Hybrid KO4 Advice

Adam P

Adam P

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Evening guys,

As the title says, starting to look into the ko4 hybrid route.
I have done some research and spoken to a few people and everyone swears by beach buggy turbos.
Whilst searching the net i have come across this purely by accident:

http://xs-power.com/audi-turbos-7.htm

Does anyone know anyone running these turbos? Horror stories or issues? Cant seem to find anything.
Hopefully this will give me and others an answer which we can't find.

Thanks in advance
 
Yeah it made less than a stock turbo when the original was tested .Unless they changed the clipped stock k04 turbine.

FTG looks to be involved now, an American turbo company, part of Frankenturbo (FT) maybe?

It's basically the same as the other China imported FT and GT turbos from the same supplier ..
 
beachbuggy said:
Yeah it made less than a stock turbo when the original was tested .Unless they changed the clipped stock k04 turbine.

FTG looks to be involved now, an American turbo company, part of Frankenturbo (FT) maybe?

It's basically the same as the other China imported FT and GT turbos from the same supplier ..
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply beach buggy. Seems like its a pointless purchase if it makes less than standard power.
Obviously the price was very appealing and it could have potentially been worth a punt. I would have thought there may have been others out there who may have tried it but maybe not. Might send them an email to see if they have revised the turbine and what sort of figures they believe it may achieve just out of interest.
 
beachbuggy said:
Yeah it made less than a stock turbo when the original was tested .Unless they changed the clipped stock k04 turbine.

FTG looks to be involved now, an American turbo company, part of Frankenturbo (FT) maybe?

It's basically the same as the other China imported FT and GT turbos from the same supplier ..
Click to expand...

FTG - "For The Gusto" Motorsports, yes this guy does resell some XS Power/relentless chinese copied stuff but from what I've seen its tested/ R&D and tweaked so its fit for purpose....
 
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antwan64og said:
FTG - "For The Gusto" Motorsports, yes this guy does resell some XS Power/relentless chinese copied stuff but from what I've seen its tested/ R&D and tweaked so its fit for purpose....
Click to expand...

Do you have any links or anything antwan? Would be good to see some proven results or maybe a thread where someone has installed and is running one.
I am going to send them an email today to get some clarity on there hybrid turbo.
 
I messaged the seller this morning asking him if they are VSR high speed balanced and what HP they can reliably put out, I haven't had a response yet.

I know he wouldn't send out the ko4 001x turbo's untill they had been VSR balanced.

A new Ko4 reliably can put out 300hp, one of beachbuggys lower end ko4's costs the same as the FTG turbo and they have proven to be reliable.
http://www.beachbuggyturbo.co.uk/k418s-215-p.asp

I'd go for the BBT as support is this side of the Atlantic
 
audi upgrades
300bhp from std k04 is'nt the norm and requires a host of supporting mods.
turbo is just ONE component and reliably is'nt something I would label a k04 at running that power. Its flat out...
Nothing is going to last flat out

Go hybrid, dont run it so hard would always be my advise if a 300bhp figure is the arbitrary 'goal'
 
[QUOTE="Go hybrid, dont run it so hard would always be my advise if a 300bhp figure is the arbitrary 'goal'[/QUOTE]

Makes more sense rather than running a unit flat out and keeps it more reliable i guess.

I have had an email back from XS power ref the hybrid link i first posted. They have advised that there unit definitely does not offer less than stock power and they are putting together a detailed response to my questions which I will post on here for everyone's reference.
 
Like I said the original one they sold, used a clipped stock k04 and a cast 2283 compressor, which didn't work.. If this is the same as FTG sell then it has the rs6 turbine and is very similar, if not identical to other hybrids around...
 
Adam P said:
[QUOTE="Go hybrid, dont run it so hard would always be my advise if a 300bhp figure is the arbitrary 'goal'
Click to expand...

Makes more sense rather than running a unit flat out and keeps it more reliable i guess.

I have had an email back from XS power ref the hybrid link i first posted. They have advised that there unit definitely does not offer less than stock power and they are putting together a detailed response to my questions which I will post on here for everyone's reference.[/QUOTE]

other question is of trust and quality in a product supplied from them.....

answers on a postcard
 
Xs power are @%#%$€¥, high volume chinese manufactured cheap as chips stuff with no quality checking normally and it gets drop shipped from China.

Lee Adams runs FTG, After some research I bought one of his ko4 001x turbos. I saw a couple of dynos from South America showing 270whp and 290whp with the turbo so enquired.

He gets them built to his spec in China, has them VSR balanced out there then gets a $25 gift drop shipped to your door from China for £330. He said Quality control has been good and no recorded failures. He did initial testing stateside and has lots of various turbos out there now.

But its still a gamble putting unknown stuff from China on your car.

i'm fortunate though and I'm not to fussed if the turbo does eat itself and kill the motor, a second hand AGU is like £150 and I can swap an engine on my driveway or at the workshop.

Don't forget you might get stung by import and VAT charges on top.

£500 for the BBT turbo is a bargain and they can be trusted. I would have got one but none were in stock at the time.
 
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Yup, just facebook and ebay for now.
Lk
He just messaged me back about the ko4 rs6 turbine turbo saying they are plane and VSR balanced and their output depends on supporting hardware. Saying He's seen dyno's of 289whp and higher but doesnt recommend pushing that high without building the bottom end.

Take from that what you will, obviously its taking a chance
 
FrankenTurbo is absolutely NOT connected to "FTG" turbos. While the name similarity is unfortunate (and, I suspect deliberate) the design and quality is definitely not similar. FTG is an American-based marketer of CX Racing products. They have all their turbos drop shipped from the manufacturer and conduct no quality control nor design testing.

Best of luck to those who gamble on such products
 
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slappy_dunbar said:
FrankenTurbo is absolutely NOT connected to "FTG" turbos. While the name similarity is unfortunate (and, I suspect deliberate) the design and quality is definitely not similar. FTG is an American-based marketer of CX Racing products. They have all their turbos drop shipped from the manufacturer and conduct no quality control nor design testing.

Best of luck to those who gamble on such products
Click to expand...


so from what you're saying they're worth a punt ?
 
daz-20vt said:
so from what you're saying they're worth a punt ?
Click to expand...

Untill Doug, Bill, Dan or someone gets one its wild guess.

Bill started a thread last year that a chinese copy Ko4 had wild boost spikes because the wastegate port was too small. Anything over 3500 rpm resulted in 20+ psi, lol.

Dan (I think) found the first version of this turbo produced less power than stock as it used a cast 2283 compressor wheel and a clipped stock exhaust wheel.

The new version alledgedly has addressed both these potential problems by having a ported wastegate and a larger RS6 turbine wheel.

Whether it works well and is reliable doesn't seem to be openly available information...... Dyno's, long term test reviews?

Fast
Reliable
Cheap

'Usually' you get to pick any two of the three
 
slappy_dunbar said:
... They have all their turbos drop shipped from the manufacturer and conduct no quality control nor design testing.

Best of luck to those who gamble on such products
Click to expand...

daz-20vt said:
so from what you're saying they're worth a punt ?
Click to expand...

I would think he is suggesting not tbh...

<tuffty/>
 
Guarantee it'll surge, so probably not worth fitting imho
 
I could be a smart-alec and encourage you to buy one of these. But I won't for two reasons:
  1. You'd be an unhappy customer
  2. I know you wouldn't anyway.
There's no shortage of well-designed, solidly-engineered K04 hybrid turbos nowadays. Things aren't like they were when I started my business a few years ago, where hybrids cost over 1 grand. So while there's also a rise in poor-quality K04-based products, I think this community can tell the difference.
 
haha
i always find it odd how a lot of these chinese product company's seem to sell loads of units with no reported problems
yet you never hear about them from anyone who has one fitted??

like you say its just not worth the risk without knowing people running them with improvements and no issues.
 
antwan64og said:
What do they say;
Uncontrollable boost?
Cracked turbine housings?
Oil leaking?
Surging?
Click to expand...


Well, actually none of those things. And really my interest in disparaging a competitor is pretty low. I'd much rather discuss positive things such as what's possible on K03-framed turbos. Who else thinks this thread could be good for that?
 
slappy_dunbar said:
Well, actually none of those things. And really my interest in disparaging a competitor is pretty low. I'd much rather discuss positive things such as what's possible on K03-framed turbos. Who else thinks this thread could be good for that?
Click to expand...

Other than being a thread about a K04 framed turbo than a K03 framed turbo of course Doug LOL ;P

On a serious note though Doug... if you want to start a thread discussing technical stuff about K03 turbos then please feel free... plenty of K03 based cars on here for which it would be useful

<tuffty/>
 
slappy_dunbar said:
FrankenTurbo is absolutely NOT connected to "FTG" turbos. While the name similarity is unfortunate (and, I suspect deliberate) the design and quality is definitely not similar. FTG is an American-based marketer of CX Racing products. They have all their turbos drop shipped from the manufacturer and conduct no quality control nor design testing.

Best of luck to those who gamble on such products
Click to expand...

slappy_dunbar said:
Well, actually none of those things. And really my interest in disparaging a competitor is pretty low. I'd much rather discuss positive things such as what's possible on K03-framed turbos. Who else thinks this thread could be good for that?
Click to expand...

:think:
 
<tuffty/> said:
... if you want to start a thread discussing technical stuff about K03 turbos then please feel free... plenty of K03 based cars on here for which it would be useful
<tuffty/>
Click to expand...

OK. Because we've been doing a bit of experimentation with our K03 product lately. We bought a Mk4 Jetta that was completely stock, and have been gauging the costs/benefits of modifications. Some of you might have seen what we're doing on vwvortex. I'd be happy to cover what we're learning here as well.

Thx

dh
 
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