Anyone With a Mk7 Gti PP had it tuned?

[AdamD]

Are all pre-November build Golf R's subject to turbo failure at some point in time or distance covered?
That is still in the grey area, but the turbo pre-November are using some sort of metal ball bearing (God knows why) as chemistry and physics say, metal expands when heated, it has no where to go but break the seal, hence, the blown turbo. The updated turbos are now using ceramic turbo bearing.

The turbo failures issue has been very widely covered all over the net and I've not yet seen another claim of another revised turbocharger for the Golf R (there have already been at least 5 revisions to the turbo and its turbine shaft). My mid-January 2015 build S3 uses exactly the same model of turbocharger as my father's S3 built in July 2014 - and that's the 722H revision turbo that is still being fitted to all Rs and S3s at the factory AFAIK (happy to be corrected if anyone has any concrete details?). (See this post to determine your turbo part number.)

Is driving style a factor to the failure ocurring sooner or later?
Nope, from what I heard, they can blow even while cruising, take a good listen at the turbo for whistling sound.

Guy Harding (the importer of APR products in Australia) claims that he was informally told by a fairly senior executive within Volkswagen in the UK that the primary cause of the turbo failures was attributed to the stop/start system switching things off before the oil had been sufficiently cooled, which would lead to internal scoring within the turbo and subsequent failure. That's all hearsay thus far.

Are they exluding tuned engines which customers have declared?
Are they checking for evidence of engines previously tuned and exluding these from warranty claims.

The only responsible answer to the above questions is this: if you tune your car, be prepared for VW to not honour the warranty should it fail. There are instances of warranty claims being denied, and it is VWA's official policy to scan the car for the presence of a tune before approving a warranty replacement. It is not - and never will be - a foregone conclusion that a turbo will be replaced under warranty should you modify. The specifics of each case are different (e.g. some have taken their tuned vehicles to their tuner on a flatbed to be returned to a stock tune before being taken in to VW for repairs, in the hope of concealing their mods), but you can't generalise in these cases - all bets are off.

If you're not prepared to forego your warranty, don't tune. I know of at least a couple of guys who've bought 722N turbos from overseas sellers as an 'insurance policy' should their factory-fitted turbos fail.

[sillyboy]

I'm quoting the mechanics from a VW dealership I go to, plus he's my friend. He said in WA alone there has been at least 10 cases where the turbo blew, tuned or stock. In the drags 2 months back an R blew his turbo right in front of my eyes (he was tuned with APR stage 1) VW has fixed this issue by tweaking the turbo's propeller shaft which was causing the failure. the change started with cars made from November 2014.

Regarding the GTI turbos failing, yes I've heard that they too also fail, but not as many as the R

Thank you wasabiz,

That is some very valuable information.

[Guy_H]

There is a bunch of threads over on Ozaudi.com with all the part numbers etc.

S3 (8V) | Tuning Box or ECU Remap? - Page 101

ozAudi - AUSTRALIAS LEADING AUDI FORUM

I switched my own turbo out as it was being driven by magazines / journalists / pro drivers & I didn't want it to fail during this test. They are a couple of grand delivered from the US.

The latest version compared to my version "1" had a different wastegate mechanism, and electronic controller. Visibly different.

[Mikey1]

My mid-January 2015 build S3 uses exactly the same model of turbocharger as my father's S3 built in July 2014 - and that's the 722N revision turbo that is still being fitted to all Rs and S3s at the factory AFAIK. (See this post to determine your turbo part number.)

My Golf R was built in July 2014 and has the 702N - Revision 2 turbocharger. You have quoted the part number as 722N. Is that a typo? If it is, then it doesn't make much sense than your S3 sedan built in January 2015 still uses the same part number when 722 H - Revision 4 should have been available since October 2014.

I know of at least a couple of guys who've bought 722N turbos from overseas sellers as an 'insurance policy' should their factory-fitted turbos fail.

Purchase of 722N (or 702N) units doesn't seem like a good insurance policy to me given the history of this unit.

Overall, where does the average Golf R owner stand, who doesn't have a turbocharger of at least Revision 4 standard? It seems to me there is a ticking time bomb under the hood, and nobody knows when, if ever, it will trigger a catastrophic failure. Sure, during the warranty period, you're covered if you have left the ECU stock, but after that you are probably on your own. One thing is for sure, resale values are set to plummet.

[jrathgen]

Guy Harding (the importer of APR products in Australia) claims that he was informally told by a fairly senior executive within Volkswagen in the UK that the primary cause of the turbo failures was attributed to the stop/start system switching things off before the oil had been sufficiently cooled, which would lead to internal scoring within the turbo and subsequent failure. That's all hearsay thus far.

I disable top/Start to avoid this exact issue, and usually do not thrash my car within about 0.5 - 1km before shutting off
Also let it warm down for at least a minute if my driving is spirited before shutdown - simple really, but I do remember what a turbo timer was used for.

[aj555]

I thought the turbos on the E888 are watercooled and a pump to circulate coolant continues to operate after shut off?

[tigger73]

Overall, where does the average Golf R owner stand, who doesn't have a turbocharger of at least Revision 4 standard? It seems to me there is a ticking time bomb under the hood, and nobody knows when, if ever, it will trigger a catastrophic failure. Sure, during the warranty period, you're covered if you have left the ECU stock, but after that you are probably on your own. One thing is for sure, resale values are set to plummet.

This is what happens when a car manufacturer goes to an all-new model/platform. It takes a few years for all the bugs to get ironed out... and sometimes there are just some things which are inherent to the design which will have to be designed out in the next generation.

In all seriousness if you want to go silly with tuning then buy yourself a low km Mk6 R and go nuts.... The Mk6 R was an end of life platform which was well sorted in terms of reliability.

If you've got a Mk7 you can risk it or wait until the Mk8 comes out and this will hopefully fix up all the issues in the Mk7.

[turtle]

I thought the turbos on the E888 are watercooled and a pump to circulate coolant continues to operate after shut off?

So is that what that noise is? My GTI makes all sorts of 'clicks' and 'whines' after I turn it off.

[AdamD]

My Golf R was built in June 2015 and has the 702N - Revision 2 turbocharger. You have quoted the part number as 722N. Is that a typo? If it is, then it doesn't make much sense than your S3 sedan built in January 2015 still uses the same part number when 722 H - Revision 4 should have been available since October 2014.

Sorry, 722H is my turbo, not 722N; I've updated my previous post. I'm guessing your June 2015 build is actually 2014? We're in June 2015 now.

[AdamD]

I switched my own turbo out as it was being driven by magazines / journalists / pro drivers & I didn't want it to fail during this test. They are a couple of grand delivered from the US.

The latest version compared to my version "1" had a different wastegate mechanism, and electronic controller. Visibly different.

Which version have you fitted now Guy? 722H?

Edit: Just seen your post on ozAudi; 722H it is!

[Mikey1]

My mid-January 2015 build S3 uses exactly the same model of turbocharger as my father's S3 built in July 2014 - and that's the 722H revision turbo that is still being fitted to all Rs and S3s at the factory AFAIK (happy to be corrected if anyone has any concrete details?). (See this post to determine your turbo part number.)

Sorry, 722H is my turbo, not 722N; I've updated my previous post. I'm guessing your June 2015 build is actually 2014? We're in June 2015 now.

OK, your revised post makes much more sense now, though I think your father's S3 may have the same turbo part number I have (702N), as yes, I also have made a typo with the year and a mistake with the month. My build date was July 2014 (week 30), the same month as your father's S3.

I envy your perfect timing in having an S3 with the 4th revised turbo, neatly avoiding the pitfalls of being an early adopter.

[thezoneR32]

So to re-hijack back my own thread and well.....send it a bit off topic I drove a Manual base model MY15 GTI today and a manual MY15 R and I hate to say it but I actually preferred the gti!

The gti felt more lively and responsive, easier to have fun with within the speed limit (80km/h) I found the R too hard for everyday use, less responsive to throttle at revs and the exhaust note to harsh in the midrange.

Flame on!

[h100vw]

So to re-hijack back my own thread and well.....send it a bit off topic I drove a Manual base model MY15 GTI today and a manual MY15 R and I hate to say it but I actually preferred the gti!

The gti felt more lively and responsive, easier to have fun with within the speed limit (80km/h) I found the R too hard for everyday use, less responsive to throttle at revs and the exhaust note to harsh in the midrange.

Flame on!

And you would be able to own a std one Paul?? I bet a tuned R would be a different car entirely.

[thezoneR32]

And you would be able to own a std one Paul?? I bet a tuned R would be a different car entirely.

hey Gav hows things in sunny QLD? I cant believe your min temps are the same as our maximum! Character building weather down here.

yeah I don't care so much for the bling anymore, but I do like the idea of the MY16 having bi-xenons, push button start and the upgraded nav unit as standard. Do you have a tune for the mk7 yet?

[Bengineer]

I don't have the PP but I do have the basica Stage 1 Revo tune on it. Different car after it for sure. Quite angry now, and considerably quicker across the board. Love it!

Next step is the intake I think.