Big Turbo GTI v. R Upgrade

[El_bigote_AJ]

I understand what you're saying but don't the turbos you mentioned have more fueling requirements and lose more torque at lower RPMs?

Sure they do, but what’s that matter when we are comparing an organic Whole Foods Apple to a walmart orange? Lol.

 

[Acadia18]

No, I think the power of a safe tune on an IS38 is about perfect for a fwd car and I'm liking the powerband shift to higher in the rev range. Cash beat a turbo with lifetime replacement either.

So how bad of an idea is this turbo with stock GTI IC? I have $1000 to spend right now, probably won't spend much more until later in the year. I can also throw a COBB OTS IS38 tune on it until I get everything ends done, then get a custom tune. Can't do that with a hybrid.

If you only have $1k to spend right now, plopping that whole $1k just on an IS38 wouldn't be a smart idea.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Sure they do, but what’s that matter when we are comparing an organic Whole Foods Apple to a walmart orange? Lol.

I was trying to compare turbos that are more equal. It's only recently that IS38's have come down that far in price. I paid $1300 for my IS38 ten months ago and $1499 for my TPC20. When I got the IS38 all the websites I checked were about the same price I paid. I got my IS38 because it had a 1 year warranty that included labor which I cashed in on when I got the TPC20. Plus I'll get the IS38 back when it's repaired to sell.

 

[GTIfan99]

IS38 at $1000 with lifetime warranty is hard to pass up, especially if you can do the labor yourself. No doubt a hybrid BB turbo is better, but I'm just not thinking the GTI platform with more power than the IS38 provides makes sense for tracking the car. I've got suspension, wheels, tires and brakes all sorted, just need to work on managing temps, and I think the IS38's powerband will work well on track, and 360hp is reaching the limit of what you can reasonably use on a road course with fwd. I've thought about jumping to an R, but I just don't think it's that much better a track platform. My project goal is to build a car that's along the lines of a CS. Nothing crazy, but fast and decent DD. I try to keep the car budget to S1000/quarter, including tires, pads, and upgrades, so it'll be another year project. That's fine with me, I'll just have to prioritize and purchase in logical order. Thanks for the input, seems like the turbo will be near the end of the list. I just got antsy after driving the car today and feeling how badly it falls on it's face once revs climb.

 

[jimlloyd40]

IS38 at $1000 with lifetime warranty is hard to pass up, especially if you can do the labor yourself. No doubt a hybrid BB turbo is better, but I'm just not thinking the GTI platform with more power than the IS38 provides makes sense for tracking the car. I've got suspension, wheels, tires and brakes all sorted, just need to work on managing temps, and I think the IS38's powerband will work well on track, and 360hp is reaching the limit of what you can reasonably use on a road course with fwd. I've thought about jumping to an R, but I just don't think it's that much better a track platform. My project goal is to build a car that's along the lines of a CS. Nothing crazy, but fast and decent DD.

Makes sense and there's lots of debates about which is better the journal bearing or BB turbo.


https://www.prosystemsturbo.com/pros-and-cons-of-ball-bearing-turbochargers/

 

[Sparky589]

yea the tp20 or whatever isn't cheap. nice but not cheap. lifetime warranty on a turbo is nice. so 800 more bucks for 40 more hp, just the pros and cons. Hate having to send in the is20 tho to never be seen again lol or do they upgrade your is20 and give it back, idn

The curse of chasing power past stage 1. Everything becomes an increasingly brutal case of diminishing returns for $$$ and hours spent.

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

I was trying to compare turbos that are more equal. It's only recently that IS38's have come down that far in price. I paid $1300 for my IS38 ten months ago and $1499 for my TPC20. When I got the IS38 all the websites I checked were about the same price I paid. I got my IS38 because it had a 1 year warranty that included labor which I cashed in on when I got the TPC20. Plus I'll get the IS38 back when it's repaired to sell.

Nice, good thing is started leaking now before the warranty was out on it then. So you can recoup some of the funds

 

[jimlloyd40]

yea the tp20 or whatever isn't cheap. nice but not cheap. lifetime warranty on a turbo is nice. so 800 more bucks for 40 more hp, just the pros and cons. Hate having to send in the is20 tho to never be seen again lol or do they upgrade your is20 and give it back, idn

You can keep your IS20 and lose the $300 core charge. You can send your IS20 in to be converted to the TPC20 and save the core charge but you're probably looking at a 2 month turnaround time. In my case I ordered the turbo and when the TPC20 was installed sent my IS20 in to get the $300 back.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Nice, good thing is started leaking now before the warranty was out on it then. So you can recoup some of the funds

I was extremely thankful that it started leaking when it did because my 1 year warranty was 6 weeks from expiring.

 

[StealthGTI]

This thread has been a lively read, for sure! HAHA!

 

[The Dude]

bump

 

[IanCH]

I had fun reading it.

I don't know about the big turbo thing but I will say I bought my gti after a side by side test drice with a 19 R and I owned a fbo is38 15 R for 3 years. The GTI is a better car to drive if you realize that most of the fun in driving happens above 20mph.

 

[The Dude]

I'm waiting for a couple pieces to come in, then it's time to put a G series on my GTI. I'm super stoked about it, I've been collecting parts for what seems like forever.

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

The curse of chasing power past stage 1. Everything becomes an increasingly brutal case of diminishing returns for $$$ and hours spent.

And there's no functional use for it besides purely hedonistic desire for "more power." Not saying I won't do it some day lol. By time the warranty is up on my alltrack there will be at least 3 years' worth of BT tuning on 1.8 setups, now that ECUTek finally released files for the 1.8 ECU. So I'm probably going to go EQT Vortex or something like that when that time comes. I certainly can't afford it any sooner lol

 

[Dog Dad Wagon]

I had fun reading it.

I don't know about the big turbo thing but I will say I bought my gti after a side by side test drice with a 19 R and I owned a fbo is38 15 R for 3 years. The GTI is a better car to drive if you realize that most of the fun in driving happens above 20mph.

Grass is greener man. I love my 210HP/250TQ Alltrack so much more than any of my previous 3 GTIs. The only one that compared was actually my MK6, since the gearing was so short it really livened up the otherwise weak powerplant.

I'm officially never going to own a FWD car ever again