fast2camciv

Hi im a newb to homemadeturbo.com and its pretty cool tons of info that im going to use very soon. right now im getting all the pieces in need to do my own turbo and i have a friend that has a K03 turbo from his 2000 golf 1.8t. its in good shape and i think that im gonna buy it from him but i dont know if it will bolt up to an hf manifold or not. does anyone know anything about this turbo? when it was in his golf it spooled fast and pulled hard. it would only hold around 1 bar but im only going to run 10 psi or less. anyways i am just curious if anyone has had any experience with this turbo. thanxz

HMT-Admin

No turbo will bolt directly to the HF manifold, an adapter plate will be needed, (fabricated) I have only looked at those turbos, never tried them.. but they are small enough, and will probabaly work just fine on a d-series, what you need to find out next is what the internal wastegate is set at (without factory boost solinoid controllers)

Jeff

fast2camciv

im not sure what the wastgate is set at and frankly im not sure if the 1.8t uses one or if it is electronic.i say this because my buddy put an ARD chip in his golf in order to raise the boost from the stock 8PSI to 1 bar. so im thinkin that its electronicly controlled, but if im wrong what should i look for on the turbo itslelf in order to see if it has an internal wastegate? im sure that the factory setting will work okay since his car was at 7-8 psi stock.. thanxz for the reply!

Semnos

it has an internal wastegate.
My neighbour just bought one..it looks really small though.
looks more like a thin Donut. It's really really small...smaller than a T25.
I was really surprised.

fast2camciv

the one that my buddy has in his golf isnt that small, he replaced it with a t3\t4 and the k03 wasnt that much smaller than the new turbo, im really wondering if it would be a good turbo or if i should just go with the t25 or something. the car is going to be built more for drag racing than anything. my buddy put down 284 hp and 312 tq to the wheels before he upgraded the turbo, (that was at 1.0 bar)

HMT-Admin

Sounds good, its worth a shot!

Semnos

hmmm could be your buddy's K03 has bigger A/R's.
Use the K03 then, cause if it's almost as big as the T3/T4 than it deffinately is bigger than a T25.
Good luck with your setup

fast2camciv

hey thanxz for your input i will give it a shot why not right?! im not sure how big the k03 is compared to teh t25 because i havent seen a t25 thats why i was wondering if anyone had come across both of them or if they had knowledge if one was a better turbo than the other..anywyas thanxz for the input i appreciate it!

DutchPug

The K03 is a fair bit smaller than a t25.

Used a K03 on my 1.4 8v, spools pretty fast, and pulls strong in the mid range.

My wastegate was set at .3 bar that 4.5 psi when i installed the turbo, far as i know it hadn't been modified.

Last_Mohican

I looked a long time at buying an audi 1.8t and i must say that the KO3 is one tiny turbo(tech in it dates back to the 70's) although that is not the reason i did not get one. The 1.8T is only 150hp stock and at a full 14psi the 1.8t is less than 200hp. Most 1.8t ppl upgrade to a t3/t4 gt30 or a KO4 right away. Judging from he K03 numbers is has to be tiny plus when you see one in person you will probably see what i am talking about. I am pretty sure the K03 runs out of breath as people say at about 5500 rpms when it is cranked up to 14psi. The ko3 does not lat as long a this boost pressure but at 14psi it puts out okay power..but i suggest you get a bigger turbo.