Care of a new turbo

[markzed]

Hi all,
I am ordering a new GTi - a delightful red 5 door - through work (novated lease) and while I was researching I came across your site. It looks like you guys have a nice community going here.

I would appreciate if anyone knows the recommended warm-up and warm-down times for the turbo. I want to respect the engine and I'm wondering if the turbo needs more time than your garden variety atmo engine.

Cheers,
Mark

[Bunty]

Welcome to the club/community.
I have just ordered my red 5 door DSG as well.
How long do you have to wait for delivery?
Mine will be here in less than 3 weeks.
Must be lucky. Others talk of having to wait months for delivery.
Don't know about turbo warm up/down times as I am new to turbos as well.

[Tim]

i think the general rule of thumb is dont flog it till the oil is up to temp. and calm down a couple blocks from home to let temps come back down a bit if u have been right on it.
Most VWs have a cooling system that runs on after u switch off if things are still a bit toasty.

[NickZ]

Congrats on the new car to both of you!

I do the following with my Polo GTI - I tend to be a bit of a heavy driver.

1. Let the car warm up for a minute before taking off on a cold start. If a warm start, can go pretty much straight away.
2. Until the water gauge hits normal temp, dont take off at full throttle and dont go past 3000rpm.
3. For the first 10 mins, I don't go past 4000rpm. This allows the oil to warm up more.
4. For the last couple of kms before driving home, I tend to take it easy (with exceptions). I usually let the car rest for half a minute before turning it off, if the car has been driven hard I let it run for a few minutes before switching off.

The key with turbos is not to abuse them cold, and not to flog the crap out of em without appropriate warm up and cool down periods. Otherwise, its open season

Others may think I rev too high too quickly, others may think I dont drive it hard enough. This works for me, and as long as you dont abuse them like I said, it should last you a long time

[BarneyBoy]

Hi all,
I am ordering a new GTi - a delightful red 5 door - through work (novated lease) and while I was researching I came across your site. It looks like you guys have a nice community going here.

Cheers,
Mark

Have we told you about the goat, the wedding dress, the wading pool of condensed milk and the rest of the initiation ceremony?

[markzed]

Have we told you about the goat, the wedding dress, the wading pool of condensed milk and the rest of the initiation ceremony?

Thanks!
I'm sure I have some rubber gloves around here somewhere...

[markzed]

How long do you have to wait for delivery?

The Liverpool dealer has two red manuals and a red DSG there already.
It didn't look like there was a shortage.
I got to test drive both types and I was impressed.

The lease will be the longer delay - they say 3 weeks to receive car, even though the dealer has the car there now. Something to do with the paperwork for sourcing it there.

[LowVeeDub]

This question has been asked a million times on a million forums. With turbos the best care for them is to wait for the car to warm up properly before you kick it in the arse, cold start especially. With cool down, Turbos will heat up cosiderably when you are at idle with no air passing through it. In my experience dont leave the car running for minutes, 30 seconds is good enough, but just take it easy about 1-2kms from home/destination.
P.s Turbo timers are a waste of money, only good for high end/big power turbos which have higher rpm speeds. IMO.....

[Bunty]

In my experience dont leave the car running for minutes, 30 seconds is good enough, but just take it easy about 1-2kms from home/destination.

Thank God for that.
I could not see myself sitting and waiting for a warm up in a Canberra winter.
I have always believed that an engine warms up best under a slight load.
Your advise is what I have always done with all my cars, so I might actually follow it.
As for the cool down, I usually back it off a few K's from home so the missus can't hear me coming.

[jets]

Just to add to what has been already said , on the freeway also slow down a couple of k's before you stop for fuel. The after run electric water pump will continue to run after the engine is shut down to help prevent the coolant boiling in the head around the valves.

[acdcfan]

Hey ppl
just a quick question.
At what RPM do you notice turbo kicks in?
When I change from 1st to 2nd I notice that car just fly off at around 3000 RPM between 1st and 2nd and same between 2nd and 3rd gear? It is different from 3rd gear onwards?
Do you guys have same impression or something wrong with my turbo?

[SoVeReIgN]

Congrats on the new car to both of you!

I do the following with my Polo GTI - I tend to be a bit of a heavy driver.

1. Let the car warm up for a minute before taking off on a cold start. If a warm start, can go pretty much straight away.
2. Until the water gauge hits normal temp, dont take off at full throttle and dont go past 3000rpm.
3. For the first 10 mins, I don't go past 4000rpm. This allows the oil to warm up more.
4. For the last couple of kms before driving home, I tend to take it easy (with exceptions). I usually let the car rest for half a minute before turning it off, if the car has been driven hard I let it run for a few minutes before switching off.

The key with turbos is not to abuse them cold, and not to flog the crap out of em without appropriate warm up and cool down periods. Otherwise, its open season

Others may think I rev too high too quickly, others may think I dont drive it hard enough. This works for me, and as long as you dont abuse them like I said, it should last you a long time

This is the correct way to do things!!

Turbos don't heat up while idling so let it sit and warm up for a minute.

"Modern engines don't need to warm up idling" is rubbish - The only reason they say this is to reduce emissions.

Then after giving it a thrashing take it easy before you turn it off and let it cool down for a few minutes.

[Lima]

I'm not a fan for sitting at idle from cold. What may be good for your turbo may not be good for your catalytic converter. Just give it a good 5-10 minutes moderate driving before letting rip. And likewise, if you've really been giving it some beans, just drive calmly around the block for a few minutes before turning off the engine, and also give it 30-90 seconds cool down time once stopped. For a Mk5 GTI you shouldn't need a turbo timer.

Finally saw the turbo in the Mk5 glowing over the weekend although you can't see it as well compared to the Mk4 GTI.

[SoVeReIgN]

I'm not a fan for sitting at idle from cold. What may be good for your turbo may not be good for your catalytic converter. Just give it a good 5-10 minutes moderate driving before letting rip. And likewise, if you've really been giving it some beans, just drive calmly around the block for a few minutes before turning off the engine, and also give it 30-90 seconds cool down time once stopped. For a Mk5 GTI you shouldn't need a turbo timer.

Finally saw the turbo in the Mk5 glowing over the weekend although you can't see it as well compared to the Mk4 GTI.

You care more about the cat than the turbo? lol.

Cat - $200 + $100 installation costs
Turbo - $1000 + $1000 installation costs.

:p

[Chardy]

I believe that it would take serious abuse for many 000's of km's before the turbo would seize.