Hello All:

I'm happy to be able to join the ranks. I'd lurked on here for a month or so before recently purchasing an RS6. I drove it for a month or so before bombarding you with a lot of premature questions. This is a car I have always wanted and I'm excited to finally add it to the collection.

Mine is Daytona on Black with about 78K miles: I know it's a common color, but goes to the car's stealthy nature. No coilovers, original system recently gone over and functioning properly. No mods except the stereo was upgraded to the RNS-E unit prior to my purchase. The dash navigation arrows still work in conjunction with the on-screen display. Stock wheels with Pilot Sports and bought new front rotors and brakes right after purchase. So far that's the extent of my repairs but I am in no way disillusioned about maintenance costs. I apparently have a bad motor mount which is not pressing but throws off a code. There's also an exhaust temp code that was old which we'll monitor.

Oh yeah, the check engine light has come on a few times throwing off the P0441 code which is the purge canister. No worries. I ran her really hard once and heard the geese noises so I'm guessing it won't hurt to replace the diverter valves. 034 motorsport has the original stock replacements (I'm familiar with that noise as my last twin turbo -- a 1990 Dinan BMW 750iL -- needed the same...freaked me out at first lol). So far the tranny has been spot on and my mechanic who happens to also own a C5 RS6 agrees that it seems strong. He's in the middle of converting his to stick and has kindly offered me his old tranny if it comes to that...THANKS! smh.

Now that that's out of the way, there are a few topics I'd like some guidance on. I've read the various threads but the info is either unclear or outdated.

1. Tuning -- 034 offers a chip and tip chip that seems to be a good value. Shifting quicker and harder is not always a good thing. More hp is not always a good thing. I've heard some say the tip chip can give the tranny longer life and others say the opposite. I'm open to any suggestions on combos in the US; or, as the case may be, the suggestion to leave the car stock. I'd love some honest input into the value, or downside, of chipping this vehicle.

2. Wheels -- I want to know if 19's degrade the ride much. I'm looking at other Audi OEM wheels in this size but the car drives nicely on stock wheels and I also don't want a stupid look that belies the era. For reference, I have an '01 S8 the wifey drives with stock wheels and a Porsche Cayenne S with 22 inch Porsche replicas that drives great. I went up to staggered 18's on my (now sold) 1994 Mercedes E500 which was a plus two move and loved it.

3. Audio -- I used to be heavy into car audio. This was in the late 80's to mid 90's. Cars changed and I got older, but I have a lot of old/new stock from projects that never materialized. For those who can relate, I have a/d/s 325is, JL10IB4 (free air), Sounstream, McIntosh, and the list goes on. What I want to do is use the RSN-E head unit to the best of its ability. I'd also like to use whatever interfaces are available to modernize the vehicle such as aux in (for ipod), backup camera, dvd, wifi, etc. Can one get good sound out of this head unit? If the answer is no, then I'll let my stuff keep collecting dust until I can slap my harman kardon traffic pro in a twin turbo 911 one day or pick up an older project with a standard DIN opening.

Sorry if I've asked too much too soon but it took forever to get posting privileges...maybe there's some wisdom to that process. Thanks in advance and thanks for having this forum.