Hello,
I am fortunate enough to have begun my retirement and my goal of building up my '01 A4 coupe. I have been a shadetree mechanic most my life, so I can be reasonably dangerous when it comes to mechanical work. My desire is to begin building performance in my engine. But, I want to do it in phases. Do an upgrade, drive for a while, build more, drive for a while, and so on. The thought is I can stop at any point (planned or unplanned) and still have a driveable car. The car will be for the street, although I do take it to the track for some laps now and then. BTW - I have upgraded sway bars and shocks to z06, and it does have a VR-1 ram. Ultimately, I'd like to consider adding a blower down the line. So, what would you all suggest as far as a build in stages? Thanks

 

Been doing it for 10 years...suspension before hp...stereo before everything!
suspension is easy to do and much cheaper than hp.

 

I'd start by dropping in a ZZ632 followed by upgrading all the things you break soon after.

 

Bigger sway bars with metal end links..I used moog.
c6 zo6 shocks..better and lighter wheels..better tires.
Then do a the usual cam intake and headers.

 

Talking engine performance...
Doing it in stages will get expensive, not to mention redoing some of the work over and over.
About the only stand alone mods would be headers or a better intake manifold, and those might benefit from a tune... any following mods (cam, heads, compression...) will need a tune again.
If you're thinking of a blower in the future, plan the preliminary mods for compatibility ahead of time.

 

Once you get into to replace the harmonic damper...might as well do a cam, oil pump, timing chain, etc.

 

Get a second identical vehicle to 'try' things on and keep the one original if it hasn't been modified much yet.
The more you mod and learn the more a factory clean slate will have value to your endeavors as you progress in ability and hindsight.

At the end of modding the second vehicle, you will learn all mistakes and not regret ruining the one you like more

Ultimately 20 years of tuning experience + forced induction is where everyone should wind up, end game for daily drivers of any caliber - at some point, build and fail your own transmission enough to garner reliability in that respect. Solve diff and axles reliability with desired tire compound. Re-wire and tune for success at any output guaranteed by any original engine. Highest reliability daily driver is with any original statistically relevant engine(sr, 2j, rb, ls apps are most common & relevant daily driver reliability high power:weight), sterile internals, focus on air filtering, pcv / crankcase depression, oil cleaning action, suction under the piston rings. Oil temperature control to match the output in Watts at the tire. Understanding Piston brittle fracture failure lattice and how the integral of cylinder pressure over some useful range of crankshaft angles determines reliability of factory parts at 2x and 3x output, the rate of combustion as given by friction & temp of fuel/air. Allowing energy to the tires in such a smooth gradual fashion as not to break anything you assembled. Monitoring fuel temps and PWM fuel pump microcontrollers to conserve energy and reduce fuel temps. The list is real but this is the end point outline. The vehicle can be silent, stealth, a cutout electric switch controls noise directly. Any 3x factory output, original engine, high mileage, and sometimes even greater than factory economy. Although when it comes to V8 that is more difficult to do than say a 4 or traditional inline-6 cylinder.

A most difficult idea for novices to do is separate a line of 'daily drivers & reliability' from improper unwanted racing/send it/yolo/destructive modifications. For examples, removing an air filter or using low quality filters. Adding Engine crankcase breather which disable PCV action. Removing torque management from transmission. Removing quality factory exhaust nuance frequency range suppressors. Removing factory intake duct work intended to equalize, warm & expand, and distribute fuel/air evenly. Putting too sticky of a tire and too large of a separator plate hole in the valve body for a weak factory trans/axle system. Installing camshafts with too much lift and too-rapid lobe profiles to be reliable at high mileage and high rpm, and which damage factory style lifters frequently in LS apps. Failing to pressure test intake systems in forced induction apps which leads to lost power, and in turbo apps, high EGT/EGP which ruins the engine, causes damage.

thats off the top of my head anyways

 

How many miles on engine? Headers, cat delete, X-pipe, performance mufflers. Since your car is an auto find a Z06 rear diff with 3.42 gears. Get a good tune from a reputable tuner and drive for a bit, you might be pretty happy. Don't do a cam or head work until you fully commit to a S/C or decide to stay N/A. Depending on what cam you go with you may need a looser torque converter.

 

I would stick with non HP performance mods such as better suspension, brake kits, forged (lighter) wheel, etc., and axle back exhaust, etc. and other interior creature comforts. Once you decide to add HP, you will also be adding more heat which will stress other stock components designed for 350 HP. Plus, it's easier to pull it all together and it's more cost effective if you're working with a performance shop that can complete the build and pull it all together with a tune. Cam, headers, supercharger, new rear gears/trans, will all add more heated air which will require additional cooling components and perhaps a meth kit to help keep temps in line.