Hey,
First, I apologize for the long diatribe, but I have been thinking about this topic a great deal lately…
Since they don’t sell the S3 in the states, turbo upgrades for the A3 is the next step after (ECU, TBE and intakes for performance). Your email seems to have 3 basic questions:
1. Why do they cost so much?
2. What do you get?
3. Are they worth the money?
Based on my research, I would add 3 more questions:
4. What is your goal/purpose with the Turbo Upgrade (Yes, more HP and Torque)?
5. What else is needed or recommended?
6. What other risks are we taking?
I have been looking into the kits for a while and here are some of my thoughts on the subject:
1. Why do they cost some much?
a. Each of these companies do invest time, engineering, testing and ECU code that produce more HP and Torque than a standard S3 (265 vs ~300-355 depending on fuel types).
b. Profit – They are in business to make money, they often sell through dealers who add a second layer of profit to the street price.
c. One Throat to Choke – Having a vendor to call and dealers to install is important to many of their customers and people like me who don’t do all the work themselves and are seeking the added help/ expertise which costs money
d. Convenience – I have an engineering background and probably could come up with the right mix of parts, ECU code and pieces if I wanted to spend the time, but I don’t so I am going to pay the difference for the fully engineered kits.
2. What do you get?
a. Most of the kits come with the upgrade Turbo, ECU upgrade, upgraded fuel systems, manifolds and connection parts and gaskets. So far the kits I have looked at are APR K04, APR Stage III, Stasis K04 and the VF Engineering RSS. I have not spent any time looking at AWE (No particular reason, just never got around to it).
3. Are they worth the money?
a. I have not bought mine yet, but have met a few kind souls who let me drive their upgraded cars and I have to say yes it will be worth the money. I also did a full kit on my 350Z which I found to be worth the money as well. I have only found one person out of 10, which I have spoke to who wish they had gone with the APR Stage III to get more HP for track days.
4. What is your goal/purpose with the Turbo Upgrade (Yes, more HP and Torque)?
a. This is always the big question, for me it mostly about fun, track days, ego, bragging rights and having a better toy without having buy a whole new car. (Although I am really planning on the new B8 supercharged S4 for some time in late 2010 after the initial surge of demand is over).
b. Balancing Safety – Balancing safety to the car is a moderate concern and that is one of the key reasons I landed on getting the APR K04 Kit. Doing modificatoin is always risky, but it seemed to be a solid, well reviewed kit and I have had good experiences with their other products I own.
5. What else is needed or recommended?
a. Most of the tuner companies have a recommend list of upgrades for the Turbo kits, FMIC, Intakes, Exhausts and other items that can add $2-3K USD to the price.
b. Some of the more demanding kits like the APR Stage III could also use upgraded engine internals.
c. Installation costs can go from $800-2000 USD depending on how much stuff you are getting done at once.
d. So an installed kit can run from as low as $5K if you do the work yourself to upwards of $11K for example with an APR Stage III with Fuel Pump, FMIC, TBE and Intake and installation.
6. What other risks are we taking?
a. I have not found a CARB legal notices on any of these kits and that can be a problem come registration and inspection time. In California, you have 6 year after buy a new car before you have to smog test it, provided you are the sole owner of the car. If you sell it to someone else then the limit drops to 4 year after it was first registered and gets more murky from there based on testing and visual inspection and other stuff I don’t fully understand.
Originally Posted by 20AE428
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks