1.8t Avant stuttering around 3.5-4k revs

[Paynii]

Hi guys, first time here.

Bought a pretty clean, low milage a4 the other day, 1.8t version, only mods to my knowledge are a cone filter and a dump valve.

I took it for a semi spirited drive this evening and found it stuttering and kind of making a banging/popping noise from what sounds like the engine bay around 3.5-4.5k revs, seems fine before and after this.

Any ideas? Any common things I should check first?

Cheers 👍🏻

[cliffcoggin]

Luke.

A twenty year old low mileage car in good condition sounds too good to be true. I suspect the previous owner was an enthusiast who did more modifications than just a filter and dump valve. Is there a way to check if the ECU has been mapped for more performance?

[Paynii]

I've took a mechanic with me to view and it does look like they're the only mods, it could have a map but I suppose I'll only find that out when I take it to get mapped myself haha.

Also, fueled it up and now it stinks of fuel in the cabin 😅

[cliffcoggin]

I can't really help in the case of modified engines. The mods introduce too many unknown factors.