2000 A6 4.2 6-speed introduction

A6 All/ S6 All
#1

I have finally found my way over to the place where the Audi v8’s are king :slight_smile:

A quick introduction…

My current car is a 2000 A6 4.2 with a 6speed swap. It is actually my second A6 4.2, after owning a 2001 several years ago.

Current Upgrades

H&R coilovers
H&R rear sway bar
RS6 side skirts and rear spoiler
Euro-spec Recaro seats
6-speed manual conversion
19" OEM RS4 wheels - Winter setup
19" R8 V10 replicas - summer setup
Miltek 2.5 downpipes with Magnaflow high-flow cats
Magnaflow 2.5 catback exhaust with custom quad oval tips
OEM All-Weather mats
RS6 upper grill
LED tail lights
S8 Intake manifold
Gruvenparts billet variable intake rods
S8 complete heads with port and polish by Gord Bush Performance
JHM shift knob
JHM lightweight crank pulley
JHM short shifter
034 Motor mounts
aluminum coolant pipe
JHM tune
Clutchmasters FX400 6-puck clutch
Fidanza lightweight flywheel
Innovate LM2 wideband O2 sensor

http://gp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb8717608/p4pb8717608.jpg

The car is a daily driver, but I still have some ambitious performance goals. I hope to get the car to low 13s/high 12s. This is the first time I have ever really modded the engine of a vehicle, and I am finding out that things don’t always go as smoothly as planned. After having the S8 parts installed, I expected to be pretty close to completing the engine portion of the project. However, that was not to be the case. Without getting into all the details, there seems to be a problem with one or more of the engine components allowing unmetered air into the system. That is what it looks like at this point, anyway.

The good news is that the car can spin all four tires easily at launch, and is a blast to drive. Hopefully by the spring I will have everything sorted and can make my first trip to the track.

Oh, and yes, I am another member from the Toronto area (and I DO exist). LOL

#2

haha nice car. Those are OEM RS4 wheels? OEM RS4 are 9.0 x 19.0 ET29. I would have thought those would be more flush on an A6?

Car looks great. Love the widebody 4.2 A6.

#3

Thanks!

Yup, real OEM RS4s. I actually bought them from the guy that owned the RS4 them came off. First thing I checked when I bought them was the back of the spokes to make sure they said 19x9 ET29.

When I first put them on, my car was a bit higher, and I ran them with 15mm spacers to bring them out a bit. There was a little bit of rub in the back though. I bought 8mm spacers, but had a fitment problem so I never put them on. So right now, they are at the stock offset et29. Here is a pic of when they were at et14 with the spacers

http://gp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb7434658/p4pb7434658.jpg

I have to admit, the wide fenders on the C5 A6 are one of the things I love most about the car.

#4

Sweet another ontarian and another v8 to mash up these supercharged fart cans at the strip lol.

I love the wide body 4.2 a6, was always sad when beem sold his.

#5

Yeah, Beemercer’s car was the main reason I started modding the engine on mine, so I was disappointed too. I used his setup as the guide for my engine modifications. Only, I just didnt have the cash for those beautiful long tube headers that he had. Those were gorgeous.

#6

where did those headers end up?

#7

When Beemercer was selling the car, I mentioned to him that I would be interested in them if he wanted to sell them separately. However, I knew it was a long shot, as the labor to remove and replace them would be extensive, and probably not worth it.

So, as far as I know, they were sold with the car.

#8

Welcome to the club. What transmission did u use. I know a lot of guys use the b5 trans that just kills tje cars alleleration

#9

Thanks

My swap parts came from two different donor cars. I got the transmission from a low-mileage 2003 a6 2.7, and then all the other used parts from an older A6 2.7 (cant remember the year). I used the stock dual-mass flywheel and installed a new Clutchmasters Stage 1 clutch. As soon as I installed the S8 parts, the clutch was toast. That was when it was only driven a year and a half. Now Im running the Fidanza aluminum flywheel with a Clutchmasters FX400. I love the feel, but we will have to see how it holds up. This one is supposed to be good for up to 675 lb-ft.

With the A6 donor parts you end up with very high gearing. 1st gear redlines (7200rpm) at about 55-60km/hr (35mph) and 2nd is just over 100km/hr (around 62mph) with tires that are 3% bigger than stock (255/35/19 which are RS6 stock size). IIRC, you end up with 4.11 gears if you use the A6 2.7 parts. First goes very quickly.

So, the B5 parts leave you with lower gearing?

#10

A few more pics…

Port and polished S8 heads
when I got them

http://gp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb7344167/p4pb7344167.jpg

http://gp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb7344168/p4pb7344168.jpg

After Gord Bush worked on them

http://gp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb7925549/p4pb7925549.jpg

http://gp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb7925551/p4pb7925551.jpg

http://gp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb7925550/p4pb7925550.jpg

Recaro seats

http://gp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb7514624/p4pb7514624.jpg

Quad tip exhaust

http://gp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb7641339/p4pb7641339.jpg

Launch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iBsaJBJS4qs

#11

Man that is a nice ass…

#12

Nice choice of car to begin with. Car appears to be in good shape. I respect this swap and wish the goals you have set fourth are fulfilled.

#13

Thanks. The body is not perfect, unfortunately. On all my past cars I have always done more show, than go. On this one I decided to do the performance side of things first. So, a full paint job will be coming at the very end of the project. When that will be, who knows.

If I had to pick a new C5 A6 to start the project with, I would make sure that the body was mint. Back in the good ol’ days I used to get my cars painted for $1000 (ok, that was about 20 years ago). Quotes on the Audi from reputable shops were starting at six grand!

#14

Very nice car man an a nice list of mods… congrats.

#15

good to see you made it over here, hope the project is moving along. and yeah my headers were sold with the car, I work under machinery in greasy/damp/dark/cramped locations, so getting under the car to pull the motor just didnt interest me.

#16

There are a couple of V8 A6 guys around here with manual swaps

OP…you weren’t with us last February when we made that video north of burlington/Oakville were you? Because a manual transmission A6 4.2 was there that day…and then there’s Audimuscle who has another one…and you.

#17

Yup, that was me at the meet. I had new 20s on the car at the time.

http://gp1.pinkbike.org/p4pb8548908/p4pb8548908.jpg

I didnt realize there was a clearance issue with one of the front fenders that needed a little more rolling. When we went to the industrial strip of road to take the videos, I felt I had to copy what everyone else was doing, and launch my car over that bump on the way back down the road. LOL.

Well, one of the front wheels clipped the fender and bent it just enough to rub the tire. I tried to bend it back at a parking lot, but couldn’t. I didnt want to take a chance on ripping my new tires to shreds, so I left early.

I am pretty sure you and I chatted about JHM for a bit, IIRC. I’m looking forward to another meet in the spring. Just wanted to get the engine stuff sorted first, if possible.

Audimuscle is a buddy of mine, and a good guy. He actually put his car up for sale in December, as he got something new. I am not sure if he sold it yet, or not.

Danny, up at OOOOnly Audi has a 6 speed S6 (also for sale, I think), and so does another buddy of mine. It seems all the local C5 v8 6speed swap guys seem to meet each other, eventually.

#18

Hey, thanks. Yeah, I dont blame you.

Things are coming along, although getting the engine stuff sorted is taking a lot longer than expected. I just had a long chat with CV on the phone on Sunday. Great guy. Although the issues have nothing to do with the ECU, he has stepped in and gave me a list of ‘next steps’ to check to hopefully identify root cause of the issue. Ill definitely provide an update here when everything is working.

#19

the 411 is great but the 3rd gear is killer for a na the euro b5 rs4 has a different third geear from what I understnad this makes for a better accleraration for a NA car like yours

#20

Interesting. When it comes time to do a rebuild on the transmission, Ill look into using the euro B5 rs4 3rd.

In the city, where 95% of my driving is done, I just drive around everywhere in 2nd :slight_smile: 2nd gear goes up to just over 100kmh (62mph), so lots of headroom. At around peak torque (approx 3500rpm), I am right about the speed limit. So, the car is always ready to go at the drop of a hat. I use 3rd as my ‘cruising’ gear. Not the best for gas mileage, by any means, but lots of fun. I’m sure eventually it will grow old, but right now I’m still loving the increased power since recent upgrades.

I really want the new JHM carbon synchros too. But Ill have to wait until rebuild time.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/798217_10151498263481807_1648747184_o.jpg