Eliminator kits but recommended. Most just bite their lip and get the ATP. for BT setups most go ATP as it is the only one easily available for cheap.

15. Intake Manifold – Our stock ones are sweet, don’t worry about it, the Dahlback one is garbage.