new member intro - '07 //S6

A6 All/ S6 All
#1

Morning, all-

Just found this forum, what a great resource!

Picking up an '07 //S6 this week, and looking forward to contributing here. Long time enthusiast and general auto crazed nut, tending to bounce around from BMW to Audi to Mercedes for my daily depending on the mood / opportunity. Founded //SFest back in '02 here in sunny CT but gave up those reins a couplefew years ago.

The //S6 has 93k and Carfux shows some good services done - coils, fuel injectors, radiator, and intake mani all done in '10 @ 35k. Wonder why the rad was done, doesn’t seem like a failure point I’ve heard on these.

Can I ASSume the intake mani is of the “Audi upgraded” variety based upon the date, or no? Wondering if I’ve got to worry about it again now nearing 60k later. ASSume carbon clean was done at that time… and now wondering (figuring?) it needs it again? No CEL or misfires or whatnot.

Will be looking for some VAG-COM suggestions… like how to enable launch control (if it isn’t defaulted to “on”?), and any other secret handshakes / must have’s - any insight or links appreciated! Tried to attach a foto but got an error that the “upload file was full”? D’oh, off to a great start!

Anywho, again I’m looking forward to being part of this resourceful community of fellow enthusinuts!

#2

Welcome! Your in the right place! Unaware of any launch control for the s6. There appears to be some cool mods coming for the v10s soon, check out the v10 dump threads and project threads for more info.

What color combo did you go with? And why did you chose the s6 other than the obvious v10 noises :slight_smile:

#3

Thanks for the welcome.

It’s Phantom / black / carbon :sunglasses:

I chose this as I still need to ferry about my 3 monsters in the back seat, prefer quattro for CT commuting (tho RWD mit snows works as well), and for how much car for the $$$ these are right now. Kinda silly in that regard, actually. Styling would prob be the last reason I chose lol… wish I could have afforded the facelift - much prefer them head/tail lights. I’ll learn to love this tho.

Coming from the cars in my sig, this seemed a natural progression basically. I’ve got quite a few friends with them both local and not, two of which use them as their mobile office / travelling salesmen… one has 160k and drives it WOT day in day out. That was testimonal enough for me.

#4

Awesome. The funny thing is when I had my 08 I always envied the face-lift cars especially the rear, but now for some reason I prefer the pre face-lift cars. You learn to love the rear I guess.

Post up some pics once you figure it out. Just realized you had a d2 s8 at one point. Interested to hear your thoughts compared to tat car and the e39. I see you had a s600 as well. Driven the 03 plus e,tensively which is impressive on the highway but traction and handling are not it’s strong suits :slight_smile: c6 s6 felt almost go kart like compared to that tank!

#5

I’m not sure I’m able to respond to questions about cars in my sig for fear of the juvenile bitchslap I rec’d in my ‘test’ thread? :wink:

I’ve only a few miles in this S6 thus far, but so far I dig it. It’s strengths as all know are the motor / seats / brakes / features / pricepoint. It’s no d2 chassis for certain, in handling / feel / ergo / quality, and I’ll always miss that - tough bar set there.

The d2 S8 was a tremendous ownership experience - of course I rebuilt the trans and tended to all it’s D2isms along the way. But it’s suspension and footprint / stance / cabin layout are fabulous. Stunning to look at, 40v goodness (sounds near flat plane-esque), somewhat of an exotic touch/feel/sound to the all-aluminumness. 16.5mpg day in day out hwy/city WOT.

The e39 M5 was a galactic hoooooooooon mobile - brilliant car. Tough to compare to the dynamicism of that car, or the torque. The c6 S6 tq is same, but the added heft axles traction and slushbox tax it notably. Ergo was good but interfaces were meh, pretty dated - mine was offset w/ the Caramel full leather, looked straight out of a 308. Great chassis / suspension / brakes. Huge tire appetite. I DE’d that, but wouldn’t think I’d bother with this S6. 12mpg day in day out hwy/city WOT.

S600… heh… it’s hard to quantify in understandable terms the fantasm of the biturbo 12’s 750lb tq. Just Not Right. It’d light 'em up cruising @ 70 on the highway. Nuclear vessel power, mind bending pull, kept w/ 997 Turbo S 80-140. Seating position too high, meh ergo, dated interface, absurdly over luxury’d. Superlative in all regards, 24plugs, 12qts oil. The brakes and handling were impressive and the car would do things it shouldn’t and defied logic, but the weight was tragic @ 4600lb and would overcome the brakes quickly. Also no d2 chassis. ABSURD tire appetite, makes my 930 wear look look pedestrian. Look and feel like an oil sheik a stiff lip’d Wall Street’er or a rap star (good / bad thing) everwhere you go. Biggest problem was passin cops that were driving at night - whoops. 12 or less mpg day in day out hwy/city WOT.

I like the understated looks of the S6, just wish it were slightly more differentiated than the A. I hear 19mpg is a good aggressively driven daily average. My commute miles alone can be upward of 12k/yr hence my references to mpg which I’d otherwise not care. Feeding tires / brakes / oil / gas to any of these as a commuter is nuts - I skip strip joints / casinos / drugs so I can glutton a bit with these 8).

I’m looking forward to spending some quality time in this and tweaking it a bit, there are definitely a lot of pluses!

Which 03 plus are you referring to that you drove extensively?

#6

2003 s600 with amg appearance package. Fully loaded at the time, I actually found it for my buddies dad. 2003 with 27k miles about 1.5 or so years go. He added a fidelity platinum warranty and made it mint, he then got tired of abc and just sold it for about what he paid…funny think is dealers were offering him like 12-13k less than he eventually got from a private party.

#7

nice - good you got to experience the spectacle that is a biturbo 12. That is something to behold, surely.

I hear ya on ABC!

Mine was Eurocharge ECU/TCU with lowering links so it was setup nice. I coulda bought an another for this S6 $ and briefly (briefly!) contemplated it… even I’m not that much a glutton heh heh.

Any thoughts on the intake question?

My bud’s an APR dealer so doing the flash before I get it, and going straight to my pipe bender for rear resonator removal. K&N’s enroute :stuck_out_tongue:

#8

Unless you are getting a standout deal on the apr tune I would skip it. And try to get in line for a Jhm ecu/tcu tune.

As far as exhausts go I would pay your pipe bender a little more and do a full x pipe frontish to mid section with at least 2.75 inch piping all the way back to the stock mufflers. This is essentially the fab speed setup on a d3 s8, gains are noticeable all over and throttle response is much improved, and well the sound :slight_smile: I had the same setup and loved it. If you want to spend a few more bucks update the mufflers. I liked the stock muffler look and it keep it quiet while cruising and lower Rpms.

The stock intake actually does decent with k&n or msds filters. No one has really created a nice intake setup that won’t just pull in hot air. And as you may know heat soak is one of the biggest problems on these cars. You can begin to alleviate that problem with Jhm intake manifold spacers and the yet to be released custom headers. Check out v8a6 project thread…

Btw, my s6 has been gone for a year and a half, and I miss it so much that I am always searching for the next perfect one (or d3 s8). They are just such great all arounders with a touch of rawness and I loved the understated look coming from an e60 m5. I debadged the trunk lid but kept the v10 emblems and front grille logo. People always looked baffled when they heard the exhaust, which I enjoyed. At the same time I could keep revs down and park anywhere and most people just though it was an a6 s line. Well until startup. Jekyl and Hyde :slight_smile:

#9

Welcome, lots of great things happening with the V10 here

#10

thanks for the insight on the exhaust suggestions - I’ll talk to my bender when I get it there and discuss options / budget fersure… that sounds tempting

yeah, I paid cost on the tune and it’ll be good enough for my needs - I’m OK with that

I’m not looking to make this into any sort of monster - btdt and I’ve got other outlets for ‘that’, just want it to be ‘sufficient’ - won’t be doing headers or anything beyond covering these basic low hanging fruits and to optimize it and the sound some.

Childishly, I did the K&N’s mostly hoping for more induction growl… we’ll see. Autozone’s running a great deal online, 20% off, free shipping, $10 gift card, $10 rebate… why not.

Cool on the e60, that’s on my radar as well but I’m just so anti-Bangle it’s hard for me to get past it… that and some spooky horror stories on those, but hey yeah we get that with most of these enthusiast cars so gotta put on ‘the filter’. I’ve hooned a few, frickin monsterly fun.

Even cooler to hear you miss the S6… that speaks well to the car and your experience with it. I’m hopeful to find the same.

#11

Here is the fabspeed setup I was talking about, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jvvTyCZvQw I would definitely consider it low hanging fruit, especially if you are already in there removing the resonators, it is a no brainer adding an X-pipe, shouldn’t be much more at all. Just make sure you can maintain at least 2.75 inch throughout with smooth bends. I am fairly certain, the fabspeed diameter is 2.75 but necks down to 2.5 in some areas which is not ideal.

Here is a d3 s8 with a custom 3 inch catback exhaust and x-pipe, a little loud for my tastes but sounds good none the less @ http://audirevolution.net/forum/index.php?topic=3904.0

The reason I mentioned the JHM tune is it is brand new and actually not even technically released yet, as they have been spending the last year + doing R&D. While the APR tune has been out for maybe 4 years with no changes to my knowledge. I’d be curious to know how many S6 tunes they sell. Anways, There is also a JHM TCU tune which APR does not offer which should help a little bit with the lazy upshifts and downshifts. Sounds like a good combo. And if the tune is anything like the 4.2 APR tune vs. the 4.2 JHM tune, again it is another no brainer :slight_smile: Either way, I am jealous!

#12

thanks - yours sounded really good

Agreed, that 3" S8 was way too loud for my tastes… it’s not a Lamborghini :)… I’m not looking to ruin the character of the car - I purposely opted to NOT do exhaust mods to my e39 as it sounded really good stock and I was always (always) on it (duh), and concluded it’d be paramountly DUMB for everyone to always know everything I was ahem ‘doing’ heh heh heh.

the Fabspeed setup sounded good, but yes dumb to retain the diminutive piping - and - what an uberdouce doing all those WOT runs back forth back forth back forth past people’s houses

I ordered my x-pipe earlier heh heh - do I understand correctly that the OE setup ‘looks’ like it has an x but that is merely a joint not a crossover?

thanks again for the info, I appreciate it - good to hear from at least onnayous here…

#13

So long as you keep on top of carbon/sludge buildup, your manifold should last a good long time. I’ve seen inside both versions and to be honest I couldn’t see any major differences.

I believe the main reason they fail is from the flaps getting gummed up and jamming, then the motor applies enough force to break them.

I would suggest a manual cleaning every 30-50k KM, and run a can of intake cleaner (that is applied to the intake track, NOT fuel injector cleaner in the tank) through it at every service.

-P

#14

Yes oe is a h-pipe with no cross over.

#15

Welcome to the site. You did find the right place.

There is no launch assist on the S6 or S8 V10 the transmission is a ZF model and the TQ converter is a single stage.

So far from what we have seen there isnt a failure rate on the rad units or none that have shown up so far that I have seen or have been reported here. Chances might be good that it was damaged during service or the owner had some issues with road debrits

The intake has the part number on the underside of the upper neck. If you can get a picture posted of the part number we would be able to tell you. Chances are its not a new one. the new ones came out in late 08

As for the carbon clean if the dealer did the work there isnt a good chance that a carbon clean was done.

IF you can post the car fax less any specific data it might have more direct info. I would think you listed most of it.

A carbon clean isnt bad to check and do again even if it was looked into. At that time look at the JHM intake spacers they dramaticlly drop the intake temps and while it helps performance and it helps keep engine bay temps drmaticlly lower it also helps keep the carbon away longer and it will save you from needing to replace the oil filter seals

#16

Thanks - tho if you’re saying the new mani’s came out in '08… and mine was replaced in '10… did you mean chances ARE it is a new one?

I’d read the Dump thread and surfed all 12pgs of posts here, somewhere in there is where I’d gleaned the tidbit regarding launch control. I’d not have thunk it’d had it 8).

Good tips regarding periodic CC’ing, etc. I’m familiar w/ the intake tract cleaner.

Figured that was likely the case on the radiator replacement.

Shop did the oil canister seal and valve cover gaskets just now, so that’s done as well. So a pretty thoroughly attended to example which I am both excited and relieved about heh heh.

Any other VAG-COM secret handshakes I want to know? One of my bud’s suggested DRL’s remain on w/ headlights - E-coding or some such apparently.

#17

I didnt mean to come off argumentive if it did.

There is no launch control. JHM makes a trasmission program that gives you a few more stall rpm but it is still a single stage

The intake. You would have to see the part number to know for sure. If it was dealer replaced it is a reman unit and not a true new unit like the 08. Not sure why they are not replaceing the older intakes with the 08 intakes but in the end. Even the 08 intakes fail. They all seem to fail no matter what year.

#18

I don’t mean to hijack the thread, but, regarding air filters, which are best for the S6? I noticed that the MSDS specifically state that the temperature is reduced significantly with theirs, and heat soaking is a big issue.

#19

I used msds filters and enjoyed them, I think they are superior but from a cost standpoint especially with the deal cited above i would go k&n as I don’t think you can lose from a bang for the buck perspective…

#20

Alright, thanks. K&N also offers a lifetime warranty on them it looks like. Hard to pass up when MSDS is X4 K&N’s price.