Hi, as title suggests; what will I be looking at. I know someone else who has achieved 180 BHP and 180 foot pounds of torque balanced with a K04 but I am looking for a faster spooling turbo with a good kick rather than waiting for it to spool every time as it is such a small engine. Would a K03s put out the same power with faster spooling time? I am not quite sure if a K03s has the K04 compressor in a K03 housing? Can someone clear this up for me.
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Power to expect: K03s or K04?
- Thread starter Kazumz
- Start date
We ran 260bhp on a KO3 in the Xbow it spooled nicely but ran out of puff at the top of the rev range. We went to a KO4 and 320WHP, it was much nicer to race with and we didn't have much of a spooling issue, pulled from 3k to 8k nicely. That is a much lighter car and a racing car so might be a feel different on the road. That was on a TFSI engine mind.
Different type of k03 Sam.
The k03 would be more suited to the 1.2tce. A k04 would be far too laggy.
The k03 would be more suited to the 1.2tce. A k04 would be far too laggy.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing; its such a small engine and a K04 would make me think its a bit overkill. The issue is though that the standard TCE turbo runs out of puff after 4k RPM (I get 155 Foot Pounds which is lovely at 2.5K RPM), when will the K03s run out of puff? I want to keep the torque as pushy as possible to 6k.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing; its such a small engine and a K04 would make me think its a bit overkill. The issue is though that the standard TCE turbo runs out of puff after 4k RPM (I get 155 Foot Pounds which is lovely at 2.5K RPM), when will the K03s run out of puff? I want to keep the torque as pushy as possible to 6k.
If thats the case then it is perfect for my engine as my limiter is 5,800?
Excellent. Will post results any time this year; I've got no schedule as I'm in no rush as I am saving for a Mortgage. Will I need to uprate my engine internals? Last thing I want is to snap a rod! 160 Foot Pounds/160BHP safe for this engine as I believe it is 110/ Foot Pounds standard/100BHP? Can someone confirm that the TCE uses uprated internals for the turbo that comes from the car or still standard from the non-turbo engine or I'll have to reconsider this switchout.
I'm not sure how much destructive testing has been done to the 1.2 tce. Try it, find out. 
I'm not sure how much destructive testing has been done to the 1.2 tce. Try it, find out.
Psssh, I suppose the only issue with that is that if I am hammering it then the only way I find out if something goes wrong is when it pops! Unless someone can provide another way of checking engine health? At the moment my engine tickover is terrible sounding but I think that's been a trend for me since I've had a Mark 2 on to 3 and on to this one.
Do you think If I slap a K03s on there; it will hold 160 foot pounds steady to limiter?
Depends on the mapping for instance my LCR was mapped by someone up in Wolverhampton, made 287 and 293lb/ft apparently and was very peaky.
Took it to badger5 in Gloucester. It then ran 265 and 240lb/ft. He did an amazing job mapping it, came away with 287bhp and 285lb/ft. Except it had 285lb/ft from 3500rpm-6000!
As for checking health, your unable to see how strong rods are without bending them. You can do various tests to an engine to see how it is at that point, but several things can change that and fast.
for instance my LCR was mapped by someone up in Wolverhampton, made 287 and 293lb/ft apparently and was very peaky.Took it to badger5 in Gloucester. It then ran 265 and 240lb/ft. He did an amazing job mapping it, came away with 287bhp and 285lb/ft. Except it had 285lb/ft from 3500rpm-6000!
As for checking health, your unable to see how strong rods are without bending them. You can do various tests to an engine to see how it is at that point, but several things can change that and fast.
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Depends on the mapping
Took it to badger5 in Gloucester. It then ran 265 and 240lb/ft. He did an amazing job mapping it, came away with 287bhp and 285lb/ft. Except it had 287lb/ft from 3500rpm-6000!
As for checking health, your unable to see how strong rods are without bending them. You can do various tests to an engine to see how it is at that point, but several things can change that and fast.
As someone with no mechanical knowledge for the inner workings of an engine; if be pretty screwed if I snapped a rod. What kind of tests can you perform to check health? Would diagnostics and dyno work?
It takes a lot to snap a rod. Generally you'll bend them, and then because it's bent it then lowers the compression, this saving the rod. 20vt's are renowned for bending rods.
You can do leak down test, compression test, oil pressure test, but that's about it.
You can do leak down test, compression test, oil pressure test, but that's about it.
I'll have a look for the graph. Something's wrong in my memory! It was an epic torque curve however, was back when I first had it and since then it had gone big turbo etc.
How did you work that out? Can you explain it to me. Also, my target is 160BHP TOPS, what will I be looking at?
You sure? The 1.8t 225 tt's run the ko3s and are 225 bhp in a 1 1/2 tonne car, and you can push even more once they have been mapped.
Edit: Scrap that it is a KO4, my mistake.
The k03 on the tfsi is more like a k04 on the 1.8t.
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