Is it wrong that I'm already considering remapping my S4!?!?

[8BallAddict]

So, I picked up my new 2010 S4 two weeks ago and have to say, I'm finding it hard to fault, what an awesome car it is! But.....just been given details of a stage 1 remap by Celtic Tuning that would push it to about 400bhp, for all of about £225. Now I know that these V6 supercharged engines have good realistic potential to be remapped but just wanted to find out peeps views/experiences of getting this done and also if anyone has any first hand experience of Celtic Tuning over the likes of Revo etc etc. I do like the idea of the Revo SPS switch that allows you to be able to change performance modes and put it in anti-theft mode etc.

What say you lot???

Cheers guys!

 

[ianv5]

Checkout the Chris Harris video S4 against Rs4, that should convince you!

 

[skiptowncat]

Drove pretty much from the garage straight to MRC, it's got to be done!!

 

[8BallAddict]

Checkout the Chris Harris video S4 against Rs4, that should convince you!

Oh I have! Awesome vid. Hence the question about Celtic Vs Revo

 

[8BallAddict]

One other question too....I'm definitely planning on getting a Milltek exhaust system fitted soonish (once my bank balance has recovered a bit!) so should I wait and get the remap done after I've had the exhaust done? That would effect the remap, right?

 

[xpoweruk]

Got mine the pulley n map as soon as I could
Worth every penny

 

[xpoweruk]

Got the revo SPS when I had mine done,no anti theft option for the S4

 

[razza1]

Put the money from the exhaust into stage 2 instead, then the RS4 would be in your rear view
Awesome power, just do it!

 

[xpoweruk]

Spot on with that razza

 

[8BallAddict]

Put the money from the exhaust into stage 2 instead, then the RS4 would be in your rear view
Awesome power, just do it!

******.....hadn't even considered that option! Now I'm in trouble! Cheers!!

So with all this being said, the real question now is "Are the Revo maps worth the extra money over others, like Celtic Tuning etc?

 

[8BallAddict]

Got the revo SPS when I had mine done,no anti theft option for the S4

Ah.....that's a shame then! Do you like the SPS other than that? Must still be handy to change performance modes sometimes?

 

[chucky1]

Get the tune done to the max first 8Ball. I've left my exhaust stock. I still like it's sound. Particularly post tune.

 

[8BallAddict]

Get the tune done to the max first 8Ball. I've left my exhaust stock. I still like it's sound. Particularly post tune.

Does the exhaust sound much different post mapping? I find the stock one too quiet at the moment.

 

[desertstorm]

If I was you I would forget the exhaust and get the pulley upgrade and listen to the supercharger whine. There are plenty of cars driving around with loud exhausts but not superchargers.

 

[Stu2w]

Revo, scorpion pulley intake you'll be pushing midd- to high 450+ all day.
I have just done mine. Bought it August 1st 2015 by Jan 16 everything has been done.
Exhaust
Pulley
Full Revo inc gear box
Intake
Filter
Not come cheap but got it over and done with. Are you local to Middlesbrough if so we can change the pulley for you.

 

[chucky1]

Does the exhaust sound different? I think it does. If you want, it's very easy to draw attention to your car. Without doing much with the accelerator the sound becomes very snarly with really big pops and crackles. I don't know if this is me 8Ball but I wouldn't really like it much louder than it is. But I also like the burbly sound it has at low speed down in the shops that no one but yourself hears. And, there's no drone.
Desert mentioned the supercharger whine earlier. You listen to this as much as the exhaust. In my case it's a little softer because the Carbonio is a bit more boxed in, but it's definitely there. When you give it some beans and the exhaust and supercharger notes combine I love it. All this said though this is all down to personal likes and dislikes. To me this car is one of the ultimate sleepers and it's that flying under the radar thing I really like. I see a lot of flash cars around and my little family wagon, albeit a nicer looking than usual one, doesn't draw much attention. As I said, you can turn heads if you really want to.

 

[Stu2w]

If I was you I would forget the exhaust and get the pulley upgrade and listen to the supercharger whine. There are plenty of cars driving around with loud exhausts but not superchargers.

Agree!!

 

[xpoweruk]

Very true @desertstorm
Many are confused by the whine of a charger,I find.They are too used to the tshhh of vent to air blow off from scoobies & the like

 

[Stu2w]

Ok..
Say you have £1850-£2050 to spend
Plenty..
Revo map with SPS £1350 inc dsg if auto
Pulley £110 from Germany
Lab fitting £250-£350+ depending on rate
Intake and filter
FRD intake with K&N £240 (ish)
KA-Ching!

Within budget.

 

[chucky1]

We have some monster supercharged cars here. Some of the big V8s are, including highway patrol. But I was reading some figures on the police pursuit cars the other day and they aren't all that exciting. They are stock. The numbers from my little 6 are much higher. And quattro. And very little whine due to stock intakes. Pity. They would sound magnificent if they were "unlocked" a bit.

 

[xpoweruk]

The Eaton is a very good unit & has very low parasitic losses

 

[Stu2w]

We have some monster supercharged cars here. Some of the big V8s are, including highway patrol. But I was reading some figures on the police pursuit cars the other day and they aren't all that exciting. They are stock. The numbers from my little 6 are much higher. And quattro. And very little whine due to stock intakes. Pity. They would sound magnificent if they were "unlocked" a bit.

The o.e intake on the S4 is seriously muffled and insulated. Just by changing the pipe it's noticeable! The wine is addictive!!

 

[chucky1]

I like the history of these things. Initially designed to force feed air into blast furnaces to increase combustion. Same principle adopted. Can you imagine a blast furnace supercharger?

 

[xpoweruk]

Gotta love the charger whine.IMO it is part of the beauty of a charged engine

 

[chucky1]

So....8Ball. I see a trend here. There seems to be a few guys on the site that recon that a good tune is a great thing to do to an S4. You have lots of choice in the UK, from top off the shelf companies to really good custom tuners like MRC. Go for it.

 

[8BallAddict]

Revo, scorpion pulley intake you'll be pushing midd- to high 450+ all day.
I have just done mine. Bought it August 1st 2015 by Jan 16 everything has been done.
Exhaust
Pulley
Full Revo inc gear box
Intake
Filter
Not come cheap but got it over and done with. Are you local to Middlesbrough if so we can change the pulley for you.

I'm way down south mate so bit of a trek to be honest, appreciate the offer tho!

 

[razza1]

I'm way down south mate so bit of a trek to be honest, appreciate the offer tho!

Where down south? I'm reading way

 

[8BallAddict]

Ok ok.....I get the picture.....forget the exhaust and go for more power.....what was I thinking!!! Consider me told!

In all seriousness, I hadn't actually considered remapping that much until I got talking to someone over the weekend and they mentioned the 400+ bhp remap for £225! And after reading everyone's comments here (all grately appreciated by the way) I think I will put the exhaust on the back burner as as Stu2w so rightly pointed out, the money the exhaust would cost would get so much more if put towards performance upgrades.

@chucky1 - Cheers for the detailed reply on the exhaust notes....I think your describing exactly what I'm looking for. Initially I was thinking exhaust as I really want to hear a bit more of that V6 purring. Yes it does sound good when giving it some beans and I love that cracking and popping when changing gear but, I find it too refined just driving round town. It's more that I want to be able to hear what the engine is doing rather than turning heads. Find it hard to drive in manual mode as I need to be constantly looking at the rev counter to see what's going on.

I also completely agree with the S4 being a 'sleeper' as you put it. I love the fact that its inconspicuous enough to look like that family wagon but hit that kickdown switch and it becomes a completely different beast! So yeah, maybe with all the performance upgrades I could get for the same price as the exhaust, that might have the desired effect on the noise coming out the back.

But.....and I think this may open a whole new tin of worms and I best say it quietly, I actually don't like the whine of the supercharger! Think it sounds artificial and too electronic. Now this is where I become a bit unstuck, I'm no mechanic, I'm more used to sitting in an office drinking tea and sitting with my feet up watching Windows progress bars, not having my head stuck in an engine bay so when it comes to the real mechanical workings, I'm a bit lost. So....is it just the pulley upgrade that makes the whine and if so, what does the air intake do then? Sure I've watched videos of S4's with air intakes making similar whining noises. Or I s it....

Pulley = Whine
Intake = That sucking in of air noise

I will definitely be doing some research on this tonight!

 

[8BallAddict]

Where down south? I'm reading way

I'm in Swindon mate

 

[xpoweruk]

The intake is what gives the extra whine/sucking noises.

I think the OE intake is a bit restrictive though because it baffles the charger whine

 

[xpoweruk]

Oh n I love the charger whine lol

 

[Skard]

I guess you have the jist, but definitely do at least a stage 1. If yours is 2010 then does it need ECU removal?
I was very underwhelmed with my standard S4 having come from a fettled Golf ED30.

I sharply bought a Forge pulley removal kit and changed my own charger pulley, changed both belts while the front end was off, and had a stage2 & s-tronic map put on, for way less than what I have read others have paid.
I also have an Injen intake.

The supercharger whine is a little different, it does turn heads. When people have driven my car away it does make a nice noise. Definitely distinctive.

The side effect of this extra power is that the standard brakes are exposed even more, so I put the RS4 B8 setup on.

 

[Stu2w]

Gotta love the charger whine.IMO it is part of the beauty of a charged engine

When I had my R53 cooper S that had immense whine. M45 blower 17% reduced pulley K&n intake mmmm!

 

[xpoweruk]

If you want more exhaust tone have you thought about getting an x pipe fitted in place of the front silencer ?

 

[razza1]

That's meant to have lots of drone on the stronic though...

 

[xpoweruk]

Sounds pretty good though

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...or-replaced-w-X-Pipe-(video)?highlight=x+pipe

 

[chucky1]

Hey 8Ball. My intro to this site was due to researching this very subject. The first detailed review I read is in the S5 section. The thread was under Revo Review. There are others. I chose the APR route in the end for a no. of reasons. Quality, figures, backup, the guys who look after my car are dealers in APR,( that said, they tuned my 3 ltr Tdi with Oettinger ), price due to doing a deal on the whole lot ie intake/tune/pulley in one hit, and I liked the idea of a whole system from one manufacturer. Made sense to me. The one thing that stood out to me after listening to different set ups was the reduced sound the Carbonio gave. The whine is quite soft. More than stock, (which is heavily baffled), but not loud. I have heard guys say they are dissapointed it's not louder. It's a personal choice. Let me tell you though, the car is night and day. It'll blow you away.

 

[Chop.]

I recommend taking out the front two silencers before the centre box, gives the car a more aggressive sound but not too much drone

@8BallAddict £225 for a stage 1 map is that mates rates ? Cheapest I can find is more like £800 and not many places seem to touch the s4 ecu's

 

[razza1]

I recommend taking out the front two silencers before the centre box, gives the car a more aggressive sound but not too much drone

@8BallAddict £225 for a stage 1 map is that mates rates ? Cheapest I can find is more like £800 and not many places seem to touch the s4 ecu's

Any videos or sound clips of the silencers out? What about removing just one of them for a half way house?

 

[Chop.]

Any videos or sound clips of the silencers out? What about removing just one of them for a half way house?

I'll try get a couple clips tomorrow and stick them on, yeh you could take one out I suppose the gasses mix in the centre box anyway so would be equal sound out each side I would think , I like my cars louder though, already thinking about loosing the back boxes :-0