Does anyone else find the turbo a bit laggy?

[sssstew]

Im just wondering if its just me or whether anyone else find the turbo a bit laggy under 2500 rpm really i guess.

As the 1.8T is pretty torquey you dont need to rev the nuts off it so i tend to leave it down low in the rev range but then find it can be pretty laggy. Ive got a PD160 intake which should help pick up a bit but im guessing a remap would be the only way to improve it.

Anyone elses comments or experience?

[team_v]

Im just wondering if its just me or whether anyone else find the turbo a bit laggy under 2500 rpm really i guess.

As the 1.8T is pretty torquey you dont need to rev the nuts off it so i tend to leave it down low in the rev range but then find it can be pretty laggy. Ive got a PD160 intake which should help pick up a bit but im guessing a remap would be the only way to improve it.

Anyone elses comments or experience?

A quick ecu remap (APR, customcode, superchips/bluefiin, DNAtuning) should fix that problem.

Unfortuantely the K03 is the earliest spooling turbo available and all the upgraded ones are larger and therefore more laggy.

[seangti]

Go drive a subaru. I really don't find them laggy down low and would rate that as one the strengths (torque as you've suggested), but that's after a subaru, which once it goes through the 2500-3000rpm is great, but under that you wait.

I'm guessing from your forum name you've had a SSS pulsar, the SR20 engine is those was pretty strong for NA (remembering back 10yrs when they were new and I was a youngster). The turbo cars have a different character which may take a little change in driving style. A few more revs off the line when you want it to go, they are happiest in mid range revs.

[Bora Sport]

My Polo is chipped admittedly but it pulls like a 16 year old from around 1,900rpm. Actually I rarely rev past 4,750 and I can honestly say that I have never noticed turbo lag in my Polo GTI.

[break]

Erm... laggy... stock they push out max torque (and max boost of 9psi) just below 2k rpm :S

If that is too laggy for you, then turbo cars just aren't for you i'm afraid. Most other turbo 4cyl cars are hitting full boost up around the 2500-3500 zone depending on the car (4000rpm if you have a 2.0L STi).

After chipping the car it only gets worse, as peak boost now jumps to 18-21psi depending on the tune, and that doesn't hit until 2400-2600rpm in the Polo's

[Julian Edgar]

The std car is very non-laggy!

If that is too laggy for you, then turbo cars just aren't for you i'm afraid.

^this

[Greg Roles]

About all you can do is go for a smaller, quicker to spool but less flow up top turbo, an expensive twin turbo setup, a small supercharger ala twincharge TSI, inject expensive nitrous pre boost or like me watch the development of electrically aided turbo's with great interest! It's a common problem, but as mentioned VW is up there with the least laggy currently available that still produce good power.

[busytimmy]

I like the (little) lag there is; makes the 'kick' feel stronger when it does spool up

[pologti18t]

The standard 1.8T tune is very soft. Little or no lag. Very linear through the rev range. If you look at a torque curve you will see that VW have really knobbled the standard car.

APR - High Performance Development for Audi, VW and Porsche Vehicles.

[noone]

Could be you have a small leak...

[sssstew]

hmm thanks everyone for their comments, great to get others insights. I think maybe im just not revving it enough and drive it low down in the rev range all the time in the traffic, probably getting a bit of heat soak in the traffic too.

It might be a small boost leak, i am going to get vag com on it next month and log the boost to see if its ok.

SeanGTI - no havent had a SSS, my name is an age old legacy from back in 1997 when i was registering a yahoo email address and stew was taken so i kept adding s's until i got one.

[instigator]

heat soak is a common factor on the polo GTI.
and occurs pretty fast also, traffic and slow driving can result in this yes.

you can allways check for leaks, maybe you have a small one, small enough so you don't notice it's there,
big enough to cause pressureloss and turbolag.

as said also, polo normally pulls from around 2000 -2300rpm stock.
so if you notice any diffrence in this you could check this.

someone said something about subaru?
they are even more laggy...
i recently did rolling starts against a friends stock impreza, not impressed below 3000rpm...
polo picks up much quicker

[break]

Also note, your wastegate won't close on your turbo (ie. you won't actually get any boost) until you half the accelerator depressed to around half-throttle.

So yeah, mash your foot harder into the pedal IMO

[Greg Roles]

Yeah heatsoak, forgot that all important one! MkV Pogo GTI has the sidemount IC yeah? Definate area for improvement!

[noone]

With stock power, it should be ok. Very noticable in the heat after a retune.