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Author Topic: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?  (Read 19962 times)

Offline PDT

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #15 on: April 06, 2011, 04:51:00 pm »
Search youtube for:

Holset how a turbocharger works

Offline Richn83

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #16 on: April 06, 2011, 05:24:28 pm »
Yes, the two wheels are connected via a straight shaft but there is a "gearing" effect in the sense of airflow and spin-up times.

No diagram atm but I'll see what I can dig up after work.

Thats what I was getting at, will look up the you tube video.  Cheers guys never really thought about the turbo in depth before interested to understand why the different ratios are important and what limits the Ko3s at the top end, its clearly got somethign to do with the ratio between the compressor and turbine and the reason I used the term gearing is due to the effect of the velocity of the blades on one side will be a factor different dependant on the blade radius (thats what I see in my head) obviously the shaft cant spin at different speeds.  but the force exerted by the exhaust gas can be increased by increasing the turning moment....

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Offline RedRobin

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #17 on: April 06, 2011, 05:52:59 pm »


As cmdrfire says, note the "S" suffix on the serial # - You're meant to be looking at the plate ^ and not the babe  :wink:

My original K03 Revision C failed and I considered replacing with a K04 but having learnt more now from the info posted in this thread I'm glad I didn't. I didn't realise that the K04 didn't kick in as late as around 3,000 revs - I much prefer the power at lower revs rather than in licence-losing territory.

« Last Edit: April 06, 2011, 05:57:08 pm by RedRobin »


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Offline Janner_Sy

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #18 on: April 06, 2011, 05:54:43 pm »
the K04 still isnt what you could call laggy.  VAG do a very vry good job of atching turbos to engines.  You should drive a WR1 or Evo FQ300 etc.  they have lag by the bucket load

Offline PDT

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #19 on: April 06, 2011, 06:07:10 pm »
Drove an evo fq300 last month, was worse than vtec.

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Offline ub7rm

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #20 on: April 06, 2011, 07:46:52 pm »
^ I observed the same as I left a roundabout neck and neck with some sort of chavvy subaru.  Thought he wasn't trying as I pulled clean ahead but he soon made up for it.  But by this time I was at the speed limit (and stayed there) whereas he was only really getting going.  Seems a bit pointless all that power only really coming in when you cant use it - fecking fast when it does though!
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Offline bodger00

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #21 on: April 06, 2011, 08:00:39 pm »



Robin that's your best p*rn post yet! :evilgrin:

Offline joesgti

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #22 on: April 06, 2011, 08:28:58 pm »
i put an ed30 stage 2+ enigne in my gti and the difference was incredible!!  :driver:


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Offline Janner_Sy

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #23 on: April 07, 2011, 08:36:43 am »
has anyone ever just considered putting the k04 turbo, injectors and DV relocation on as the first mod.  with a map that would give you 280-300hp. 

If the remap costs you £600, turbo costs you £800, the DV relocation £200 and the injectors £200 that would still be cheaper than going stage 2+ on the k03 turbo with stage 2+ remap, TBE, Intercooler, HPFP, and discharge pipes.

then at a later date you could add the exhaust and intake etc

Offline muckipup

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #24 on: April 07, 2011, 10:26:31 am »
In defence of the K04 and, as someone who has gone K03 to K04, I think the decision is very much a personal one based on what journeys are usually done and driving style.

I'm not all out to defend going K04 however as there are some very valid points - it is laggier that the K03 of course (although the idea of the K03 being spooled up by 1750 rpm and the K04 kicking in from 3000 rpm is misleading!), the point about a lot of power being available in the licence-losing area is very true and the cost is certainly true. I can completely understand that for the day to day driving for some folks, a K04 would not be very beneficial, if at all, and would be a waste of a lot of money.

On saying that, I was surprised at how the K04 lag vs. increased power made the car very well behaved under normal driving conditions if that makes sense  :confused: - general driving around and pulling away from junctions still has plenty of power but is in no way punishing...drop it down a gear, get in the rev range of the turbo and put the foot down and it's real Jeckyl and Hyde - the power is nuts! There is still a flip-side to that though - controlling the car is a bit more of a handful and getting the power down can be an issue (I'll be getting better tyres in future and a Quaife next week for that reason!). I may have to keep the revs up and work the gears a bit more but I would usually leave a standard or remapped K03 car behind me....although not as far behind as I would like  :evilgrin: :grin:

Finally, I cheated a bit - I bought a 57 plate Octavia VRS 2 years ago with 15k on the clock at a very nice price and, even with the mods, think I must be quids in over an S3, Ed30, etc with the same age/miles...not sure about a Cupra though.

has anyone ever just considered putting the k04 turbo, injectors and DV relocation on as the first mod.  with a map that would give you 280-300hp.  

If the remap costs you £600, turbo costs you £800, the DV relocation £200 and the injectors £200 that would still be cheaper than going stage 2+ on the k03 turbo with stage 2+ remap, TBE, Intercooler, HPFP, and discharge pipes.

then at a later date you could add the exhaust and intake etc

If I could do it all again knowing what I know now and recognising the cost of going up stage by stage, I think I would consider this option Sy but only after handling mods like brakes, ARB and probably suspension
« Last Edit: April 07, 2011, 10:30:56 am by muckipup »

Offline stealthwolf

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #25 on: April 07, 2011, 10:57:47 am »
(although the idea of the K03 being spooled up by 1750 rpm and the K04 kicking in from 3000 rpm is misleading!)
This was something I picked up from somewhere else a long time ago. I can't recall the precise figures but generally speaking, there is a demonstrable margin between the two.

Does anyone know the proper figures?

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Offline Hurdy

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #26 on: April 07, 2011, 11:01:50 am »
Anyone put a K04 on a MKVI GTI yet?

And point me to a thread on it if there is?

Ta :happy2:
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Offline cmdrfire

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #27 on: April 07, 2011, 11:22:49 am »
has anyone ever just considered putting the k04 turbo, injectors and DV relocation on as the first mod.  with a map that would give you 280-300hp. 

If the remap costs you £600, turbo costs you £800, the DV relocation £200 and the injectors £200 that would still be cheaper than going stage 2+ on the k03 turbo with stage 2+ remap, TBE, Intercooler, HPFP, and discharge pipes.

then at a later date you could add the exhaust and intake etc

I think that the intake and exhaust mates for the K04 are different than for the K03/s - hence requiring a different intake and exhaust anyway. May be wrong on that though, happy if someone has more information.

Offline rich83

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #28 on: April 07, 2011, 11:39:07 am »
Ko3 intake an Ko4 intakes are slightly different due to the front located DV pipe.

Offline RedRobin

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Re: I take it a KO4 turbo is better than a KO3?
« Reply #29 on: April 07, 2011, 11:55:37 am »
has anyone ever just considered putting the k04 turbo, injectors and DV relocation on as the first mod.  with a map that would give you 280-300hp.  

If the remap costs you £600, turbo costs you £800, the DV relocation £200 and the injectors £200 that would still be cheaper than going stage 2+ on the k03 turbo with stage 2+ remap, TBE, Intercooler, HPFP, and discharge pipes.

then at a later date you could add the exhaust and intake etc

If I could do it all again knowing what I know now and recognising the cost of going up stage by stage, I think I would consider this option Sy but only after handling mods like brakes, ARB and probably suspension


....Exactly my thoughts too - Power is wasted if a car's handling doesn't match. You're going to enjoy that Quaife!

As Saint Steve recently posted, when following me through some B-road twisties he felt he badly needed better brakes and handling although his remapped K04 Ed30 is much faster than my K03 GTI.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2011, 11:58:22 am by RedRobin »


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