Fast forward a number of years, I was looking for a fun car. I remained good friends with the owners and they would have dinner with my family a few times a year. He had actually been trying to sell the S4 for as long as I can remember, but nobody was biting at his asking price. It had recently started to be neglected. The wife developed some serious cognitive issues/early onset of dementia and they fleet of cars was now spread across a single driver. I popped in one day to see him. He asked me if I wanted to buy the car. I already had two vehicles at the time, but we struck a deal and I picked it up that weekend. There were some serious cosmetic issues. It didn't earn garage space (9 car garage), but that never scared me. i had personally driver the car to Audi for numerous service appointments and it always got what it needed.
*random cool fact*
Some cool people have been in this car. A number of Ambassadors, Vanessa Williams, Jesse McCartney, John Mara, Bernie Williams, Adam Graves, Funk Master Flex and a bunch more I'm sure I'm forgetting.
*/random cool fact*
It came home, got a timing belt right off the bat as well as some headlights, corner lights, and other basic maintenance. The paint had serious sun damage on the horizontals. Not wanting to shell out for a paint job, we opted to wrap the entire car in vinyl, obviously taking some inspiration from the well known "RS2 Blue".
It came with TPS chips and an RS2 EM, which I drove for a bit until I dropped an MTM1+ ECU in it. That was the setup for about a year, when I decided to grab an RS2 Comp turbo and upgraded the original MTM1+ chipset to RS2 chips though Joe Hoppen for a small fee.
greattttt
Fast forward another year or so, and I decided to start messing around with VEMS. The car has for all intents and purposes not been driven in about half a year. The plan right now is to make the most out of this RS2 Comp turbo with E85. I just sold my A4 as I'm working in NYC right now and really don't even need a car. However, I'm entertaining some offers that would exchange my train commute for a more traditional 20 mile driver by car. Which bring me to 2 reasons why I've decided to stay with this turbo:
1. I'm realizing I don't have the time to go much beyond this setup at this point in my life. Between working 50 hours a week and studying 30 hours a week for the CFA exam, I need something somewhat simple/reliable (at least in comparison to some of the other stuff going on around these parts
)2. I'd rather direct what would be spent to go beyond this to something from the mid 90's with a slanted hood.
So, here's what I'll be going to Marc's with some point soon:
-Refreshed head with MLS HG & ARP Studs
-7A cams
-034 LWFW (TBI - To be installed)
-SB Stage3 clutch (TBI)
-RS2 EM & comp turbo
-Scat rods (TBI)
-LS2 Ignition
-FMIC
-005 Pump
-60lb injectors
-VEMS (duh
)-Stromung Gen4
-3" side exit dump (TBW - To be welded one weekend when I refill my bottle
)Other details just for fun but not really related
-Lowered on bilsteins w/H&R 29800's
-034 trans/motor mounts
-928 Big Blacks w/A8 rotors and HPS pads
-245 GForce tires on B5 Avus'ses's
Special thanks, in a VERY particular order
, to both Marc & Ed for always having intelligent answers to stupid questions 
Marc thinks this turbo will flow 34 peak PSI, potentially making 400wtq which is why rods are going in.
So, as I chip away at getting the car ready to go to EFI Express sometime in the next couple weeks or so-ish, feel free to drop comments/ideas/etc - it's all appreciated.
Two questions off the bat you could help me with:
1. When I had the head done, I changed the valve guides and seals, but the machinist (does all the work for our Audi dealership) said the valves were in great shape and didn't really need to be changed. Had I known I'd be going this route now, I would have put in new oversized valves, so I'm a little concerned about the exhaust valves but hoping E85 helps with this.
2. I think I'm going to do rings when I put the rods in. I know I need to hone the cylinder walls in order for them to seal properly. My question is, can I do this with the block still in the car with a hand drill? I actually have a friend who is an expert brass instrument technician and (albeit on a much smaller scale) get's beautiful cross hatching on the instruments I've seen in his shop so he'll be doing that for me. What else is worth doing while I have the block taken apart?
