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chances are you exhaust wont need to be replaced anytime soon and if you dont upgrade the exhaust youll probly have kids on bikes pass you off the line because of the lag with the K04

 

I put together a Garret T3 system and i works fine it cost me about $400 for the exhaust manifold, $250 for the external wastegate, $400 for the turbo (eBay "Andres Turbos" check his eBay store out its pretty cool) $300 for the downpipe $300 for the S-Afc, $275 for the injectors, and $259 for the electronic boost controller. i bought it peice by peice and did all the install work myself, oh yeah i had to get a new clutch $523 for the clutch about $600 for the install

 

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Do you have a boost gauge? If not, get one, install it, and record the boost levels. You'll need it after you get a chip anyway.

You could get it VAGed and do some data runs to see what the turbos are doing (and you could see if the ecu is throwing any codes, as well).

APR is a well respected tuner. Their products are solid and well made; their fan base is large and loyal, too. If you chip first and then get a turbo upgrade later, you will need the appropriate software (new chip) for the turbo. Of course you will need the additional support mods to accomodate the upgraded turbo, too.

 

You can tell pretty easily if your turbo is not boosting. It lacks about all pick up without the turbo. As for the upgrades, yes, you can chip first and upgrade turbo later. APR is a good name, solid research and quality product. If you do the chip upgrade, remember to replace the by-pass valve. I did the chip upgrade and the turbo later. My chip came from TAP and the turbo from pro-imports.com. Keep us posted.

 

damn... sry I was out of town for the past 4 days.

Just because your turbo is lagging it doesnt mean you need a new one. There are lots of reasons your turbo may not be performing the way it should. MAF readings could be off, BPV could be sticking open until enough boost is applied to close it (hence how you feel it is normal once you are up and moving).

Also regarding iridium plugs - when you go to iridium plugs you do sacrifice some performance in order to promote longevity. Its been proven they are not as effective as copper - especially in high combustion temp engines like the 1.8t.

If your turbo truly is dying, you will most likely hear it. It will whine and whistle when at high rpm but at low speed (ie 1st gear) - kinda like a siren. Once the turbo dies completely the car will run like a pig and you will have to rev the car to redline just to get any pull out of it.

Yeah APR is a fine company that dedicates its perfomance to Audi and the VW realm. You will not go wrong with APR. If you plan to upgrade the turbo, do not chip it now - you will need new software with a new turbo anyway. And APR does not make an equivalent to the K04 software. And like Slim says, with out reinforced back pressure from an upgraded exhaust system, you will not get the pull you expect from a turbo upgrade.

 

Alright, I have always wondered if you just do the downpipe and leave the stock catback exhaust, until it can be replaced with a new high flow catback exhaust. Ough and everything for the turbo upgrade was done; implying on my first sentence.

 

If you're asking if it's OK to install an upgrade downpipe alone with no other exhaust mods, then...

Sure.