hello, A4 owners<p>I am posting this to help others so you hopefully will not have same problem as mine. <p>I do road race and drive for time trial session at some race track in southern CA. <p>I have had two K04 turbo kit and just few weeks ago, I blow up second turbo. <p>it seems like to me K04 turbo is not strong enough to hold 14.7lb(1.0) of boost, specially, if you go onrace track and run 30 minutes session or longer. <p>I am getting K04 SPORTS turbo from TAP this time. This turbo is good to run 18lb(1.3) of boost and max 22lb. I am going to get boost controler from HKS, so I can run 14lb on street and 18lb on race track. <p>My upgreades are Ex. maniford(ported) high flow cat and down pipe, full ex. system, custom air intake box with heat sheild tape, K&N filter, Samco hoses for intercooler, oil cooler. <p>if anyone out there who had same problem as mine please let me know and tell me what is your oppinion. <p>thanks

askldfj

How is it that the K04 is not stronger than K03? Is it because the K04 is bored out? I expect KKK brand turbos to last.... Can you give some explaination as to what happened? Did your turbo just crack open or ?? I am thinking of upgrading to K04 for street use.<br>Thanks,<p>Cris<br>

I'll bet I can guess...

And why would you want to run 18psi on the track if you continue to have problems with high boost on the track?<p>I really want to know who the programmer of the chip is. I think these things are grenading for reasons other than the strength of the KKK turbo unit.Here we see someone running an oil cooler, exhaust and high flow cat and down pipe. The variables are dwindling as to the flaw in the system. How aggressive are these chips running to push the claimed 235hp?

At the risk of pissing off the Neuspeed guys and others again, my personal opinion is that the KO4, as installed on the A4, cannot handle the heat generated by track use. I have the same opinion from an ex-Audi engineer, now with Peugot Sport. The oiling system, small shaft at the bearing, etc. just don't seem to work.<p>On the street, no problems. But there is much less heat build up even in "aggressive" street use!.

Your comments are the reason why.<p>Jeff R.

Sorry, but if that was the case, we would see K03's failing at the same rate. The issue is the tuning itself. end of story. i explained this all before, search the archives. the K04 problems are only related to 2 tuners. If what you say is true, how come the other tuners do not have the problems? I admit, the K04 isnt the best turbo for track use, i wouldnt use it to run LeMans but it is quite effiecient and reliable when properly modified.<p>Ned<p>

It is all development! As the previous poster mentioned, the engineer thought it was a poor choice for the next stage. And, I would have to agree given the current state of development by several tuners. (Garrett and I have a great discussion on this in the archives.)<p>Is the kkk04 a BAD choice? Not at all. It is an intermediate stage. BUT, it needs a better intercooler, better oil lines, injectors, headers (or bigger inner diameter stock), and some REAL chip tuning with an egt and a Horiba-quality O2 analyser. That is what development is all about. Not some cold plugs and a worthless thermostat.<p>Turbo development can't be faked for any length of time. At some point something will self-destruct, and that is what we have seen.<p>Ned is exactly right, IMHO, as far as the kkk04's design. If you push 1bar on the 4mm shaft in the kkk03 and 1 bar on the 4mm shaft kkk04 (AEBE), the kkk04 is actually turning slower. How is this then going to break the shaft? <p>It will likely break if you screw up the oiling or create a big boost spike with bad chip parameters. But then, so will the kkk03 (the same shaft again). What I have heard, is that the sustained 1(+)bar driving creates severely high egt's. This is due to some combination of running too lean (once again: BAD chip programming AND maxed-out stock injectors) and poor exhaust flow (poor stock header design).<p>Talk to your tuner and ask some probing questions.

eg. what chip would you recommend? Does a larger stock mount intercooler work or do you need to go with a front mount? If I don't trade my car in for a S4 can I get a reliable 240 hp out of my K-04 or should I upgrade to a different turbo and hardware? Thanks in advance.<p>andy

x<br>

i will not recommend any tuners because i am associated with a tuner and do not want to seem to be pushing a product. What i will recommend is to use common sense. If you look at the main A4 page, you will see a post by NeilM on the new S4. In the Technical Manual it says "- US version only 250 bhp/258 lbft vs euro with 265 bhp/295 lbft. this comes from the fact that turbo and exhaust temperatures may not exceed 1000C. (beyond that the heat destroys it) the traditional way to keep turbo and exhaust temperatures manangeable is to richen the fuel mixture. it appears that the ever tightening emission laws would cause the car to fail emissions under this scenario. thus the american S4 will no longer richen the mixture to keep a handle on exhaust/turbo temperatures but rather cut back on power and boost. other parts of the world have less restrictive emission laws and thus<br>continue to have mixture enrichment for exhaust/turbo cooling and thus higher output. "<br>This is the exact case with K04's. The issue is EGT and that is derived from ECU tuning as well as the parts list involved with the kit. So the only recommendation i can make is to buy from a tuner who can assure you that their kit has been properly designed and tested. there are a few out there.<p>Ned<br>

Since I respect your opinion on these matters, do you have one (or more) preferred tuners? Or maybe an ordered list of the whole bunch of 'em? Seems like:<p>1. Somebody is always around to swear by every single VW/Audi aftermarketer. IT ROCKS!<p>2. Somebody else is always around to swear AT same aftermarketer. IT SUCKS!<p>What's a person interested in the facts to believe?<p>-- David F.<br>1.8TqMS w/TAP Stage 1 (go ahead and let me have it)<br>E30 325is still awaiting full race mods<br>

I'm not in a position to give that kind of advice. What I can say is forget the tuner of the month club, as you point out. Choose a tuner who can say what the intercooler temps are after the mod, which injectors they go for and WHY, ask them for the dyno sheet, etc. Ask them what the progression of the stages are, and why.<p>Let them walk you through all the questions you have. If they aren't willing to do that, how can you trust them after the sale? I've wasted a fair amount of money in the past with so-called experts, and found a lot of BS in opinions. Even so, my s*** list is pretty short: R.Millen, the Revolution wheel dealer in Penn, and the Michigan rally light bulb dealer. In each case, I heard glowing reviews only to get screwed.<p>Trust your instincts.