I’m Nick Roshon, sometimes known as “nnnick” on various automotive forums. In short, I’m a web/tech professional that is obsessed with cars of all types, with a particular liking to Audis, Lamborghinis, and classic cars. I created this blog to document the modifications I have made to my A4, as well as share tips with others and showcase some cool cars I find along the way.
I’m a proud member of Audi Club of North America, Four Rings Racing Group, and Audi Style Racing.
My driving experience includes:
- NASA HPDE2 sessions at Firebird Raceway and Phoenix International Raceway
- 24 Hours of LeMons races at Buttonwillow Raceway, Chuckwalla Raceway and Infineon Raceway (Sears Point)
- FRRG Private Track Day sessions at Inde Motorsports Ranch, Chuckwalla Valley Raceway & Spring Mountain Motorsport Ranch
- Go Kart Racing League at F1 Race Factory
- Land Rover Offroad Driving School at the Greenbriar Resort
I’ve owned several Audis at this point – starting with my A4, and progressing to the 24 Hours of LeMons Audi Coupe GT I helped build to my current S4. My first car was a modified Ford Explorer and then I had a lightly modified Acura TSX before picking up my first Audi in 2008.
If you’d like to connect with me, you can friend/follow me on the following social media sites, or contact me via email at cars@nickroshon.com
at 11:32 PM
thanks for the help!
at 3:44 PM
hey nick i really like what u do to ur cars.. i have a b7 s4 myself (imola yellow) and its completely stock right now.. i want to start modifying it but i didnt know where to look until now.. i reeeaaallllyyy like the lip u have on the front bumper of the red s4. and i would also like to know about good suspension for my car if u have any ideas. the rs4 grill is an awsome look and its something i want to do to mine. i dont want to go crazy i just want it to have a nice stance and i want it to look clean.. so if u’d like please write back with some of ur audi knowledge and any additional info on how and where i can get these parts.. thank u very much
at 3:55 PM
Hi Ivan – thanks! Imola Yellow is a great car and pretty rare, enjoy it!
The lip and the RS4 Grille are great starting mods as they make a huge impact visually and are fairly easy to buy & install. I have posts on both topics for you to check out.
For suspension, I just installed some STaSIS Ohlins SL coilovers. They’re fairly high-end, but I wanted something that could withstand some track duty in addition to looking nice. I’ve heard a lot of great things about just going with H&R Springs and Koni Yellow shocks if you’re looking for something cheaper however.
at 10:20 AM
Hi,… I have a 2007 A4 Avant with the titanium package. I’m doing something similar to yours. Are those the stock headlights with an LED add-on or did you replace the lights altogether?
at 10:31 AM
Ryan’s “Featured Ride” car uses the fly300kts LED kit – you can find him on Audizine and he will retrofit the kit for you or you can email him at tbm850 at gmail.com
at 7:35 PM
Hey nick, just wanted to see if the carbonio intake or the boost gauge, or other items from the a4 were for sale?
at 12:22 PM
Sorry, all items from the A4 have been removed or installed on my S4…
at 5:49 PM
Hey i need your Nick hepl to change fog light bulbs on audi Rs4 if u can email me i
would be great
at 9:34 AM
This post should help answer your questions, but let me know if you have any other Qs: http://nickscarblog.com/cars/hid-fog-lights-on-a-b7-audi-a4-and-s4/
at 8:04 PM
Nick,
The swift metric springs you have on the SL ohlins were which part number? Thanks
at 8:44 AM
The part numbers are z65-254-140 and z60-152-220 from Swift. Hope that helps!
at 2:13 PM
at 4:40 PM
Nick- how are the SL’s holding up. I keep getting misleading info about the SL’s and how they were designed for time attack and should be torn down and rebuilt regularly. I wanted to know from your experience whether you use the S4 as a DD and how many miles you already have on SL’s. Every time i research Ohlins SL – your blog pops up and so I decided to ask you. Thanks.
at 5:10 PM
Steve,
The SLs do need to be rebuilt occasionally, but not as often as say the Motorsports would. I think STaSIS recommends the SLs about once every two years whereas Motorsports should be done once per year. From what I’ve seen, most people can get 40-50k miles out of the SLs before they start to ride rough and need rebuilt, which is about the expected life of coilovers/struts anyway. The rebuild process costs $500 and you can have them send you a set in advance if you give them a deposit to minimize downtime, so the way I look at it is that once every 2-3 years I’ll pay $500 (plus labor) to get a like-new set of coilovers installed…not a bad program . I’m still very happy with mine – I bought them used and have put about 3,000 miles on them and 1 track day so far, no issues or complaints.
at 2:05 PM
Hi Nick
First off fantastic site! Just curious if you have used any LED lighting products from ECS Tunning? Have you heard positive or negative? any inoformation would be appreciated as this is the next upgrade ii would like to do on my A4.
at 1:04 PM
I don’t have a ton of experience with ECS/Ziza’s LED products, but they tend to be very expensive compared to comparable products on the market. In this blog I’ve demonstrated alternative LED products that are much cheaper and equally if not more effective. I know a few people have paid for the $50 Ziza “Error Free” City Lights/DRL lights and still had errors, but regardless it’s just a $5 LED and $3 resistor that you pay $50 for, so I find it hard to justify that price even if they did work 100% of the time…
at 1:55 PM
Hey Nick,
I just picked up a 2007 A4 non s-line in silver. Just put on some 19′s and a nice rs4 style rear spolier so the back and sides are looking pretty good. The front bumper however has got to go! It so bland and unsporty. I like the Deval RS4 a lot but i’m worried about the quality and fit due to the mixed reviews on audizine. What should I do? I need something sporty and awesome. Can a S4 B7 bumper fit? or should I go S-line like yours. BTW i’m for sure doing the S6 LED’S like yours, they’re awesome. Any help would be great man. So happy I found your blog. hope to hear back from you soon.
Rob
at 1:58 PM
Hi Rob,
I too have heard pretty poor reviews of the Deval bumper, including two friends that own the bumper and spent a lot of time & money with body shops to get it to fit “better” without ever really fitting perfect. I’d stick with the OEM route and upgrade to an S-line/S4 bumper (they are the same part/part number) or a DTM S4 bumper if you want something a little different. Both mods (non S-line to a S4 or DTM bumper) have been done by A4 owners in the past and are fairly straightforward – a new bumper cover, fog lights, grilles, reflectors and you’re pretty much good to go.
The S6 LEDs were awesome but expensive and took a lot of work to get right. I loved them, but I don’t think I’ll be doing them on my S4 just due to the custom work involved and wanting to keep my S4 more stock looking. But props if you decide to do it! I’d start wiht an S4 bumper upgrade first, and save the S6 LEDs for later…
at 9:42 AM
Hey Nick,
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I decided to go with the Oettinger bumper because I wanted to be distinct without sacrificing quality. I also picked up a pair of S4 door blades. Once everything is painted can I email you a pick and get it up on the blog? Should be ready to go by the end of next week.
ps. I decided to wait on the S6 LED’s and just go for HID fogs/DRL for now. We’ll see what happens down the road. Thanks for all your input. Much appreciated.
Rob
at 9:43 AM
Rob that would be great! You can email me or post on my Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/nickscarblog and I’d be happy to post up here or somewhere
at 6:16 PM
Hey Nick,
Quick question, I purchased an RS4 grille and it came with the chrome Audi badge installed. I also picked up a pair of aftermarket matte black badges (front and rear). Have you ever swapped out the grille badge before and if so do you have any advice on how to remove the OEM badge without damaging the tabs that hold it in place?
Thanks.
at 7:16 PM
@Morgan,
I’ve done that, yes. I used a small flathead screwdriver, like the kind you’d use for eyeglasses. You can use that to depress the tabs and then pop them out one at a time. Still very tedious and you may end up breaking one or two on accident, but the majority should be fine and as long as you keep at least 2-3 of them it won’t come out of place…it’s tricky but can be done, just be patient.
at 7:09 PM
hey man i live in scottsdale, i have some ideas about what i want to do to my 06 audi a4,
but not to sure how..lol curious if i could get some advice from you? thanks
at 8:18 AM
Sure thing, that’s what I’m here for. I sent you an email.
at 12:35 PM
Hi Nick,
Probably a long shot, but do you still have the stock A4 shift knob? Actually, all I need is the little plastic “R-1-3-5-..” cap on top, it is just glued on and can be easily pried off. If you would be will to part with your or know where to get one let me know
Thanks
at 12:37 PM
Hi Madison – I still have mine, but I want to keep it in case I ever decide to put the car back to stock. You can pick one up pretty cheap on eBay though, check out: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=9&pub=5575021003&toolid=10001&campid=5337138044&customid=&icep_uq=oem+audi+a4+shift+knob&icep_sellerId=&icep_ex_kw=&icep_sortBy=12&icep_catId=&icep_minPrice=&icep_maxPrice=&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg
at 2:32 PM
Hey Nick,
Great blog, it has definitely helped me through the years. I’ve recently experienced a burnt out headlight bulb and realized how pesky it is to remove the bumper. So I went the no-bumper-removal route. Learned a lot of things, and how simple it is after doing it for the first time. I only made one mistake, and it’s a pretty bad one. I dropped one of the screws that secure the headlight cover at the back. Do you know if it’s alright to leave that hole unscrewed (it’s tight and secure, but I don’t know how it’ll hold with water). If it’s not, do you know where I could pick up these screws?
I’ve contacted my local dealer, apparently the screws only come with the caps, which comes to a total of $41.
Cheers,
Kevin
at 12:51 PM
Ouch! You could probably just cover the screw hole with some black duct tape just to be safe…
at 3:12 PM
Hey nick,
love the site very helpful, i was wondering if your could help me. I have an audi a4 b7 2005.5 with the nav inside it and i was wondering if you could recommend me some sort of device or audio system so i can plug my android phone into? If you could help that be great.
Alan
at 4:08 PM
Alan – the easiest method would be to add an “Auxillary In” cable, which is basically a standard headphone jack. Something like this kit: http://enfigcarstereo.com/AUDI_AUX_DMX_V1B.html would work great. You’ll then probably want to add a charger for your specific phone via your cigarette lighter…
at 10:50 AM
Nick thank you for covering Volkstock and your very kind words.. We have heard only positive comments with a few constructed comments that are all being addressed for the show in October..most that became obvious to us..
We had a final count of 254 and between 2500 to 3000 attendees.. Amazing for our first event with only two months of planning. We and German Toyz concieved the idea late December an had to hussle to make this work as fluid as possible..
Thanks again and see you at the next show.. Mark Miller
at 10:52 AM
We also hope that the word gets out to the water-cooled community as we would like to see a stronger showing in the future..
at 11:06 AM
Definitely! I will be sure to promote the event myself, it’s definitely something not to miss! I will send you an email separately with some ideas.
at 6:07 AM
Hi Nick, I was wondering if your friend Matt would like to sell his White S4 cab. If so have him email me at the address above. Thanks, great site, great cars.
at 8:45 AM
Hi Glenn – unfortunately, he already sold it. Sorry!