TDI tuning advice

Hi everyone,

I have a couple of technical questions and I'm interested peoples suggestions.

I have a 2002 Audi A3 1.9 tdi quattro which had been tuned before I bought it and I don't know much about it's history. It needs a new engine due to smoking and oil leaks as it's now done over 150k miles. I understand that it has an uprated turbo but I don't know whether it's a hybrid or a larger standard unit (I believe that the seals are gone on the turbo so I expect it will need to be rebuilt or replaced). It has a large front mounted intercooler and a 3inch decat exhaust. It has also been remapped and I was given a print out showing it was at just under 230bhp. It certainly feels like it's close to that figure.

I've bought a low mileage used engine to replace it and while I'm doing the swap I'd like to look into pushing up the power and torque as I understand that 270bhp it possible.

So my questions are, do you have any advice on how I could identify what the turbo is and whether the engine had any other upgrades (e.g. injectors, camshaft etc). Secondly, could you advise me what parts I would need to replace or purchase to get 250-270ish BHP? I'd prefer to slightly over engineer it and under tune it. I'd prefer to have a reliable engine without too much smoke than to squeeze every last bit out of it.

Thanks in advance.

Hi,
Thanks for your response. I've done a fair bit more research now and I've sort of got a plan.

I believe that the turbo I have is a hybrid based on the standard turbo so instead of trying to recondition it, I'm thinking of going for this: https://www.darkmattertuning.co.uk/products/gtb2260vk-turbo-on-cast-manifold-welded-1-9-2-0-tdi as this seems to be the safest bet in terms of getting it to fit as I can use my existing downpipe (with the flange replaced). I've picked up a mk4 golf gt tdi with 78k on the clock so I'm planning to swap the engine into my A3. It has recently had a new dual mass flywheel and clutch so I'm planning to just upgrate the plate with a sachs performance version for now.

I'm planning to substitute in my original injectors when I do the swap just in case they are uprated. I believe that it should run the same as before with the original map? Then I can save up again to get the other injectors uprated to +80%, fit them and get it remapped to get the most out of it. From what I've read, I should be able to get something like 260bhp with this setup, correct me if I'm wrong.

The only thing that concerns me is whether the GTB2260VK will give me much lag compared to my old setup. I don't tend to drive and 100% very often so I like the low down power from the setup I have but it would be nice to get a bit more of a kick in the back when I do.

I'd be interested to know peoples thoughts.

You must have spent a lot! Looks good.

Is it easy to tell if the injectors have been uprated just by looking at them?

That's handy to know. I assumed that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Do you think the GTB2060VKLR would be a better choice?

https://www.darkmattertuning.co.uk/...ll-bearing-turbo-on-cast-manifold-1-9-2-0-tdi