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2018 GTI SE: How would you mod with $5k? $10k? $15k?

Nineeightyone

Autocross Champion
Location
Pennsylvania
Car(s)
20 CX5 19 GTI 10 MZ3
I stand by FCP lifetime warranty is the only way to buy a is38. Idc how new & improved brand XYZ is38+ is, a turbo is a wear item and it will need replacement eventually.

He’s like me, planning to keep the car forever. A few bucks here isn’t significant, but a whole additional turbo in the future is.

I watched your video discussing turbo options and how the IS38 isn't really viable above mid-300hp levels. Can you elaborate on it at all? Is it a fault of the stock IS38 that can be overcome with a 'new & improved brand XYZ is38+', or with supporting mods? Or is it just a factor of the dimensions of the turbo and it's efficiency range*?

*if I'm way off base with this it's because I have zero idea what I'm talking about/the forces at work and just want to go zoom
 

EpicTech

Autocross Champion
Location
Houston
Car(s)
MK7 GTI 6sp w/PP
IDK my IS38 feels pretty damn viable and I believe I am mid 300hp or so. Car is a blast to drive.
 

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
It likes to shit the turbine out the exhaust when pushed hard.

Yeah, which is messy & can take very expensive parts with it as well.

From what I understand the thrust bearings are the issue.

Yeah, the idea I guess is that ~360hp is the 'sweet spot' for the IS38, and that beyond that things start to fall apart.

360whp is absolutely safe, and every 10hp you go up from there you’re just trading reliability for HP.

Sure you “can” make 400 on a is38, but it’s an unnecessarily dangerous way to do it with so many better options out there to fit that bill safely.
I watched your video discussing turbo options and how the IS38 isn't really viable above mid-300hp levels. Can you elaborate on it at all? Is it a fault of the stock IS38 that can be overcome with a 'new & improved brand XYZ is38+', or with supporting mods? Or is it just a factor of the dimensions of the turbo and it's efficiency range*?

*if I'm way off base with this it's because I have zero idea what I'm talking about/the forces at work and just want to go zoom

I won’t go on record saying EQT or anyone else’s is38+ is “better” than OEM.

If I had to guess 12-15 different companies have thrown their hat in that ring & almost all of them discontinued or folded their business entirely in the last seven years chasing that “new, bigger, better, BEST is38”.

EQT may have it sorted, but I’m in the who cares camp because if you want more than 360whp just buy a Vortex and feed it as much fuel as the power level you’d like to hit requires (in short, they’re “fixing” a issue or void in the market that doesn’t exist, because they already sell a better solution).

I’ve said it several times here, but I’ll say it again. A few hundred dollars more for the turbo you actually want to hit the numbers you actually desire is always cheaper as a buy once cry once endeavor.
 

Acadia18

Autocross Champion
Location
The Greater Boston Metropolitan Area
Car(s)
2019 Golf R
I stand by FCP lifetime warranty is the only way to buy a is38. Idc how new & improved brand XYZ is38+ is, a turbo is a wear item and it will need replacement eventually.

I think the argument against FCP is that with the way it is now, you have to buy the original turbo. If it fails you have to buy the replacement out of pocket. When you send back the first blown one, you then get $1,100 (or whatever it is) of store credit.

Which is still way better than nothing. But nowhere near as good as how it was of just getting a refund.
 

Nineeightyone

Autocross Champion
Location
Pennsylvania
Car(s)
20 CX5 19 GTI 10 MZ3
Thanks @GTI Jake -- I'm sure you're likely tired of repeating the same information, the thrust bearing thing gives some better information. I'm thinking that S2 IS38 power is fine for me, but if there's an opportunity to spend a bit less for a beefier one (EQT's IS38+ is ~$900 generally versus an OEM one for ~$1100) it sounds like a win. I don't have firm goals in place, I just know I'd like to have some more highway/top-end speed and it sounds like all of that is doable with an IS38 of some flavor, and it keeps everything pretty simple, not calling for any more fueling mods or anything of that nature.

I think I settled on my answer after reading the build thread @Acadia18 posted and his whole journey, and it sounds like rather than futz with all that, a mildly larger turbo will give me the little extra I'm after.

Besides, it's a wear item and if it doesn't satisfy me it's a fine time to go further
 

messrock

Autocross Champion
Location
Boston
Car(s)
18 GTI DSG
I think the argument against FCP is that with the way it is now, you have to buy the original turbo. If it fails you have to buy the replacement out of pocket. When you send back the first blown one, you then get $1,100 (or whatever it is) of store credit.

Which is still way better than nothing. But nowhere near as good as how it was of just getting a refund.
That store credit is essentially maintenance items for a long time. $1100 is oil changes, DSG service and Zimmerman blanks and some pads for a few years.
 

tigeo

Autocross Champion
That store credit is essentially maintenance items for a long time. $1100 is oil changes, DSG service and Zimmerman blanks and some pads for a few years.
Precisely and that money saved is your "free" turbo.
 

GTI Jake

Autocross Champion
Location
Charlotte, NC
That store credit is essentially maintenance items for a long time. $1100 is oil changes, DSG service and Zimmerman blanks and some pads for a few years.

If that’s the only $1,100 item you own from them.

I’m grandfathered into the cash back on my IS38, B14s, ect but if you’re not then that $1,100 is on standby from the turbo to buy / replace Coilovers or something similar of substantial value.
 

Acadia18

Autocross Champion
Location
The Greater Boston Metropolitan Area
Car(s)
2019 Golf R
Just spend so much on the Audi you can't afford the mods.


oh-my-goodness-why-didnt-i-think-of-that.gif
 

Agray

Go Kart Champion
Location
Washington
I stand by FCP lifetime warranty is the only way to buy a is38. Idc how new & improved brand XYZ is38+ is, a turbo is a wear item and it will need replacement eventually.

At what mileage do you consider an IHI is38 to be at the “end of its life?” My is38 is EQT custom tuned for 93 on my 2019 GTI.

I’d much rather replace a tired turbo, than have it blow and shoot tiny pieces of metal through my IC and have to deal with that headache/anxiety of the debris making it to the motor. In my experience though, turbos don’t give much of a heads up before they grenade themselves.
 
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