Forging a BWA engine

[Dallen75]

Hi all, I'm currently looking at upgrading to a k03s hybrid or the k04. From what I've read up the BWA is good for 360bhp on a k04 with all supporting mods so my question is ... If I wanted to go above 360 heading upto 400bhp with a k04 hybrid how much work and costs would I be looking at ? Obviously new con rods and pistons but I've also heard the head is a swine to rebuild and garage costs would start snowballing. Anyone info would be greatly recieved ! Cheers Davey

[GrayMK5GTI]

The rods themselves aren't actually that expensive, the rest all comes down to garage labour rates. Possibly £1500 for a rebuild?

May be more cost effective to buy a CDL lump and sell all the ancilliary bits?

[Pikey Motorsports]

just find a k04 engine.. no point forging unless your going big turbo

[GrayMK5GTI]

just find a k04 engine.. no point forging unless your going big turbo

Exactly.

The BYD & CDL lumps have both been proven to 500bhp with the right software. 

[Dallen75]

Yeah that's not really an option. I was just thinking about a k04 hybrid but have been informed that 360bhp is on the limit of standard internals. Maybe differs from tuner to tuner, torque figures and mapping may well play a big part in what I can achieve ! Will have to do more research, cheers guys !

[GrayMK5GTI]

It's torque that kills rods (weakest point in the BWA).

You can go higher than 360bhp but you need to reign in the torque. R-Tech can write you a map which is gentle on your engine, not sure about other tuners. Sounds like a custom tune is the way to go though in this circumstance 

[Dallen75]

Yes mate had some good reports from someone else about linear throttle map from R-Tech but will stick with current tuner (shark) for now.clutch this weekend then stage 2+ in a couple of weeks after clutch settles. Then who knows after that .....

[GrayMK5GTI]

K04 with WMI, or K04 hybrid if your feeling flush, then flatline the power & torque. You may "only" have 370-380 bhp which may be safe(ish) on BWA, providing torque isn't silly but if you have a flat curve it will be seriously quick across the rev range.

It's not all about peak figures unless you only want them for bragging rights, it's about the curve and the way it drives 

[Dallen75]

No not to bothered about any bragging rights, drive ability is the key for me. I will keep looking and researching see what comes up in the future. I was just thinking along the lines of going that extra step. Basically running before I can walk, 350bhp with decent torque ain't to shabby ! Will look into wmi more as only know the basic really. It may take a while but I'll get there ,,,, hopefully !