Where to now? POWERRR

[s4mmie]

After new-car shopping and coming up empty handed and very underwhelmed by what's on the market at the moment, I've decided the Polo will be my last performance hurrah before I settle down and buy an SUV to cart the dogs and the kids around.

So this begs the question, where can I take the 1.8T's performance?

Ant's been pushing the limits of the K03 on the 1.8T, a few are running K04's and getting good numbers.
From what I gather, there's a few limitations to work with...
1. Is it the gearbox or the rods? are only safe for around 400Nm of torque... sad face.
2. Grip! Trying to get enough rubber under those skinny little guards and getting them to hook up.


I want grunt. Lots of grunt. I'm thinking a K04 would be a good start. So now, how do we choose a K04? APR do a bolt on kit for the 1.8T good for 180kw/388Nm. I've heard good things about JBS, not so much about the Frankenturbos, or go a custom hybrid route?

I'm concerned about picking good hardware and having a competent tuner available to tune the combo. From observing other builds, I would like to try Custom Code for these future mods. Obviously if I went the APR kit, I get the tune for free but APR tunes seems to be more conservative (nothing wrong with that) than the Custom Code, as seen at our recent dyno day.

JBS hybrids coupled with CC seems to get good reviews... solid 300+Hp and 400+Nm torquies.

[gavs]

Have you checked out LOBA Motorsport for turbos? That's about the depth of my knowledge engine wise. Re grip, you need to get the front stiffened up enough to transmit the power to the road without the flexing from all the rubbers. Take a look at what Eddy has done to his from en and then look at another brace underneath tying everything back the the chassis more rigidly.

Then you can look at tyres, the WRX STI used to to run (I think) Michelin semi slicks which were good enough for daily use. Maybe look into them for the grip you are after.

[Buller_Scott]

Regarding grip, I found that my koni adjustables had my front tyres screeching from 1st-2nd gear under hard acceleration, when set on 4/5 clicks of stiffness. However, no such issue when on full soft - obviously, they were hooking up much more effectively, which means that TOO much stiffness can be counter productive when playing with damping settings, if you're chasing outright grip (in my case, not for red light grand prix, but rather for ultimate cornering ability).

As for tyres, I found that my Federal 595 RS-R's were awesome - plenty predictable on the limit, with ooooooodles of turn in. They do need to be run at pretty high pressures though - my hot temps were around 40.5psi in the fronts, if i recall correctly. They were cheap, too, from Option1Garage, up your way.

[Stuwey]

Tyres will only help 'so' much. Get a diff.

[VWindahouse]

Hey mate, if you can hold off about 3 weeks or so I can let you know how a custom ball bearing turbo with CC stage III works out with Dyno and 1/4 mile figures to add weight to your decision In the mean time come for a spin in the Devil.

As for the APR K04, well you were there and saw the results first hand at the recent dyno day. I can tell you from spending hours on VWvortex that the Frankenturbos will make about 20-50 more HP atw depending on tune and supporting mods than a stock standard k04. More with E85.

The JBS is the next level in development. Jump on both sites to see the differences. And then the custom turbo coming for me incorporates ceramic ball bearing innovation coupled with the JBS format.

I know I'm eventually up for a gear set upgrade and I may as well will do a wavetrac diff while I'm there but that's cool by me because I know if I jump ship now into another car I will just be tipping a heap of cash into the garbage disposal.

Hope this helps

[Njay]

Hey mate, if you can hold off about 3 weeks or so I can let you know how a custom ball bearing turbo with CC stage III works out with Dyno and 1/4 mile figures to add weight to your decision

You bastard what turbo?

[kaanage]

Regarding grip, I found that my koni adjustables had my front tyres screeching from 1st-2nd gear under hard acceleration, when set on 4/5 clicks of stiffness. However, no such issue when on full soft - obviously, they were hooking up much more effectively, which means that TOO much stiffness can be counter productive when playing with damping settings,

gavs was talking about chassis stiffness. Besides Eddy's little blue girl, the other car to look at would be jasonc23 - his Winton lap times have plummetted since fitting the front and rear Ultra Racing under braces.

I agree with Stuwey, though - without AWD, the best solution is an LSD or TBD.

[VWindahouse]

You bastard what turbo?

It's from a very innovative turbo company in Australia called Billet Turbo. Will be a first of its kind

[Njay]

It's from a very innovative turbo company in Australia called Billet Turbo. Will be a first of its kind

Ah yes the ball bearing k04 was gonna see how mine handles the Frankenturbo and think about that a little down the track

[philthy]

After new-car shopping and coming up empty handed and very underwhelmed by what's on the market at the moment

Just curious, what did you look at? I'm fairly sure I'll be trading my polo in on a MY11/12 WRX in the next year or so... AWD, wide track, ~ 200 awkw without much effort.. (**** interior tho).

[noone]

Seems to be a few taking the Polo down this path currently.
I'd definitely want to pair it with a LSD, fwd and decent power seem to need a good balance.
Worth looking at the BT setups on Polo Uk and what Badger5 does on Cupra net.

[h100vw]

Just went around the block briefly with Troy in his Polo. Frankenturbo feels strong, traction is an issue, how wide and sticky can you go before putting money into the diff.......

Lets not forget that a K04/Hybrid moves much more air than a strung out K03s. The delivery is much different, everyone seem to forget that 20 K03s PSI is very, very different to 20 K04 PSI. The volume of air being produced is what you need to be considering.

This is why a K04 can work with the std intercooler as per the APR kit. It doesn't create loads of heat like a wound up K03s.

Depends on your budget but the reason I never planned to go for more power in my deceased A3, was the need to open up the motor. Rods are cheap to buy installation is going to be costly if you are having a 3rd party fit them. There'd be a couple of days work in it.

A tough decision to make. Custom-Code prices are in my sponsor section, for all to see. So you can do your maths.

Gavin

[blitDz]

Just curious, what did you look at? I'm fairly sure I'll be trading my polo in on a MY11/12 WRX in the next year or so... AWD, wide track, ~ 200 awkw without much effort.. (**** interior tho).

I had an 06 Polo Club. Then I got 09 WRX Sedan before my current 06 GTI. I like the extra power and AWD but the poor quality of the car made me change back to VW within 2 Years. Id suggest an older STI based on the older shape GD chassis. Much stronger car all round and not everything is plastic inside.

Didn't know that the Franken turbo's made so much more power.

[s4mmie]

Just curious, what did you look at? I'm fairly sure I'll be trading my polo in on a MY11/12 WRX in the next year or so... AWD, wide track, ~ 200 awkw without much effort.. (**** interior tho).

Golf GTI, Golf R, Scirocco R, 6R Polo GTI, New and old Tiguans, Mini Countryman S, Mini Cooper S, Renault's, Citroen's to name just a few..
Overall pretty disappointed with what you get for your dollar. More so I've noticed with jap cars, but that's more personal taste.

I base a lot of my decision on the interior of the car and to be honest I think the interior in the pog is a nicer place to be. It's got to have the performance to match, but if the interior is crap I'll move on. I spend most of my time driving to woolworths or the beach not the track, so it has to be a nice place to live first and foremost.

Hey mate, if you can hold off about 3 weeks or so I can let you know how a custom ball bearing turbo with CC stage III works out with Dyno and 1/4 mile figures to add weight to your decision In the mean time come for a spin in the Devil.

Thanks Ant, I think I will. I'm looking at the JBS04 stage 2/3 kit (with or without exhaust manifold) so it will be good to see how you go. It would be nice to come for a spin to see what an extra 20kw and 50Nm feels like..

[noone]

How much coin are you looking to part with?