Well, FIRST a little background, I HAD a Wett chip (1 bar) installed in my car for about a month but after seeing that Greedspeed was selling the K04 for $1450 I decided it was a better value. I figured it would be nice to have the bigger turbo, especially when you compare the price of the Wett chip to the Greedspeed K04 Kit, it's only about $800 difference and for that $800 you get the K04 Software, K04 Turbo, new thermostat, fan switch, and spark plugs. Besides (don't flame me for this!) I didn't think the Wett chip was <br>Worth $650 let alone $480 better than a Neu/Greedspeed chip! <p>That said… here I go!<br>I had the turbo installed at the dealership I work at (VW) so I figured these guys would know how to install it, and besides I know and trust these people (not to mention a very low hourly rate being an employee and all ;o) very straightforward installation, but plan on an oil and coolant change! When the installation was complete, I drove down to Camarillo (about 6 hours away) with the K04 and the stock program to meet Anthony (Greedspeed). The turbo and stock program definitely work together, and the turbo feels well… damn near stock, it feels like it spools up a bit more eagerly and the throttle response seems a bit quicker than the K03. After the chip was installed, I went for a spin around the block (to make sure the ECU was Okay) and I must say it felt GREAT. Boy, amazing power and pull from this combo. Impressed is an understatement. With the Wett chip, power came on REALLY strong initially and then fizzled away, with the K04/Neu chip power comes very evenly, a nice linear pull to redline. For those of you with K03 1bar chips, you know what I'm talking about when I say that first gear is waaaaay too short, now with the K04, it seems like 1st AND 2nd gear are too short! The car just pulls and pulls, I must say that in my opinion linear (Neu) feels MUCH MUCH better than non-linear! I remember that part-throttle response with the Wett chip felt the SAME as stock… the only power surge was with the pedal to (or at least near) the floor. I asked about this and I was told that you only feel the significant power above 11-12 psi. With the K04, the car feels MUCH more gutsy even with the pedal at half throttle. On the way back to the Bay Area, with my girlfriend driving my car, an Acura Legend (V6) was between lanes and cutting everyone off trying to get ahead in traffic. Anyway, I told my girlfriend to just pass him, so she leans on the go-fast pedal… he obviously sees us accelerating and he floors it, we're dead even and pulling at the same rate, but something was wrong, we didn't PULL past him we were just accelerating… I asked her "Are you FLOORING it?" she said "No, but I'm already at 105, I didn't need to" (when she hit 110, I told her to back off and let this psycho pass, if he wanted to get ahead that badly let him)<p>The car feels great!!! The K04 is more vocal than the K03 and you know he means business. All I can say is, for $1450 it's DEFINITELY worth getting. I was content with the Wett chip, but I always had questions: for $650, is this worth it? Is my turbo going to be okay? All I have to say is I don't have those concerns any more, and there's no question that that there's MORE power than just a chip, and now, there's potential for more power than the chip alone! I was also told that with the K03 an exhaust is worth about 10 more hp, and with the K04 it's closer to 15, so now I'm waiting for the Neuspeed exhaust (supposedly it's the only exhaust with a flex-joint, like the stock one). <br>I hope this helps some of you out there, if there are any questions feel free to email me!<p>Terence<br>1.8TQMS Greedspeed K04!!!

Nice write up Terence. Do you think that the K04 will put more stress on your engine than the Wett chip did? It seems that the extra power comes on earlier (less throttle) because the turbo reaches higher pressure sooner and runs at higher pressure for longer periods. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the post. I'm interested in this kit. Were you advised to upgrade the turbo hoses (or anything else) with this setup?

NT\

did they decide to back off for warranty reasons? You talked about it back in August but haven't heard from you since.<p>Getting back to the K04, man, now you got me wondering, but I think for my usage, I'll settle for just a Neuspeed at 11psi.<p>HermanH<br>98.5 Passat 1.8tm

<br>MTM is the exhaust...it has the flex, but it is quite large, 2 3/4 ". It may not match up with your program. It does need to be hooked up to a modified Cat.

I was wondering,<br> Common sense tells me that a larger turbo will take longer to spool up due to lots of factors (larger mass of the impeller, more exhaust needed to fill the larger volume of the turbo yada yada...) but you mentioned that the K04 seems to feel about stock (with power starting at about 2000 RPM?) and ever "more eager to spool up" much to my surprize.<br> Please elaborate on this! My biggest hangup to getting a larger turbo (besides the fact it's my wife's car :) is that I don't want it to turn into a lagging, peaky, turbo car reminiscent of the 80's. Ever drive an old Mitsu Starion? Lag lag lag lag then BAM! shift...... lag lag lag lag BAM! You get what I mean? How close to stock is it in drivability? Other than the gears have seemed to shrink a little.<p>Grazie!<p>Enzo

I really don't think that stressing the engine is as big a deal when you're under 350hp.<br>I was talking to Anthony @ Greedspeed (VERY knowledgeable guy) and he said that<br>basically engines are designed to take 2 to 3 times their rated HP, so I figure since the<br>engine is originally designed with 180hp in mind, it should be fine to at LEAST 300hp...<br>Besides I think the biggest concern is blowing the turbo itself, not the engine, so with <br>the K04 no problem with blowing the Turbo, it's designed for the higher boost...<p><br>Terence<br>

I actually asked the tech who installed my kit (the actual VW technician who<br>went to the B5 Passat trainiing course) and he said that (his opinion) it's not<br>the BEST idea to run really stiff hoses, the softer hoses were chosen for a reason<br>and it's a little softer so it acts as a "suspension" to the components they're feeding.<p>He said make sure the hoses are in good condition and they're all clamped down<br>properly. He said he's seen hoses go bye-bye but most of the time they're not <br>clamped down properly. I hope this helps...<p>Terence

I'd listen to stevebrown, if 230 is the HP rating for the tranny, the upgrade is <br>only putting out 225 maybe slightly more, I think it would be fine. I think maybe<br>you should call Advanced Mortorsport (yes, they're a sponsor here) they actually<br>had a torque converter go bad because of all the HP they're running and I THINK<br>that they said nothing over 240... Hope this helps...<p>Terence

I don't think there's any more lag than stock, the thing is between idle and boost (+/- 1760rpm) the normally aspirated 4cyl engine is the SAME with either turbo, when we <br>were comparing the turbo's, the cold air turbine (I think that's what they call it) on the <br>K03 were flatter while the K04 was more angular, so my theory is while both are<br>spinning at the same RPM the K04 is sucking in more volume, which would explain <br>why there's more power throughout the RPM range although BOOST is the same. <br>If you go to donp's website (go to: www.fortunecity.com/silverstone/chicane/175/index.htm)<br>there's a picture of the two turbines, when we measured the housing around the turbines<br>they housing around the K04 turbine is 2mm wider than the K03... you can actually see<br>this in his pictures. I'm sure this has something to do with more power.. I don't know what <br>it is EXACTLY, but hehe it sure feels good!<p>I hope this answers your question... and it DOESN'T feel like my friend's old Starion! (R.I.P.)<br>Just a nice pull to redline... a nice FAST torquey pull to redline!<p>Terence<p><br>

I don't think they're going to do the chips themselves because the chips aren't socketed<br>(like say the OBD-II VR6's) and it's easier to send customers over to New Dimensions<br>we actually have a very good working relationship with ND and they're not bad at what <br>they do. With the Passat's and A4's they have swap-out ECU's so there's no downtime,<br>but I'm not sure what they charge. Supposedly VW is cracking down on dealerships that<br>allow ECU mods, and that's why they're not doing it for the time being... but as the saying<br>goes, when the cat's away... <p>I hope this helps some, sorry I haven't written in a while, I only work there weekends now <br>so I'm away from most of the service and parts stuff.<p>Ya, if you're thinking the 11psi chip will suffice go for it, you just can't beat it for $160,<br>but if you were going to spend $650 for a wett chip, I'd seriously try to talk you into this<br>killer turbo upgrade!<p>Terence<br>

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And from what I hear it'll be down pipe back, which will be especially nice <br>because on 1.8T's the cat is right next to the turbo. I guess this will make it<br>like a downpipe-back exhaust, and because on quattro's the exhaust flow is<br>pretty good, the main performance gain will be from the design of the downpipe.<br>At least this is what I'm told....<p><br>Terence