2007 Audi A4 2.0T - Section Zero

Looking back at the history of the Euro scene, it’s possible to see that the wilder body kits popular in the ’90s led directly to the more subtle OEM+ style we see today. The big spoilers and large wings eventually encouraged enthusiasts to seek a more restrained approach, getting creative with rare European factory options in order to look just slightly removed from the original OEM.

Of course, adding European parts compliments the factory look perfectly because… well… they are factory parts! It also separates diehard from fairweather fans, because you’ve really got to know what you’re looking at to recognize what’s different.

As the demand for rare parts grew, a company called OEMplus emerged to assist tuners get the parts direct from Germany. They even offered an installation bay and paint booth to keep everything in-house.

Josh Segelson is the 32 year-old VP of Operations for the company based in Laguna Hills, CA. After purchasing an ’07 A4 2.0T from Brandon Chasin at Pure Euro, he wanted to build the ultimate Audi with every factory option, plus more.

For research, Josh scoured section zero in the factory ETKA catalog each month, looking for parts that would fit his vision. Soon enough, the RS3 became available in Europe and the ETKA updates exploded with new parts and tons of options.

Sliding into bolstered B7 S4 Recaros with the interior lit by cool LEDs, it’s hard to imagine this isn’t a movie theater. The four-bank Memory Seat position switch on the door panel provides the option to position the seats comfortably for HDTV channel surfing, an iPod movie or music entertainment on the RNS-E navigation system.

The nav uses an Alpine KCE-25i interface with a harness from Kufatac USA to allow full iPod control including album art, movies and music. Additionally, a Boss HDTV tuner was tied into the nav screen, hiding the antenna in the trunk lining. With the screen also fulfilling reversing camera duties, the pixels never have time to cool off.

Josh took the experience further by opening section zero to find a cool box for the glovebox. “The AC line snaps into place, blowing cold air through an adjustable vent to keep it cold,” Josh said. “Along with the TV, it keeps the wife happy on road trips.”

2.75" Milltek Sport exhaust under a painted deffuser

The shift boot was re-stitched white to match the accents on the Audi TT RS steering wheel as well as the RS4 handbrake and shift knob.

Painted trim was then used to tie the console, dash and door panels to the Ibis white exterior. However, Josh’s favorite item is the RS4 push button starter situated in the RS4 center console.

The exterior was treated to European bumpers that included parking sensors. These were painted inhouse along with the RS4 grille surround and four rings emblem.

The headlights were “Joey modded” to painting the internals black before being reassembled with E36 LED angel-eyes and bi-Xenon adaptive housings. The bulbs in the lower foglights were then matched to the headlights to create one color of light.

With the previous owner fitting new mirror caps, Josh installed aspherical Euro mirrors and tied them into the memory seat position to automatically adjust to each preset. He then wrapped the titanium caps in black vinyl to match the painted roof.

20x9" Rotiform BLQ three-piece forged wheels

Josh’s goal was more about luxury then performance but he did release a few ponies with Revo’s stage 2+ software and AWE high-pressure fuel pump. He also slipped Evolution Racewerks side-mount intercoolers behind the foglights and hid a 2.5-gallon methanol container in the rear fender. Finally, a 2.75” Milltek cat-back exhaust and performance cats were installed, with the tailpipes emerging from a painted rear diffuser.

Josh has considered upgrading to a larger K04 turbocharger but the FWD 2.0T can already spin its 20x9” Rotiform forged BLQ wheels fairly easily, so he’s saving the Hankook tires for now.

The latter fit snug under the fenders with Brandon’s earlier Tein Super Sport coilover install.

“The wheels do a great job of showing off the stock brakes!” Josh joked, “But unfortunately a big-brake kit won’t fit the tight clearance.” So upgrades have been limited to drilled and slotted Adam’s Rotors.

In the future, Josh plans to fit an A8 Phantom automated trunk mechanism to his badgeless lid as well as an OEM Bose speaker set. Together with the existing OEM+ features, it’s amazing what you can do with a factory catalog and some imagination.