My A4 BrainDump

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Planned topics/upgrades which I will expound upon later:

• Official AoA press release about the '00 A4 (just for info)
• All-weather floor mats
  Done. In lieu of shelling yet more $$$ out the door for the nice WeatherTech mats, I opted to go with the Kraco all-season mats instead.  For less than the price of just the WeatherTech trunk liner, I have a complete set of mats front/rear/cargo.  At some point, however, I may still opt for the custom-fit of the WeatherTech trunk mat, as the rectangular Kraco mat does not come close to offering full coverage.
• Swap existing Dunlop SP8000E sport-rubber to all-season tires for the rest of the inclement weather season (for those odd trips to Tahoe)
  Done.  Did a simple tire swap with Mike Ness (mness on the forums) for his set of stock Continental ContiTour CH95 205/55HR16 tires. He covered the cost of the dismount/remount/balancing of the tires. Thanks Mike!
• Roof rack system for my sea-kayak and mountain bike
  Looking like the Yakima "DoubleCross" system will be it. 48" roundbars standard, I'll add some "HullyRollers" and "TLC" or the new "Mako" saddles for my kayak initially. I will seek out something to mount my bike later on.
• S4 driver-side wheel well liner (Audi part #8D0 821 171 G)
  An FAQ provided by James Reedy at AudiWorld and some more data on a do-it-yourself liner mod
• Switch to synthetic oil
• ECU upgrade (chipping!)
  I really like the stuff I've heard about Garrett Lim's products. The local installer for the SFBA is DynoSpot Racing. Install runs about $495 chip, $30 install, plus tax. I'll need to investigate further first. One concern of mine is the HP/torque capacity of the Tip found in the A4 -- 230HP and 228 ft-lbs @3500rpm. was quoted in a post by TomP. Garrett's reply to an inquiry of mine about their Stage 1.5 (1.1 bar) chip making 197HP and 258 ft-lbs. indicated that the chip should work fine with the Tip. The GIAC Stage 1.5 chip increases the rev limiter to 7100 rpm, removes the speed limiter, and increases max boost to about 1.05 bar (~15 psi). More information can be found on the GIAC site. Apparently, part of the OBD system has a datablock for the TipTronic timing control system... I detailed it in a post on AudiWorld. I will investigate this further ASAP!
• 17" rims shod with Z-rated rubber for the non-snowtrip months
  I am looking at a few wheel choices for tires in 225/45-17... initial choices, moola dependent: Ace Lola 17x7.5, BBS RK 17x8 or RK-II (if I strike it rich), Borbet Type C 17x7.5, Borbet Type E 17x7.5.
  • Passat/A4 Wheels/Tires
  • Some comments about the ubiquitous Ronal R-28 wheels
• Upgrade speakers/subwoofer
  Not much on the subwoofer upgrade options aside from many who switched to Kicker PS-60's or the JL StealthBox. One good post I found on AudiWorld had some info, along with a question I posed about just replacing the stock driver.
• Add mudflaps?
  I'll see how things hold up for now. If I switch to wider tires later, it might be a good idea. Excellent thread about this very topic on AudiWorld.