The stock pistons are forged and made by Mahle. They have seen over 700hp already with the only things killing them is TB breaking or bad tuning putting them in a lean conditions. The only reason people swap pistons is to lower c/r or to run larger diam pistons.

 

maybe i am just dumb, but you already have a k04....... that is not good enough and streetable? you want more...... you say you wanna stay streetable, but are you wanting power when you want it or are you wanting to drop your boost and power for dding and then up it for the track on the weekend?

cause if you just want to be streetable wouldn't an elim kit be just a step up? if you want power and wanna be streetable at the same time wouldn't the apr kit be fine enough?

not trying the thread jack persay, but i am trying to get some answers for my self as well since my 01 has 95,xxx miles and my turbo might not last more than another year or might last me 3 more years

thanks again and sorry

 

ko4 = not much of a upgrade
elim = not the best for power or spool
apr = big $$$

plus you cant really buy a gt2871rfrom apr, well you can, but that is if they choose to sell it to you.

 

i understand that a k04 isn't much of an upgrade for the 01 cars, but i thought i was pretty good for the older ndbw cars........ also i know the apr is $'s but isn't it the most reliable in terms of bt cause of the way it acts and the tunning apr gives?

what i would want to achieve is a little more power out of my car without having to worry about going stage 3 or 4 clutch and without having to get too far into the motor

the reason i wouldn't just buy another k03 is that it would be almost as much for a new or slightly used one as an aftermarket turbo, correct?

i am mainly looking for a plug and play turbo with minimal changes.... i know i might have to do tunning, but that would be about all i would want to change

and a stage 3 or 4 clutch isn't a concern for driveablility, i had a dual friction clutch in my s-10 and it sounds to be about as muchleg work as a stage 3 or 4

 

Changing one thing ALWAYS leads to changing others. Either fueling, clutch, sw, and in most cases all and then some. On a DBC (not ndbw) your going to see bigger gains with a ko4, but still minimum since its not much bigger. You will always get mixed feelings on that upgrade. Of course APR is worth the $$ if you want to pay it and go with the turbo/power it offers.

If you dont want to change your clutch or swap in rods, you dont have much options in what you can go with. You can make good power with stock rods, but a clutch swap is going to be a must for just about any turbo change besides a tiny ko4

If you ever need to replace the turbo, a good used one isnt more than $200 with a decent amount of miles on it.

Even with a elim turbo, your still going to need to swap manifolds, so that negates most of the cost savings in doin it. There are plenty of clutches available for low 300hp that have stock like feel if not a bit stiffer. But nothing to make your leg go sore.

 

Even a ko4 requires a new clutch, my clutch was fine before the ko4, but once i had the new setup it started slipping, when i took it out, i still had a bit more life left in it. But let me assure you, im not trying to say the ko4 is awesome and puts out alot of power, i hate it. Waste of my money, and waste of chaos' money as well.

Chaos, they are making a point aboutthe streetability aspect of your turbo decision. If you can be safe with the .86 gt2871r then dont changethe internals.But if your going to replace rods, go all out, get the gt30 and screw the .64. I dont see how theres much of a median here. Because you know you will want more power if you opt for the smaller turbo.

 

I would go with a .63 gt2871r if you want low 300whp and if you want more like 350whp, go with the .63 gt3071r. Eitherway, I personally would go with a T3 .63 external gate if you ever plan on upgrading, if not, a .64 gt2871r is fine. You can always run a 3071r at 17-18psi until you can throw in some scat rods ($350 + labor and rings if you need them).

 

hey cincy, would you recommend upgrading the pistons? im getting one of those head gaskets that lower c/r and i think the stock pistons should have no problem with this setup.

lol the k04 is nowhere near enough power for me. as for the elim's, yeah they're great streetable turbo's , but again not enought power for me. a gt28rs is the smallest i would go, but i just think going with that, i will change my mind down the road. so its between the 2871r and the 3071r for me. i dont really want boost to kick in only after 4k so the gt3071r is looking less appealing. and i can possibly get a full 2871r w/ all the hardware for 1500. hard to pass something like that up.

if i was gona get the .86 ar, i would probly rather get the gt3071r with a .63 ar. spools about the same and makes a bit more power. but yeah im just torn between them right now. but if i can get this deal, i dont think i can pass it up. when i want more power later down the road (when i should have a steady income), i'll prolly pick up an a4 shell and dump a vr6-t in there. make that my project car. haha could you imagine a 2871r DD and a vr6-t project car?

 

what about the t3/t4, 60 trim i think how much of a "problem" is that going to be compared to the others talked about?

and like i stated i had a df clutch so sore leg is not an issue for me, my legs are bigger(stonger) than most peoples torsoes(sp)

i am looking for something simple that does have driveablility and a good dd turbo as, i know he said about getting the vr-t as a project, but it seems like he wants this to be a dd and project in one, opposed to chaos?

and why wouldn't you just do the vrt into your car you have now, rebadge it 1.8t, if you have debadged it and makea sleeper?

 

compression makes more power throughout the rpms and makes the turbo spool faster, why change? They will and have have shown they can handle it over and over and over again.

The .63 3071r will make about the same or more power throughout the rpm than a 2871r with a .86. I would only go larger than a .63/.64 on something in the 3076r and bigger turbos. If you can get a 2871r with a .86 cheap, get it and grab a .64 turbine housing and either swap it before install or change it if you dont like it. Think they are under $200 new.