audis4me

Hey guys I was talking to a performance audi dealer, and he said that I shouldn't go Stage III because there is no where to use it around here unless you want to get on it all the time, since you barely feel till 3k rpms. But he said the stage II would be the best because there is no lag. But my question is how bad is the turbo lag in the APR III. But I don't think he has ever used the APR III though. Thanks inadvance.

HappySedan, now with K04 power :)

Mine goes in the Audi dealer Tuesday to have the K04 installed, I hope to do an exhaust system in a month or so. I would like to have driven a K04 car before, but my K03 wasn't making boost. I will post impressions next week when I get it back, hopefully Tuesday evening if nothing goes wrong, wish me luck.

Pat

and there was definitely lag. I felt my MTM stage one was slightly better below 2.5K or 3K RPM, but after that there's obviously no contest. I would personally hesitate going to stage three because I don't rev the engine very much. If you constantly drive at 3.5K+ RPM it's great.

Seth (UBER A4)

I had a stage 2 before I went stage 3 and yes there is definitely more lag. Over 3 is the place where things start to move and under 3 is really not very exciting (though its not terrible). I disagree on the "you can't use it" you can drive the car in 4-5k rpm b/c its fairly smooth (once you get that damn snub mount right) and not "harsh" the NVH is very good. You need to get in a stage 3 car before you do this. I think its very important to have experienced this mod before you plunk down 4k plus labor.

®ob

Until you drive an older Audi. Drive a 5000, UrQ, or URS4...that is lag. When you have no power until 4000rpm...you will know lag then
The A4 stock in my opinion is virtually lag free. The Stage 3 has a bit, but no where even close to an old Audi

eMKay (BFLO)

I have heard it has minimal lag.

Todd/APR

Stage 3 has a boost onset point of 3300rpm. It makes boost below that, actually below 2K. It makes similar power to Stage 1 below the boost onset point, but at lower pressure levels than the K03. The boost onset point is where the turbo begins to make full boost.

Above the boost onset point is when things get really exciting, and that can make the car feel slower than it actually is down low. Stage 3 is less peaky than a K03 because the larger turbo spools up more smoothly. This also makes the car deceptive in its speed.

HJB

it's just it makes so much more power above that, it feels "off" at lower rpm.

Seth (UBER A4)

b/c in stage 2 it feels snappier down low, while in stage 3 is feels snappier up higher, I've no doubt that power is close to a stage 1 at the same rpms but it doesn't feel the same to me. Now that could be, as you say, all b/c it is relative to how strong the boost is above 3300. Either way, the point I was trying to make was that to enjoy the car to its fullest you need to drive in a different rpm pattern than if you had a stage 1.

James R.

to those who are interested in maximum low RPM performance. Obviously engineering is all about compromise...a good engineer finds the best combination of gains and compromises to make a system work well pretty much everywhere...but there's always room to improve at the cost of performance somewhere else. So for those people who do lots of Auto-X type driving you might consider a turbo which produces a lower boost onset point...at the cost of restricted top end.

I know it'd be a bitch to stock all the SKU's of turbos for top end Vs bottom end performance...but at least you could slay the K04 once and for all...no longer would they have Auto-X as the one place to cite where the K04 or chipped K03 is a better setup than the stage III in terms of, "feel" and control.

Keep up the good work...

James R.