KO4 Turbo review

[Petrina Polo]

I have APR tune, FMIC, Dump pipe and full exhaust, seat intake, BMC, APR DV and thought about the K04.. (still thinking about it)

You always want more power, but for this little car I think ive reached the limit without destroying its drivability..

I think other issues will come with the K04... Broken gearboxes, diff, clutch, pressure on motor.

At the moment, its pretty quick, nice to drive, doesnt do anything crazy, doesnt feel like something is gonna let go. I think leave it that way..

Plus for the $3000+ it will cost for the K04, you might get another 15-20kw atw on top of my car. But get more lag too. Will it be significantly quicker?? Will it be $3000+ quicker?? not sure about that one. Theres nothing worse than handing over $3000+ and you drive away and its not significantly faster. (ive done that before)

[pogo_55]

I have APR tune, FMIC, Dump pipe and full exhaust, seat intake, BMC, APR DV and thought about the K04.. (still thinking about it)

You always want more power, but for this little car I think ive reached the limit without destroying its drivability..

I think other issues will come with the K04... Broken gearboxes, diff, clutch, pressure on motor.

At the moment, its pretty quick, nice to drive, doesnt do anything crazy, doesnt feel like something is gonna let go. I think leave it that way..

Plus for the $3000+ it will cost for the K04, you might get another 15-20kw atw on top of my car. But get more lag too. Will it be significantly quicker?? Will it be $3000+ quicker?? not sure about that one. Theres nothing worse than handing over $3000+ and you drive away and its not significantly faster. (ive done that before)

I have to ask - have you ever driven one?

I doubt it by your comments. I have had mine for about a year now and I love it. It does not have the bang at around 2k you get with the tuned K03s, instead it is builds it's boost more gradually, still starts about 2k but not coming to full boost till nearer 3K and holding it much longer than the K03s. So I think it is nicer to drive and probably kinder/easier on the gearbox, clutch etc than the K03s.

As for bang per buck, an fmic + downpipe will cost close to $3K and how much power does that get you? From what I've seen on dyno day printouts average chipped car 123kw, fmic and downpipe 131kw = 8kw gain. I know there are a few cars with more but I did say average.

Checkout this review of a K04.

http://www.more-bhp.com/project_polo_gti.html

[Petrina Polo]

You forgot to mention that despite the questionable bang for your buck of FMIC and dump pipe, they are pre-requisites for the K04.. So you need them..

So if are out there thinking K04, make sure you add FMIC and dump pipe/full exhaust to the bill as well as clutch and diff.

So that $3000+ I was talking about for me could be $6000 for some with chip only.

Ive modded heaps of cars and when you go to far the car loses drivability. Instead of an 07 model it will feel like driving a 20 year old car. I dont dispute it will go better the car will lose all its refinement.

[pogo_55]

Yes mine has the down pipe but it doesn't have an fmic (yet).

As I said imho it is nicer to drive and actually feels that this is the way it should have come from the factory. I have done 15,000km with the k04, 45k in total and it is still on the original clutch and gearbox. APR say it produces 180kw with just the turbo and downpipe. No mention of needing an fmic. There have been people on this forum saying they couldn't notice much, if any difference with an fmic. I reckon it would certainly help on the track, but not convinced it is really necessary for a street chipped polo with either a k03s or k04.

The gearbox and clutch are not unknown to have problems on the chipped k03s, I really don't think there is a much greater risk with the K04 given its smoother power delivery.

[JCM308]

Petrina I don't understand your logic.

Yes to get the most out of the KO4 you should have FMIC etc but you don't have to have anything except a tune ($2750 from APR inc turbo + tune).

Even with just the turbo and tune the power increase would be significant. no it won't be massive but it leaves you some room to play with.

At the end of the day you're only going up 1 size in turbo. Remember the S3 has this on it's standard setup and that in no way drives like a 20 year old clunker.

At the end of the day if you do the mods right you won't have any problems, if you cheap out then keep your wallet open.

[Petrina Polo]

S3 didnt have our gearbox or diff or chasis.

I would love a K04 turbo myself...

If it has significantly more punch, Ill like that...id worry about the gearbox and clutch and diff, Can you imagine going to VW asking for one? they would hit you for a home run.

BUT if it doesnt make significantly more power then is it worth the money?

I bought a Polo gti because i was sick of the crap offered up by tuning workshops of XR6T's. They would literally laugh when things broke on them "saying you play, you pay".. "thats the price of power"

I just want to keep the feel of our lovely cars whilst adding power, but keep the reliability and drivability as well.

Who knows, Ill get bored and end up chucking a K04 on it, eat my words hopefully... Or maybe ill end up selling it because the drivability is ruined.

[JCM308]

S3 didnt have our gearbox or diff or chasis.

I would love a K04 turbo myself...

If it has significantly more punch, Ill like that...id worry about the gearbox and clutch and diff, Can you imagine going to VW asking for one? they would hit you for a home run.

BUT if it doesnt make significantly more power then is it worth the money?

That's true and it's AWD but the engine is pretty much the same.

Going up 1 size in turbo isn't going to completely ruin the drivability of the car (been there done that a few times on previous rides).

As I said if you do the mods right you won't have a problem (also depends on how heavy your right foot is )

[Plautos]

The drivability is not ruin, actually in my opinion is better...

My point of view... After some mods I reach lots of torque at low rpms, so I couldn't drive the car comfortably at traffic, because it was always trying to accelerate... I could reduce torque at low rpms with the LWFW and now with the new cam.

This car is indestructible, the gearbox is holding great, the clutch, including the engine... my worst and only problem are the 3 bolts holding the turbo, I think I solve it, but I'm only going to be sure in a TD.

[mikepologti]

The drivability is not ruin, actually in my opinion is better...

My point of view... After some mods I reach lots of torque at low rpms, so I couldn't drive the car comfortably at traffic, because it was always trying to accelerate... I could reduce torque at low rpms with the LWFW and now with the new cam.

This car is indestructible, the gearbox is holding great, the clutch, including the engine... my worst and only problem are the 3 bolts holding the turbo, I think I solve it, but I'm only going to be sure in a TD.

quick question, did you upgrade the engine mount?..........and i know im going to cop some flac for this but my brain isnt working this morning, so what does LWFW stand for?

[Plautos]

quick question, did you upgrade the engine mount?..........and i know im going to cop some flac for this but my brain isnt working this morning, so what does LWFW stand for?

Yes I did.

Light weight flywheel

[Chrisuk-polo]

which k04 are we all ranting about as there are 3 different ones and one of them is not much different than a k03s??

[Plautos]

which k04 are we all ranting about as there are 3 different ones and one of them is not much different than a k03s??

I think they are speaking about the k04-001.

It is the only K04 plug'n'play for transversal engines.

The geometry is the same, but the turbo shaft is bigger.

[AusScare]

What 0-100, 1/4 mile times do you get with a k04 compared to k03.

Without even owning the car (lol), I reckon if you're still chasing more performance after a list such as chipped's, it might be an idea to get a different car.

I would've thought a mk4 R32 with one or two power mods would be a better drive?

Discuss

[mikepologti]

dont quote me but i think someone here got a high 13 quater mile.

[Plautos]

What 0-100, 1/4 mile times do you get with a k04 compared to k03.

Without even owning the car (lol), I reckon if you're still chasing more performance after a list such as chipped's, it might be an idea to get a different car.

I would've thought a mk4 R32 with one or two power mods would be a better drive?

Discuss

When I bought the Polo I thought to buy a "better" car, but a "better" car is expensive in every way, maintenance, taxes, etc... and here in Brazil, all the good sport cars are imported, so they are expensive, including the Polo GTI.

With the Polo I have an engine capable to reach 500hp with the correct tune, combined with a light chassis giving a good handling.

I never raced to be sure in how much time it does 0-100 or the ¼ mile, but with the k04 the car if much faster. With the k03s the engine grows until 4000rpm, with the k04 the engine still growing until 7000rpm.

It is a small turbo, will give you power when you want, not like the big turbos giving all the power at once.

Just for a comparison, when I had raced in Interlagos with the Polo, there is a left turn in a climb called Junction (Junção), I had done it with the third gear with an Audi RS4 in front of me. We climbed together, he didn't open and I didn't close the distance.

But in the end, it is always a question of taste. With how much power we will be satisfied...