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Keeping with tradition, we of course had another busy Friday today. Almost every US-represented German make showed up for one thing or another…

First we have Definitive Motors bringing by a Mercedes SLK280. The Hartmann 280B Wheel is a replica of a wheel found on an SLK55 and was a great “upgrade” for this car at only $240 a wheel!!

Definitive also brought us this e92 BMW 328i that also suffered from a “weak” stance with the stock 16″ wheels. The Hartmann “Spark” is a steal at only $150 each, a no-brainer for anyone looking for a very inexpensive way to spice up the look of their BMW and get into an 18″ wheel. The offset is a bit high on this particular application so H&R spacers are on order to push the wheels out a touch.

Christian brought us his 2008 Audi A3 tFSI. This black-on-black beauty received STaSIS Streetsport Coil-Overs midly dropping the car and giving it the stance most of enthusiasts are after. Wheels are apparently next on the list although the stock wheels still look good on this application…

APR chipping is almost a daily occurrence at Achtuning…

An Audi C5 A6 4.2L currently sits on the lift as it is getting the StopTech Stage 2 brake upgrade. When in need of new rotors and pads, StopTech’s stage kits offer a complete package with better stopping power.

Is the weekend here yet?? =P

All STaSIS Streetsport applications at Achtuning are $100 off MSRP. Arthur stopped in today and dropped off his 3.2 FSI Audi B7 A4 with us to take advantage of the savings and get a set installed on his car.

STaSIS Streetsport Coil-Overs are by far the best bang-for-buck coil-over kit on the market! Contact us right away to get in on your savings.

We were visited by three Pacific Northwest (vwvortex forum) members yesterday… They were here to pick up new sets of 19s for their Audis.

First, we have Mike and his beautiful wife Charlotte’s C5 A6 2.7T… Lowered on KW suspension, this car hugs the 19″ Hartmann G5 wheels so tightly, the tie rods are about to pop!

I hear Mike plans to bring the fronts down even more!!

Then we’ve got “Gaki”. Originally planning to go with a set of clearanced TSW wheels, he talked himself into our Hartmann line with the AR8 wheels in 19×8.5 and a 38mm offset. Lowered on STaSIS Streetsport Coil-Overs, the stance on this B7 A4 with the R8 wheels is just stunning. Good choice, Anthony.

All 19″ Hartmann Wheel purchases are currently eligible to receive a set of 235/35-19 Dunlop Sport Maxx tires mounted and balanced for free and at a cost of $600 for the set - a $200 savings from leading tire distributors like Tire Rack!!

Josh met us at the Waterwerks show recently where he had a chance to talk to us in person about his plans for his Jetta GLI. After looking over the wheel choices we had available it was decided to go with the Hartmann B7 RS4 - 252s and a STaSIS coilover kit. The 19 inch Hartmann B7 RS4 - 252s were an interesting choice as it was the first time we had gone with such an aggressive fitment on a MkV, normally we would do an ET48 offset on an 8.5″ wide wheel for a MKV fitment however this setup is an ET42 which pushes the wheel out by another 6mm!

By the time everything was buttoned up it was getting pretty late and the light was fading. We managed to get 2 passable pictures and will get a few more showing details of the wheel and tire fitment when Josh brings his GLI back to the shop

It wasn’t very long after we completed Bob’s B5 RS4 conversion project that the car was driven down Hwy 101 from Washington to California where it would reside for almost a year. Just last week Bob brought the car back up to Washington (coming back up the same way he went down) to give us an opportunity to show it off at this weekend’s WaterWërks event.

Bob’s B5 S4 received the full RS4 conversion treatment when it was here at Achtuning. The APR Stage III kit for the B5 S4 is an unbeatable combination of factory RS4 components and APR programming bumping stock horsepower to an APR claimed 447hp and 467ft-lbs of torque! Further, this is a daily driven car that Bob reports drives perfectly each day without a single issue.

Modifications include…

Engine:
* APR Stage III kit
* APR RS4 Intercooler and Hose kit
* RS4 Oil Cooler Kit
* RS4 Engine Mounts
* RS4 Carbon Fiber Engine Covers

Exhaust:
* Milltek Downpipes and High Flow Cats
* Milltek SuperDual Twin Pipe Cat-back Exhaust

Drivetrain:
* RS4 Flywheel
* RS4 Clutch Kit
* STaSIS TorSen Center Differential
* STaSIS LSD - Rear Differential

Brakes & Suspension:
* STaSIS Motor Sport Coil Over Suspension Kit
* STaSIS Monobloc 6 - 355 Big Brake System
* STaSIS Rear Brake Kit

Wheels & Tires:
* Volk CE28N Forged Wheels - 19X9.5 et36 - Anthracite
* Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 - 275/30-19

Interior:
* Status Carbon Fiber/Silver Alcantara Laguna Seats
* Silver Alcantara door cards and rear seat inserts
* RS4 Door Sills

Exterior:
* RS4 Complete Body Kit
* Valeo Xenon HID Euro Housings
* Stealth Bulbs

It’s great to see the car back. If you want to check the car out in person, be sure to stop by the Achtuning booth at the WaterWërks 2008 event.

Power, Sound, Style, these are all qualities that the B7 S4 promises from the factory but for enthusiasts stock is never quite good enough. To this end the owner of this B7 S4 came to us to improve upon those qualities, having seen the results of some of the other S4s we have modified here it was decided to go for the STaSIS Ohlins SL coilovers accompanied by a Neuspeed rear swaybar, STaSIS catback exhaust and a set of 19″ Work VS-XX 3-piece wheels with some 245-35-19 Bridgestone RE760s.

The STaSIS Ohlins SL coilovers allow the car to be lowered while retaining stock like comfort levels, the handling of the car is much improved over stock. Our customers have frequently told us that the setup is “perfect”.

The STaSIS catback exhaust fits the B7 S4 perfectly and the sound is excellent, a nice deep rumble that brings a smile to the face every time the car is started.

The 19″ Work VS-XX 3-piece wheels feature a staggered lip which allows for plenty of brake clearance up front with an aggressive looking deep dish in the rear. Work wheels are made in Japan and are one of the highest quality wheels available in the world. The 245-35-19 Bridgestone RE-760s should ensure plenty of traction.

We were lucky enough to have not one but two red B7 A4s here for some mods today, both had our ever popular STaSIS Streetsport coilovers installed. The STaSIS Streetsport coilovers allow the ride height to be set exactly where you want it, they are also preset for perfect damping by STaSIS and are very comfortable while allowing for better feedback and less body lean during cornering. Achtuning offers Free Shipping for our our customers in need of delivery :).
The first B7 we finished today will be getting some custom wheels on it soon and the other was outfitted with our Hartmann 19″ A-R8 wheels and 235-35-19 Bridgestone RE-750s. This cleans us out of 19″ A-R8 wheels until the next shipment arrives but the replacements are already in route and we will have them available in 19×8.5″ with an assortment of different offsets.

Just wanted to share pictures of a recent suspension/wheel/tire combination we recently installed on a B7 A4 S-Line. We have yet to see the Hartmann AR8 wheels on a car where it didn’t look good… then the stance the STaSIS Streetsport Coil-Overs gives the car all around helps transform a sharp-looking B7 A4 into an even better looking head turner!

Hartmann AR8 wheels pictured above are 19×8 with a 35mm offset and wrapped in 235/35-19 Bridgestone Potenza RE750 tires. This wheel & tire combination can be had for $1600 as part of our current 19″ Package offer.

We were excited when we were able to announce the immediate availability of the APR S3 Conversion Kit for the VW Mk5 GTI and Audi A3. Local enthusiast and friend Chris (xOphear) was the first to pull the trigger in giving us an opportunity to install this in-house and get first-hand experience with what this basic bolt-on upgrade is all about.

Chris has quite a bit in store for his 4-door Mk5 GTI project car. The car was delivered to us almost immediately after it left a body shop where Chris had some OSIR parts added to the car so it wasn’t quite stock - but a nice clean palette for us to build from. We hadn’t seen the OSIR body kit up close so it was nice to see it in person. Plus this car gets OSIR’s latest “matte carbon fiber” parts - something a bit different from what we’re used to seeing. From what I understand, there are even more OSIR body parts that have yet to be installed and will likely be the reason the car goes back into the body shop once we are done with it.

We are also very impressed with the quality of the hatch blend…

In true “build” form, Chris wanted to make sure he had base-line numbers to refer to prior to performance upgrade installation. The first thing we did was head over to Carb Connection for a base-line dyno.

We were pleased to see consistent results and numbers right along with what we had expected.

Installation of the S3 conversion kit starts today. The S3 conversion requires use of a turbo-back exhaust so the factory down-pipe is being swapped out with APR’s 3″ higher-flowing version. To mate with OSIR’s dual rear valence cut-out for the exhaust tips, we’ll be taking the APR quad-tipped exhaust and modifying it to fit the OSIR cut-outs. We’ll also be installing Stasis Streetsport coil-overs, an H&R Rear Sway Bar, Carbonio Cold Air Intake, and Neuspeed’s Torque Arm Insert (dog-bone insert).

Pictures of stock turbo and down-pipe removed:

Stock cat-back still on…

K04 installed:

The great thing is, after all this, the engine bay still looks OEM/stock.

And now we’re taking the $1200+ cat-back exhaust system and hacking it up!!

Stasis Streetsport Coil-Overs and Neuspeed Torque Arm Insert installed:

End of day Friday: Would have had this update all written up for you guys last week but the power went out (office portion only) Friday around 5pm. Didn’t stop us from getting work done in the shop though…

Had a good portion of the exhaust pre-mounted to the car for test-fitting. Turned out much easier than anticipated so we are definitely ahead of schedule. Here are pics of the “mock-up” of how we were having this exhaust routed through the OSIR valence - we still have a bit more “shortening” to do so we can even out the tips better.

Over-all, we are very happy with how this project is turning out.

**Update**

Just got back from our maiden voyage…. WOW!!!

We had to put the S3 conversion project aside while we waited for fuel injector hardware to arrive. It’s actually our fault as we had two S3 conversion kits here, one that had the missing parts. We inadvertently (and thankfully) shipped the complete package to our Achtuning Korea store and had to wait till the end of this week to complete Chris’ car. This however did allow us to keep on schedule with our other suspension and exhaust appointments we had lined up this week. With Chris out of town while the project was being completed it helped us get a lot of things finalized and wrapped up.

Below are pics of the engine bay. Not much to see really considering the only visible difference is the addition of the Carbonio Cold Air Intake.

The combination of the DSG and K04 upgrade couldn’t be beat IMO. Between the very quick shifts and response of the DSG transmission coupled with the added power the S3 conversion makes, it really would be tough for most to keep up with this car…

Tonight we’ll be wrapping up the exhaust and tomorrow, the car will be picked up and taken back to the body shop. I’ll update this thread next when we have an opportunity to properly photoshoot the car with its new wheels, completed exhaust, and further body work.

Chris, congratulations!!

Update:

Turns out I had an opportunity to swing by the shop on Saturday just as the car was being picked up. Couldn’t resist taking some pictures of the completed exhaust work, despite the car itself not being completely done.

During mock-up of where mufflers are being relocated - and tacking the two mufflers into place:

Final assembly/welding of customized quad-tipped exhaust:

And finally, on the car…

We’ve finally added the Streetsport Coil-Over for the Mk2 Audi TT to our online shopping cart. Feel free to click on the image below to be directed to the specific part for information or to place an online order.