eurotuner Tech Support
6420 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048-5515
eurotuner@primedia.com
Audi V-6 Blues
Q First off, I just want to say I love your mag. I just acquired an A4 2.8L 12v Quattro five-speed in April. I've looked everywhere for bolt-on aftermarket parts and can't seem to find any. Hell, I can't even find an intake. I've got the money to put parts into her, but I just can't find anything. I was wondering if you knew of any bolt-on mods for my car? Thanks, you guys rule.Ryan BardenNew YorkVia e-mail
A Thanks for the kind words about the mag. We do, however, know something that may disappoint you. You picked up a version of the car that has virtually no tuner support. You have the early Audi V-6 with only 12 valves. Had you purchased a '98, you would have gotten the 30v motor and had some more options to choose from. Never fear, though, as there are a few things you can do. You can get any Audi 2.8L suspension setup and it will work fine. After talking with PES, we also found out that you can bolt up any 30v exhaust and intake. There is no software for that car that we are aware of. Our vote is to call PES and order up an exhaust, an intake and some suspension. Then look around for a nice body kit and wheels and call it a day. If you can't go fast, pimp it out. You can get in touch with PES by calling 267/288-0161 or, if you forgot how to use your phone, you can find them on the Web at www.pes-tuning.com.
Slightly Confused
Q In one of your older issues, you reviewed a boost controller for the VW 1.8T. Your charts state that at 7 psi it produces 125.6 hp, at 9 psi 154.1 hp and at 14.5 psi around 150 hp... But doesn't the stock GTI/Jetta/Golf get 180 hp (with the turbo Beetle getting 165/170) according to VW? Does VW radically embellish its stats, or am I just reading the article wrong? JaredVia E-mail
A Jared, you aren't reading the article wrong, but you are missing one key factor. When automotive manufacturers state horsepower, they quote horsepower numbers at the crank. In our tech articles, we always give wheel horsepower numbers. The difference is the factory gives the rating of what the motor puts out before it transfers the power through the drivetrain. Wheel horsepower ratings figure in the parasitic loss of the drivetrain components. That means as the power transfers from the motor through the tranny, axles and so on, it uses some of that horsepower to drive the wheels. By the time the power reaches the ground, you have lost some of the motor's output. In a front-wheel-drive car, the accepted "rule of thumb" is a 15 percent loss from the flywheel to the ground. For all-wheel-drive cars, the rule is a 25 percent loss, and rear-wheel drive is about a 22 percent loss (even though in this month's cover story we calculated the R32's loss at 22 percent, based off of the claimed flywheel horspower and actual wheel numbers from a dyno). The math you would use to figure out the crank numbers is to divide your wheel horsepower numbers by 0.85 for a FWD, 0.75-0.70 for AWD and 0.78 for RWD. Hope this helps you make sense of it all. Also, the car we tested was an older 150hp version of the 1.8T.