Patrykd07
Autocross Champion
- Location
- Buffalo NY
Hello,
I wanted to make a sticky thread with some real world user experiences and results on the popular new APR emissions legal turbo kit, the DTR6054. This thread hopefully summarizes turbo kit data and peoples experiences without having to scroll through 200 pages on the official thread. Please post up your results in a similar format for anyone wanting some more data and information on this kit!
I will start with my car and my experiences as well as data. (Yes its an R but I want to try and include everyone for a good summary)
2015 Golf R Launch Edition #109 (early car.. not sure if it makes a difference anywhere)
-APR DTR 6054 HPFP & LPFP kit
-Stage 3 DTR Tune v 1.1.1 93 Octane
-DSG APR stage 3 TCU tune
-Unitronic IC
-Unitronic carbon intake
-APR redtop coils
-APR intercooler piping
-NGK-R7437-9 plugs gapped to 0.024
Previously:
-Unitronic stage 2 Tune
-Unitronic Downpipe
-Unitronic IC
-Unitronic carbon intake
-----------------My initial review coming from stage 2:-----------------
I tried to do everything APR recommended for the DTR kit. In my R, I noticed a definite jump from my Unitronic stage 2 tune. The whole powerband has definitely shifted up, but not in a bad way. The powerband still feels "full" from the added torque up top, and it's fun to rev it out to get there. In my s550 mustang, I put a Shelby gt350 intake manifold in it. It also raised the powerband and let the car rev out to 8200rpm, but it lost tq, so even though the car revved forever, it didn't feel as punchy. It actually made it feel kind of boring day to day, because realistically you're not screaming past 5k rpm everywhere, and anything under that it felt pretty lack luster. Honestly felt like a Honda with VTEC, but it still dynod at 440whp. So numbers aren't everything. Luckily this wasn't the case for the DTR at all. I dig it.
Where the IS38 would start dropping off around 6k rpm this thing keeps going. Around 4k rpm it's amazing how much it comes alive. In everyday RPM ranges, it's not as laggy as I expected it to be at all. I've driven my buddies "big turbo" STM evo on the street before, and its a dog around town unless you're really working the revs. I drove around quite a bit yesterday, and in traffic or just cruising around it honestly felt similar to the IS38 just without the crazy punchiness under 3k if you really got on it. Not a big deal just gotta rev it out some more. For being a "big turbo" tune, I cannot believe how smooth it is. APR really did a great job on the drivability on this tune, for both the ECU and TCU. I've had bad tunes before that make the gas pedal feel like a on off switch.. this ain't it one bit.
As far as the noise is concerned, yes if you have your windows down, you can definitely hear the turbo spooling, I think it sounds great. But if it gets annoying, once you roll the windows up you don't hear it at all. Perfect for me. Overall, I feel pretty happy with the kit. The car honestly feels great, the power feels much more controlled for a autox/road course scenario and its got plenty more potential with e85.
-----------------Couple install tips:-----------------
I removed the oil drain while the turbo was still in the car, I also put the new one in with the turbo was in the car. Absolutely awful to do. Putting the line back is done entirely by feel, and I had to use my phone camera to video if the bolt hole was lined up with the hole on the oil drain. I also couldn't get the bolt started either, no matter what I did, it just wouldn't thread. Until I had a stroke of genius and used a 2 foot 1/4 extension, went under the car between the downpipe and the subframe, aimed up at the bolt hole and carefully fished in the bolt and started wrenching while applying pressure on the bolt. By some miracle, it worked perfectly. So if anyone is struggling with this, highly highly recommend this method if you choose to remove the oil drain with the turbo still in the car.
I made sure the wastegate rod was exactly the same length as it was on the IS38, I still had to adjust it after the install was said and done. When I checked it, it was at 3.2v instead of the 3.5-3.9 range it was supposed to be in. This wasn't super hard to adjust and there's a video from shopDap on it.
Here are some docs on how to check this and fix it.
http://mygolfmk7.com/2019/08/wastegate-first-adaptation-charge-pressure-actuator-p2563/
https://www.goapr.com/blog/post/is38_wastegate_settings/
Once installed and going, my IAT's were sky high, considering it was 63 out, my IAT's were at about 115-125F. This turned out to be to the USP boost tap I installed that sandwiches between the manifold and the MAP sensor. I ordered the APR boost tap instead installed it and issue is fixed.
-----------------Dyno Results:-----------------
Made 399.3whp 360wtq SAE corrected
-----------------Track results 1/8th mile runs:-----------------
*Full disclosure, may have had a boost leak during my track runs, will be redoing them after getting everything sorted.*
Compared to stage 2:
Compared to stage 1:
-----------------Summary:-----------------
-If you're coming from a IS20 setup(such as the GTI), regardless if you have a downpipe or not, this turbo kit is a fantastic upgrade, especially when you're limited by emissions regulations in your state. It's really great value.
-If you're coming from a stock downpipe stage 1 setup with the IS38(golf R), the DTR is still a great improvement, equivalent to stage 2 downpipe IS38 levels, but still retraining emissions.
-If you have a stage 2 setup IS38, such as myself, depending how aggressive your tune was, you may need to spring for the fueling version of the DTR kit to see an improvement, but it will be a much smaller jump, you'll mostly notice the biggest change in top end performance. This may change on e85 but I haven't tested it yet.
I wanted to make a sticky thread with some real world user experiences and results on the popular new APR emissions legal turbo kit, the DTR6054. This thread hopefully summarizes turbo kit data and peoples experiences without having to scroll through 200 pages on the official thread. Please post up your results in a similar format for anyone wanting some more data and information on this kit!
I will start with my car and my experiences as well as data. (Yes its an R but I want to try and include everyone for a good summary)
2015 Golf R Launch Edition #109 (early car.. not sure if it makes a difference anywhere)
-APR DTR 6054 HPFP & LPFP kit
-Stage 3 DTR Tune v 1.1.1 93 Octane
-DSG APR stage 3 TCU tune
-Unitronic IC
-Unitronic carbon intake
-APR redtop coils
-APR intercooler piping
-NGK-R7437-9 plugs gapped to 0.024
Previously:
-Unitronic stage 2 Tune
-Unitronic Downpipe
-Unitronic IC
-Unitronic carbon intake
-----------------My initial review coming from stage 2:-----------------
I tried to do everything APR recommended for the DTR kit. In my R, I noticed a definite jump from my Unitronic stage 2 tune. The whole powerband has definitely shifted up, but not in a bad way. The powerband still feels "full" from the added torque up top, and it's fun to rev it out to get there. In my s550 mustang, I put a Shelby gt350 intake manifold in it. It also raised the powerband and let the car rev out to 8200rpm, but it lost tq, so even though the car revved forever, it didn't feel as punchy. It actually made it feel kind of boring day to day, because realistically you're not screaming past 5k rpm everywhere, and anything under that it felt pretty lack luster. Honestly felt like a Honda with VTEC, but it still dynod at 440whp. So numbers aren't everything. Luckily this wasn't the case for the DTR at all. I dig it.
Where the IS38 would start dropping off around 6k rpm this thing keeps going. Around 4k rpm it's amazing how much it comes alive. In everyday RPM ranges, it's not as laggy as I expected it to be at all. I've driven my buddies "big turbo" STM evo on the street before, and its a dog around town unless you're really working the revs. I drove around quite a bit yesterday, and in traffic or just cruising around it honestly felt similar to the IS38 just without the crazy punchiness under 3k if you really got on it. Not a big deal just gotta rev it out some more. For being a "big turbo" tune, I cannot believe how smooth it is. APR really did a great job on the drivability on this tune, for both the ECU and TCU. I've had bad tunes before that make the gas pedal feel like a on off switch.. this ain't it one bit.
As far as the noise is concerned, yes if you have your windows down, you can definitely hear the turbo spooling, I think it sounds great. But if it gets annoying, once you roll the windows up you don't hear it at all. Perfect for me. Overall, I feel pretty happy with the kit. The car honestly feels great, the power feels much more controlled for a autox/road course scenario and its got plenty more potential with e85.
-----------------Couple install tips:-----------------
I removed the oil drain while the turbo was still in the car, I also put the new one in with the turbo was in the car. Absolutely awful to do. Putting the line back is done entirely by feel, and I had to use my phone camera to video if the bolt hole was lined up with the hole on the oil drain. I also couldn't get the bolt started either, no matter what I did, it just wouldn't thread. Until I had a stroke of genius and used a 2 foot 1/4 extension, went under the car between the downpipe and the subframe, aimed up at the bolt hole and carefully fished in the bolt and started wrenching while applying pressure on the bolt. By some miracle, it worked perfectly. So if anyone is struggling with this, highly highly recommend this method if you choose to remove the oil drain with the turbo still in the car.
I made sure the wastegate rod was exactly the same length as it was on the IS38, I still had to adjust it after the install was said and done. When I checked it, it was at 3.2v instead of the 3.5-3.9 range it was supposed to be in. This wasn't super hard to adjust and there's a video from shopDap on it.
Here are some docs on how to check this and fix it.
http://mygolfmk7.com/2019/08/wastegate-first-adaptation-charge-pressure-actuator-p2563/
https://www.goapr.com/blog/post/is38_wastegate_settings/
Once installed and going, my IAT's were sky high, considering it was 63 out, my IAT's were at about 115-125F. This turned out to be to the USP boost tap I installed that sandwiches between the manifold and the MAP sensor. I ordered the APR boost tap instead installed it and issue is fixed.
-----------------Dyno Results:-----------------
Made 399.3whp 360wtq SAE corrected
-----------------Track results 1/8th mile runs:-----------------
*Full disclosure, may have had a boost leak during my track runs, will be redoing them after getting everything sorted.*
Compared to stage 2:
Compared to stage 1:
-----------------Summary:-----------------
-If you're coming from a IS20 setup(such as the GTI), regardless if you have a downpipe or not, this turbo kit is a fantastic upgrade, especially when you're limited by emissions regulations in your state. It's really great value.
-If you're coming from a stock downpipe stage 1 setup with the IS38(golf R), the DTR is still a great improvement, equivalent to stage 2 downpipe IS38 levels, but still retraining emissions.
-If you have a stage 2 setup IS38, such as myself, depending how aggressive your tune was, you may need to spring for the fueling version of the DTR kit to see an improvement, but it will be a much smaller jump, you'll mostly notice the biggest change in top end performance. This may change on e85 but I haven't tested it yet.