Opinions on eBay ko4 turbo upgrade

[mmo24]

I was looking into upgrading my stock ko3 to a ko4 and was wondering if the ebay ko4 upgrade is any good as in reliabilty? Any info would be great, looking to stay in the $500 area on a tight budget. Thanks

[jacobsen]

Hm, turbo on a budget... Those words don't go together. You want to spend the extra dough on a brand name BW K04, never ever buy a knock off. You will spend more in replacing it again. I've heard rumors of Ebay BW k04 but I bought mine at ECS at extreme rip off price just to be sure,

[PreciseD]

I was looking into upgrading my stock ko3 to a ko4 and was wondering if the ebay ko4 upgrade is any good as in reliabilty? Any info would be great, looking to stay in the $500 area on a tight budget. Thanks

Getting a K04 without a tune is pointless. Spend the money on a tune first. Also Audi and Budget don't mix.

[AudiTunes]

I was looking into upgrading my stock ko3 to a ko4 and was wondering if the ebay ko4 upgrade is any good as in reliabilty? Any info would be great, looking to stay in the $500 area on a tight budget. Thanks

Before you can even upgrade to a bigger turbo, you'll need to upgrade a lot of other things first such as fuel injectors, rods, HPFP, etc

[mmo24]

Yeah I plan to get a tune first and then go from there. Just wondering where I could find a decent priced ko4

[texasboy21]

Yeah I plan to get a tune first and then go from there. Just wondering where I could find a decent priced ko4

Ebay, the cheapest one is the best.

[Seerlah]

Add the turbonator for extra quick spool. They even have these electric mini fan intakes too. Would be like a compound setup. Ladies will drop their panties on every corner you turn.

All joking aside, best bang for the buck when it comes to a turbo upgrade is the frankenturbo. Same supporting mods as a ko4 with more power.

[mmo24]

Haha okay thanks guys I'll do some more research and see what I can find

[ChuckNasty149]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUDI-A4-QUAT...item43cc07ea81

I bought this turbo from FTG that I'll be putting in when I get a warm place to do it. My friend has been running his K04s in his B5 s4 for 30,000 hard miles on E85 so I know they're tough. The business is in Texas and is always quick to respond to my questions. So ill give it a shot and dyno it when its done!

[Matt Devo]

Before you can even upgrade to a bigger turbo, you'll need to upgrade a lot of other things first such as fuel injectors, rods, HPFP, etc

methinks you're lost, this is the B6 forum

[Fast4esT]

If you wanna score a deal on a turbo upgrade, but one from the classifieds here, frankenturbos and ko4s pop up fairly often. For now, get a stage 1+ chip and injector upgrade, you'll enjoy it a lot

[diagnosticator]

There is no equal to a genuine Borg-Warner K-04. The Chinese copies are absurdly cheap and the price reflects the quality. ECS is not the only source for genuine BW turbos. Any Borg-Warner distributor is able to sell a K-04 over the counter. While the frankenturbo offers some benefits, I am skeptical of the long term durability. This is because the parts of the CHRA are sourced in China, and the turbine shaft is the same diameter as the K-03/04 BW turbo. With the turbine shaft driving a larger compressor, the shaft is stressed a lot more than the turbine shaft in a K-03/04 turbo.
I have seen stock K-03 turbos shear the turbine shaft at the turbine when running increased boost every day. So there is no extra strength margin safety factor available to handle the increased stress and strain in the undersized turbine shaft. The quality of the Chinese CHRA internal parts is unknown compared to genuine BW parts. At the price point available on eBay for a K-04, it is very unlikely, if not practically impossible for material quality and manufacturing precision comparable to genuine OE BW turbos, and nothing can be assumed expecting material specifications that are equal or better than genuine BW parts.