Audi I5 20v Turbo

Here's an important item that you will need also. An engine! We are sourcing ours from a less fortunate Audi S6. I believe that it is a 1996 vintage, but the year that you pick really depends on your personal preference. I hear that any of the I5 motors would work in this swap, it is just a matter of how you want the motor to be equipped. I personally was looking for an S4 or S6 built between 1992-1997. You'll find that S4's were built until about 1994 and then renamed S6. In the 1997-1998 time frame a different engine started being used. Before the S4/S6 series there was a Audi 200 20vt that was made in 1990 and 1991, I think. So if my dates are wrong shoot me a message and I will correct them. In this configuration there seems to be a distributor and a different intake manifold. Older than these are Audi 10vt cars which are also usable.
The reason that I chose the model I did was because it has no distributor and the intake manifold begins on the driver's side of the engine. The Audi 200 20vt has a distributor and the intake manifold begins on the passenger side of the engine. Obviously the S4/S6 power plant is a closer match to how your 944 is configured right now. I'm making the assumption that this will make all of the intercooler plumbing easier to install.

Background

Well you have to start somewhere.....

We took delivery of Nina on the 27th of July 2008. I can tell you I've always wanted one of these cars since I drove my aunt's 1986 turbo way back in 1987. In 1995 she offered the 951 to me, but I didn't think I could afford the parts to keep it running and passed on it. I have often regretted that decision, but you know how it goes. In early 2008 I found out that my brother-in-law had bought a 944. After seeing it once I told him, "If you ever decide to sell it you let me know." A couple of months later we had worked out a deal and picked her up. Driving home I was having visions of racing this car somehow to satisfy one of my boyhood dreams. Here is a picture tucked away in the garage that first night.

Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I am pretty anal about my machines. I'll go get them, but noone gets to use it until I have checked it out completely. In this case it probably saved the car and someone's life. While checking wheel bearings and brakes I noticed the passenger side ball joint was about to fall off. I made a note of that and moved to the rear of the car. I found both rear axles were missing bolts and the tranny was howling like a cat in heat so I made a couple of decisions. We had to overhaul the entire car's suspension and we were going to start racing in Solo. Parts began rolling in, money was rolling out and I trudged on putting everything together. Nina was getting pretty grand treatment: full delrin bushings, Hyper coil Koni coil overs up front, larger t-bars in the rear, new axles, bearings at every corner, new a-arm and ball joints, new pads, rotors, and some 968 m030 sway bars. I know there was alot more, but I cann't remember and your getting bored. I finished it up one week before the Kansas City SCCA's Solo test-n-tune event.

So here is a little picture that my wife took that first rainy day, what a blast!