I’m looking for some performance upgrades for my 5-speed Audi A4. I’ve never really done much work on cars but now that i’m getting into it and have some good friends that are into cars i’m looking to do some stuff to mine. Currently my A4 already has a Borla double cat-back exhaust and a carbonio cold air intake. It also has after market brakes of some kind. Right now i’m looking mainly for HP increase. I’ve been looking at chipping it or maybe getting the APR ecu upgrade with a KO4 turbo. Any recommendations or personal experiences on upgrading this car would really help me out because like I said i’m kinda new to this. It would also be good if they were bolt on mods that I could do with my friend who is a mechanic and has a full auto shop setup so I can avoid having to pay for installation. Also i’m looking at trying to keep everything under $1500 for the first couple parts with maybe more to come later. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks
An ECU tune of some sort should be the first step, and as you’ve already got a CAI and exhaust, you might want to think about spending a little more to prepare for the next steps. The stock intercooler heat soaks very fast, so upgrading to a front mount intercooler might help, as would setting some money aside for bigger fuel injectors and a bigger fuel pump, for that bigger turbo. Unfortunately, Audi/VW sized the turbocharger on the 1.8t so excruciatingly small, it’s almost a surprise that it can even make the advertised 180hp without grenading. The K04 turbo is a good bolt on upgrade for a VW, but there are better turbos than the KKK series. Check out some VW specific sites like vwvortex.com for a more specific list.
2 Responses to “What are some good performance upgrades for a 2003 Audi a4 1.8t?”
An ECU tune of some sort should be the first step, and as you’ve already got a CAI and exhaust, you might want to think about spending a little more to prepare for the next steps. The stock intercooler heat soaks very fast, so upgrading to a front mount intercooler might help, as would setting some money aside for bigger fuel injectors and a bigger fuel pump, for that bigger turbo. Unfortunately, Audi/VW sized the turbocharger on the 1.8t so excruciatingly small, it’s almost a surprise that it can even make the advertised 180hp without grenading. The K04 turbo is a good bolt on upgrade for a VW, but there are better turbos than the KKK series. Check out some VW specific sites like vwvortex.com for a more specific list.
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I would NOT get APR ecu! its garbage!!!
get the GIAC or the Revo. get a controller with it. you’ll spend about 1000$. you need to chip your car before you can get the new Ko4 turbo or the check engine light will come on and your car will run like garbage. then i would do some Coilovers and suspension Bilstein ps99′s are the only way to go. H&R is garbage. dont settle for the cheapies
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