Okay...narrowed it down to (3) mods. Like most of us, money is limited so I need to prioritize to get the best bang. What order would you do these (3) mods:

1. Higher stall TC
2. 3.42 rearend gears (got 2.73 now)
3. 1.6 RR/springs/lifters/pushrods

Yeah, yeah, I wish I could do all 3 at once, but my money tree in my backyard isn't producing fruit.

Daily driver, but spirited if the right cars pulls up at the light.

 

Ditto.

 

gears_ seems to be the best bang for buck out of those

 

Here's a top notch A4 drivetrain setup:

GM Motive 3:42 gears, SLP’s AAM Cast Aluminum Cooling Cover, Auburn’s Pro-Series Differential (# AUB-542046), Lingenfelter's 3.5" Aluminum Driveshaft - (Includes Splicer U-Joints.), and GM's 1LE Transmission Mount.

Latter I would go with a Vigilante 2800 stall Torque Converter.

With the motor, I would start with a mild street cam.

 

I completely disagree about doing the gears first...Go with the higher stall torque converter (anything in the 2800-3500 range would be very ideal for your car depending upon what your goals are for the street/strip). A Vigilante 2800 (actual true 3200 stall; just rated lower by Precision Industries) is a great street converter and will easily net you a solid 5 tenths off your 1/4 mile ET paired with some Nitto DR's. You will NOT gain that much with any 3.42 or 3.73 gear set-up! I've had the Vig 2800 before and know of many more who do and it has been track proven over and over. Gears aren't nearly the same bang for the buck in terms of all-around performance. A better torque converter is the single best mod you could ever do for an A4 hands down. As for drivability, the higher stall will be "looser" feeling around town, but you get used to it in a few days. And with a good lock-up converter (Vigilante, Yank, Midwest, TCI, Edge) your gas mileage won't be affected at all once the converter locks up like the stock one at around 45ish or so (highway driving). Mileage will go down a little in town because of the higher rpm use, however, your car will be a LOT more fun and you'll pick up far more at the track like I said...

Personally, go with the stall first and then put in some nice 3.42's or 3.73's if you still feel like you need them later on (or when you can afford them to compliment your set-up). But many have just left their original 2.73's in after the stall to maintain fairly good gas mileage around town and due to the stall more than satisfying out of the hole launches. And don't forget a bigger/better stall will also help eliminate those dead spots some that we have with our A4's providing much better shift extension during WOT runs from a dead stop or a rolling start (meaning, the rpms won't drop down nearly as low right after a shift as they normally would have with the stock converter; thus keeping the engine in its powerband better/more efficiently). Don't forget to go with a good transmission cooler once you do the stall too (B&M 24000 is a very good cooler IMHO).

Good luck,

Mike