The Project Pad

You need to get the S6+ badges....

Now would that be considered up badging or down badging? Word is that ARF's are solid now and we can start turning it up. Think of this as a "baseline". I'm almost wanting to leave it where it's at, this has been bullet proof thus far, it's not even breaking a sweat.

Current redline is set to 6800rpm, but the stock tachometer doesn't agree with the RS6 ECU. It's a guessing game of ~5900 indicated which is why you always see me popping the limiter
If it breaths good up top, we may set it to 7200rpm



2020-09-23_06-32-43 by Joel Francisco

jolio1994 wrote:Now would that be considered up badging or down badging? Word is that ARF's are solid now and we can start turning it up. Think of this as a "baseline". I'm almost wanting to leave it where it's at, this has been bullet proof thus far, it's not even breaking a sweat.

Current redline is set to 6800rpm, but the stock tachometer doesn't agree with the RS6 ECU. It's a guessing game of ~5900 indicated which is why you always see me popping the limiter
If it breaths good up top, we may set it to 7200rpm

S6+ was a 4.2 with a 6spd and more power (340hp?) than the standard S6 4.2 (280hp? and auto). So, I guess it'd be both? The V8 definitely likes revs, just like the 16v upon which it was based...If I was better in VEMS I'd bump mine to 7400rpm so I get just a little bit more MPH in each gear, I want to say Ben limited it to around 7k, which feels low for the powerband. I think the stock valvetrain parts stop working so well above 7500rpm, going from memory. But 7200 shouldn't be an issue for you.

The S8 cams are slightly more aggressive than the RS6 ones, at least on the exhaust side. That as well as the .81 hotside may restrict it up top. That shouldn't be an issue until after i upgrade the injectors however.

My 6sp RS6 was set at 7200rpm and it seemed fine at 550hp.

This project is very awesome, makes me want to some forced induction to mine!

Forced induction is da way!

I've really been beating the absolute f*ck out of this thing for 5000 miles and it hasn't had a single hiccup.. I will say the alternators voltage regulator is starting to fail at higher rpm's causing a slightly leaning out, but I should have the replacement from FCP tomorrow; then it's back to tuning. 12psi and we were seeing ~550 before it started leaning out. It's past Stage 1 RS6 stuff right now.

Some 0-100mph, 30-100mph, and 50-130mph pulls for your enjoyment in the video below
2020-09-28_04-09-52 by Joel Francisco

That's definitely rapid progress.

How's the C4 avant feel compared to the C5 sedan with that kind of power?

You need to find a euro V8 UrS4 cluster for the tach. Or I wonder if there's a jumper on the back you could swap/cut like the B4's have to switch it to V8.

alxdgr8 wrote:You need to find a euro V8 UrS4 cluster for the tach. Or I wonder if there's a jumper on the back you could swap/cut like the B4's have to switch it to V8.

That's what I was thinking. If they're not a stepper drive, you should be able to calibrate it with a resistor.

C4 chassis feels way too over powered for the torque it puts out. The brakes are inadequate and the interior feels dated; but that why I absolutely love this thing! Its a blast to drive... definitely needs a bigger rear sway bar and lsd though!

I'm about 1000 miles into my trip, I'm about to drive back up to NJ for the last 1000 mile leg in an hour or two. Heres something to enjoy in the meantime from my dad and I having fun.

I think it's safe to say I've had my fair share of fun in this thing..
2020-10-18_11-56-09 by Joel Francisco

But I've had this idea circulating in my head for the longest time, and fellow engine swapper Martin has proven it can actually be done. My dad wants to donate his Cactus Green B5 S4 he's had for 12 years to the project and is pushing for me to do it. I went out and purchased a C6 S6 with said 5.2 that's in desperate need of some valve cleaning (There will be a full black interior/carbon fiber trim part out coming soon). As for the URS6... well, I had to cut and weld the crossover flex pipe as it had a small pin hole in it. Easiest way to do that was to pull the motor. It's all tacked up, just waiting on some more Argon for the purge tank.

After the car's back together I suppose the next thing to do will be to fly back down to Georgia and drive it back up with my dad. We love these road trips (Pic of his Supercharged 993 below)

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2020-10-19_12-07-37 by Joel Francisco
2020-10-19_12-13-49 by Joel Francisco

So.
Much.
Win.

Thanks dude! This unit came out in 4 hours today, got-damn...

Also got my new turbo and flexpipe in for the URS6 while I was under the car. Yeeeeeet!

20201023_153550 by Joel Francisco
20201023_170451 by Joel Francisco

This past week has been quite eventful. Crossover pipe wouldn't fit so I ordered another a flexpipe for it to help. One thing I've learned it that no matter how many tacks you lay, stainless loves to close up and pull on you...

I got home from work on Saturday and went straight to pulling the engine back out at 4pm. I had it on the engine stand and the flexpipe welded on by 6pm. The engine went back in and by 11pm that night it was ready for the Europa Parts Fall Foliage Cruise the following morning.

I left pretty early and stopped for gas on the way. 170 miles and ~ 2 hours each way on the nice back roads was just what I needed with the car. Until I started misfiring really bad 15 miles from my house...

20201026_124544 by Joel Francisco

These plugs only had about 1150 miles since they were replaced when I was in GA and I'd never seen it before. I swapped them out for another 8 and the car was immediately better. As soon as I did one pull though... 3 miles and the plugs were shot; again! lol

20201027_080650 by Joel Francisco

Emptied the tank out (That 525lph pump flows sooooooo quick); filled with 93 + oct booster and regapped the same plugs and it's running much, much better now. Waiting on some new plugs now and it should be 100%. Detonation is a scary thing!

20201028_120133 by Joel Francisco

Well I guess this is it.. Cylinder 8 looks like the lunar surface now. I guess the detonations caused a hot spot and it's just been progressively getting worse; even with good gas in it. I'm scraping the B5 S4 swap, but it'd appear I still have a perfectly good V10 and a chassis in need of a new engine.

This really sucks, but it runs good enough for a few miles I'll drive it to a parking lot and give this engine a proper send off.

2020-11-01_07-15-06 by Joel Francisco

Sorry to hear man , that’s a bummer

stupid question, but why not throw a good piston in it and tweak your tune to avoid this in the future?

Man, those plugs look wild. It almost looks like FOD vs. melting stuff from detonation. That much detonation should sound absolutely horrific inside the car--like, mechanical destruction happening under load type of rattling metal noises.

Here's what I know...
-Engine ran great for 7000 miles.
-The last revision was on the car for over 2500 miles. I drove it round trip from NJ to GA and back all while beating the shit out of it.
-I was driving to the EuropaParts Fall Foilage Cruise Post-Meetup and stopped for gas.
-Got there, parked the car and walked around for 2 hours to chat with friends.
-Left and the first time I did a pull while getting on the highway it started running like ass.

I drove it home and changed the plugs as well as emptied the tank and put in 93oct with octane booster. The car runs great until I do a few pulls and then the spark plugs eat themselves.

It doesn't matter to me anymore. I'm going to keep this car going though. The engine fits with zero modification to the subframe or front end. Probably because the subframe was already notched for the 4.2 Turbo. Engine is bolted to the 5sp 01e transmission at this point, but only with 2 bolts.

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So, leaving this one stock? That's what, 430hp and 400tq I think? Plus, the sound...

Going to be getting headers, and tuning. Will open the door for 500hp at the crank.

I can always make a new intake for it aswell if it needs to breath better. The car won't experience headstock as it does in the tight confines of the C6 and D3 chassis aswell.

Why not just fix the 4.2? I guess I mean get another 4.2 and build it up a bit. Seems like the setup was getting dialed in. Get a proper tune on it with a healthy engine and it would be great.

Love that this is going to go 5.2, (2 inline 5s are better than 1) hooked up to a manual trans will be sweet. Bummer about the piston, but after seeing some of the clips - who is surprised

Be interesting to hear how different the avant feels from a weight balance perspective.

The noise is going to be something else!

Alrighty, made some decent progress these past few days. Made a lift plate since the S6 5.2 didn't come with pick-up points for a hoist. Thing is sturdy as a rock and has a front crossbar to grab onto with a ratchet to change the pitch of the motor! Pretty sweet! I also changed the 5.2 timing cover for the BNS 4.2 and got 5 or 6 of the bellhousing bolts to line up. After that I just modified the 4.2t engine mounting brackets and the motor just slipped right in! I'll finalize engine placement this weekend and then I can start working on the 5-1 headers I think!

Be sure to follow my Instagram for the most up to date pics/videos of the build @rs6_jolio

20201112_154911 by Joel Francisco
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