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Car Ideas (for wife)


Xyster101

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We just took in a 2010 135i (auto) that I drove home last night. Tonight I drove a brand spankin' new Regal GS. I can whole with all my heart that the GS is more fun, comfortable, and spacious car. A fully optioned one is under $40,000 and there are some pretty attractive incentives/financing/leases available on them right now.
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I like the 335i. I know nothing about BMWs in terms of power, models and what not. I like the 300hp. I don't like the styling, a little bland. Try and get the wife to go drive one of those. Too bad there are no sticks around here.

Went out and tried a A3 stick (fun and snappy, but a wagon), A4 auto (sluggish and no fun), A5 stick (woot). Tried to drive a Genesis, but it was boxed in, so we have to go back. Car shopping it time consuming.

 

So she loved the Audi A5. I did too, wish it was a bit more sporty, but it was fun to drive. I would like stiffer suspension and a harder clutch, but it is not for me, it is for her. Here it is listed as an auto, but it is a stick:

 

http://www.magaudiofdublin.com/certified/Audi/2009-Audi-A5-a9b562ff0a0a000201167c8081ab73d0.htm

 

I have never bought from a dealer. How does one haggle price on this? They have had it for around 6 weeks, one owner who bought it from MAG new and the guy traveled to LA all the time, so it was not driven much. Has a number of rock chips on the front which they will take care of. Currently they are offering 6yr/100,000 mile warranty on certified used cars (Till Nov 2015 one this one). Price seems that same as others I have researched online.

 

http://www.adamdaley.com/max/mr2/A5Christaa.jpg

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Maybe worth driving the 2012 or the 2008 S5 (if it's local) just to see if you like it enough to bother with finding one and paying the extra cost over the A5.

 

I imagine the S5 or 3.2L A5 is not nearly as easy to mod from a power standpoint as the 2.0T, which has a ton of room to grow. So that's one thing to weigh in the decision if you think you will get the mod bug down the road with this car. Maybe try to find a 2010 A5 if you might go that route. That could be harder to find though as an 09 is that typical 3 year old car coming off of lease so there will be a ton more of them.

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Yup.

 

3.2L = No real mods, but sounds good. Bonus = dual exhaust exits

2.0T = Better stock, and only gets better with a flash. Con = single side exit exhaust.

 

They make rear valance kits & aftermarket exhausts for 2.0T that give it the dual / quad exhaust like an S5 as well.

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Yup.

 

3.2L = No real mods, but sounds good. Bonus = dual exhaust exits

2.0T = Better stock, and only gets better with a flash. Con = single side exit exhaust.

 

They make rear valance kits & aftermarket exhausts for 2.0T that give it the dual / quad exhaust like an S5 as well.

 

Jebus, do women even care about dual exhaust tips?

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Not sure how much she would be into a tune on the cars. Is it easy to mod the 2.0T? Any reading material or other info on that?

 

Drove a 2.0T Genesis coupe auto. Slow as shit and not impressed at all. Found a stick 6 cylinder, but it is 30 min away. Might hit that up tomorrow alone.

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Most modern turbo cars will get you a pretty decent gain with a chip, which is anywhere from easy (remove ECU, send in for chip/flash), to extremely easy (flash at shop via OBDII PORT)

 

Then if you want to do a little more, get an exhaust (and matching tune/flash).

 

APR parts for the A5, as an example.

http://www.goapr.com/products/ecu_upgrade_20tsivl_long.html

 

After that, most cars probably show diminishing gains for money and time/HP. And a lot of times, a chip and 1 or 2 other parts will get you most of what the stock turbo can push.

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Most modern turbo cars will get you a pretty decent gain with a chip, which is anywhere from easy (remove ECU, send in for chip/flash), to extremely easy (flash at shop via OBDII PORT)

 

Then if you want to do a little more, get an exhaust (and matching tune/flash).

 

APR parts for the A5, as an example.

http://www.goapr.com/products/ecu_upgrade_20tsivl_long.html

 

After that, most cars probably show diminishing gains for money and time/HP. And a lot of times, a chip and 1 or 2 other parts will get you most of what the stock turbo can push.

 

Gotta be careful though with chips, as they picky-back the ECU and the dealership will find out when it goes into service (and void your warranty).

 

There are other ways around it, like going DINAN if you get a BMW, and other performance parts that are directly associated with said car company so you don't void warranties

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Gotta be careful though with chips, as they picky-back the ECU and the dealership will find out when it goes into service (and void your warranty).

 

There are other ways around it, like going DINAN if you get a BMW, and other performance parts that are directly associated with said car company so you don't void warranties

 

Well, that's true of any modifications you do to your car, I think most people here already know this. With APR, at least they say this "All APR ECU Upgrades are fully encrypted to prevent theft of our valuable and proprietary coding information by lesser companies and to include protection to our clients by keeping the upgrade undetectable to a dealership's VAG diagnostic tool." I don't know how true it is in practice, but they are a pretty reputable company. I'm just giving advice to him to help steer his decision based on how they might use this car in the future.

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Well, that's true of any modifications you do to your car, I think most people here already know this. With APR, at least they say this "All APR ECU Upgrades are fully encrypted to prevent theft of our valuable and proprietary coding information by lesser companies and to include protection to our clients by keeping the upgrade undetectable to a dealership's VAG diagnostic tool." I don't know how true it is in practice, but they are a pretty reputable company. I'm just giving advice to him to help steer his decision based on how they might use this car in the future.

 

Very true, excellent advice.

 

From my experience (and talking to a service rep) with BMW, is that with any code or fault on the computer, they instantly hook up the ECU to read the code and find out what's wrong. From there, they said (and I don't know how true this is) is they can see a piggy-back'ed ECU fairly quickly.

 

Of course, all modifications run this risk...but say you are running camber plates, when the car goes into service. Unless you're having front suspension problems, then most likely they won't find it, or care.

 

If you have a piggy-back'ed ECU, if you have a HPFP failure (BMW 335i) or any random codes, they might be quick to dump it because of that chip.

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Gotta be careful though with chips, as they picky-back the ECU and the dealership will find out when it goes into service (and void your warranty).

 

There are other ways around it, like going DINAN if you get a BMW, and other performance parts that are directly associated with said car company so you don't void warranties

 

 

In Audi/VW land they aren't piggy backs.

They literally write in new software to the ECU. Often including multiple programs, including stock.

 

IE: On my cars I have 3-4 programs to pick from that can be chosen using the cruise control stalk. IE: Stock, 93, 100+ octane etc.

 

For service, you just select the stock program, let it write, then lock the programming. Mind you, I'm sure they could have a rep come in and find it with a fine tooth comb, but it's never been an issue to date...

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