I spoke to Neuspeed yesterday.<p>As many know, they're chip is only $199 but boasts only a mile 30hp increase. they claim that boosting it to 40-50hp will overspin the current K03 turbo. for serious power, get the K04 upgrade for 230hp. this make a lot of sense since the new TT (180hp version) is also 180hp with only software and more boost. <p>Their short shifter _will_ be expensive...their current GTI (cable actuated) kit is near $700. yes, the audi one is similar in price (but he didn't _say_ it was $700). you'd better believe i'm gonna be tearing out my shifter when i get the car on tuesday (finally).<p>They didn't say much about the exhaust, either. However, got some interesting new from my business partner regarding exhausts. We're going to have one built by a guy locally who does work for Borla (small production and custom work)...awesome welds, uses a special kind of stainless which is "non-magnetic". if you can figure out how stainless can be "non-magnetic", tell me, because i'm not sure. anyhow, i've seen my partners exhaust on his BMW 535i Turbo and it looks a month old (but is already 10 years old).<p>Will keep everyone posted.<ul><li><a href="http://www.shortshifter.com">UUC Motorwerks - www.shortshifter.com</a></li></ul>

Stainless is usually nonmagnetic. Grade 304, the most common grade can become magnetic after cold working the material, but the magnetism can be removed by annealing. I'm not sure why this is true (too much time in organic chemistry, not enough time in inorganic!).<p>Steve

This is true for most chip-tuning companies with regards to boosting the hp up to 40-50. When they do this they place the boost to around 14 lbs. TAP on the other hand puts the boost to 11 lbs, but is still able to increase the hp to 40+. This lower boost pressure allows the stock turbo to remain functioning normally. You should upgrade your turbo when you raise the boost to over 14 lbs. The Stage 2 chip upgrade only raises this to 12.5 lbs, which puts out 50+ hp.

Ben, welcome to the board btw.<p>Newspeed is a fine company, but this overspeed nonsense keeps me from trusting their turbo knowledge, or at least their ethics.<p>First of all the KKK 03 is ENGINEERED for 1.0 bar. It will not blow up from 1 bar of boost because the designed it to work with a 1 bar ceiling. Don't believe me, call them yourself. There are thousands of 1 bar chip owners out there. How many 1 bar turbo or engine failures have we heard from??! NONE Not an issue.<p>How do the engineering geniuses at Nuespeed KNOW that 1 bar is overspinning the turbo? They refuse to tell me. I know a few places with very expensive testing equipment that can actually measure the shaft speed, no takers.<p>To finish this argument off, ask N about the KKK 04 turbo. How is its shaft diameter, bearing design, and metalurgy different from the KKK 03? Doh, they vouch for ITS design at 1 bar. <p>Don't get me wrong. I think that the 04 upgrade is perfect for the car. I just fail to see why retailers slam other peoples products with completely unsubstantiated garbage.

I took apart the shifter the other day and definitely does not look like it's going to cost $700 for the parts... One thing is though the bottom unit of the shifter is made oud of I believe ABS, plastic or something.. definitely not metal though.. I am thinking of getting a shop to fabricate an extension for the bottom part of the shifter.. What do you think of this idea?<p>Dmak 1.8TQMS

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Overspinning the turbo with an internal wastegate can cause problems in the long run...The heat generated by the extra power can and will weaken the wastegate rod. It happened to me. Just wait awhile, I believe we'll see more people with broken wastegate rods in the future.<p>Ben...If you have the money, go with the K04 upgrade. Not only is it safer, it's worth the money compared to a $700 chip...