Hey guys

Please please excuse my post if questions have been asked elsewhere, but I have looked and none seem to suit my particular situation.

I have a 97 AEB 1.8tq with the stock K03. I also have the APR ECU chip.?
I want to install a K04-015 (one from ECS tuning, not a cheap asian one)

Firstly, will I notice an increase in power despite the fact that the chip is meant for the K03.
Secondly, do i need the 4.0 bar fuel pressure regulator, and if so do I simply install it and off I go, or do i need to modify other things.
Lastly, if I choose to further upgrade my ECU to suit the K04, what is the best company to do this with?

Am just trying to piece everything together so there are no problems when I eventually install everything.

Thanks for your time.

 

there is a faq and a sticky bro

 

The FAQ and sticky do not answer me specific questions, which can be answered with a simple yes/no

Please this is a community of enthusiast and people helping one another.

If there are any serious individuals who could help me out I would be very appreciated.

 

Before you do anything I'd reconsider the K04 upgrade. Are you doing it because your old turbo is dead or because your looking for more power? If you are looking for more power then I would pass over the K04. For the amount of money you spend you do not gain a great amount of horsepower, about 250 at the crank with the right tune. If looking for more power but not wanting to spend a ton of money I would look into the eliminator kits, or the frankenturbo which personally im still extremely interested in.

 

Hi

Yes i've looked at the elim kits they do seem good.
I guess i should indeed reconsider, seeings as the K04 is only about 30% less
expensive than a GTRS elim kit.

If theres any tips or hints you can give me on what i need, what problems i would encounter etc for a GTRS elim kit.

Thanks in adv

 

You will not feel any power gain with current K04 tune you have. As for fuel regulator, you can keep the stock one but it all depends on how much you'll be boosting after the K04.

Since you have APR, I'd suggest you stick with APR tune and upgrade to the K04 program since you'll get a discount.

 

I actually will disagree that no increase in power will be felt running a K04 vs a K03 on a chipped K03 tune. I'm running a FrankenTurbo (hybrid K04/K03 for the most part) and on the same tune/injectors/FPR [albeit with the FrankenTurbo exhaust manifold and turbo inlet pipe, and high flow cat] my MAF is reporting flow rates up to ~185 g/s, whereas the stock K03 would show ~150-155 g/s peak. The spooling characteristics are quite different of course, with slightly less boost early on but it comes on stronger, and holds longer at higher RPMs.

Due to this increase in flow I've had to install a MBC to limit boost since the injectors tend to run at 100% duty cycle for decently long periods of time

 

^ You are right with the characteristics being different but there is barely any difference or noticeable gain of power between a K03 and a K04 without a proper tune. I ran a stage 1 GIAC when I also upgraded the turbo to custom/hybrid K04. I did feel more power on the top end but it was nothing until I got the PC-16 file - and now custom GIAC file that I felt a noticeable difference worth mentioning.

If one expects a noticeable amount of gain by just replacing the turbo without getting a proper tune, they're in for a surprise.

 

You're right that one shouldn't expect a difference from the turbo swap, I was merely pointing out that there is a little difference

What do you mean by "custom GIAC file"? I work 5-6mins from their headquarters, actually called them the other day about reflashing me to PC16 but apparently they don't deal with customers at all. This reflash doesn't cost anything except labor if I go through a performance shop.

 

Answered