Silvr1.8T

There are about 3 different "BIG" turbo kits on the market. The APR Stage 3, the PES T28, and the ATP T3/T4. Here is my take on all of them just from what I have heard and talking to each one of the companies. The APR Stage 3, a very well engineerd kit with a price to match. The Inconel is a great idea, but is it overkill. How often do you really need it? Cast iron would work just as well 90 percent of the time. The APR Stage 3 has had problems but I am sure every kit does. The lag on the APR sounds to be minimal compared to the other kits but for 4000 dollars I would think you should get more than 290 hp. Next the PES kit, my personal belief is that the PES kit is overpriced. The APR kit is expensive but you get expensive parts with it, a 1200 dollar manifold and a 1200 dollar turbo. Wheras with the PES kit you get a cast iron manifold that can probalby be produced for about 100 dollars and a cheaper turbo than the GT25 in the APR kit. The APR kit also uses factory Audi or Porsche injectors whereas PES uses chaeaper aftermarket ones. The PES kit sounds like it may have a bit more lag than the APR but not that much. Now the ATP kit, for 4200 dollars you get the kit with FMIC and a quoted 350 hp. The ATP kit uses a turbonetics T3/T04e ball bearing turbo. The only problems with the ATP kit are that not many have it or can attest for its quality or performance. The chip tuning may be under par compared with PES or APR but I dont know. The other problem could be the lag, the lag will be greater than the APR or PES kit but it does produce more hp. I dont think it would be a real problem with everyday driving seeing most of the time you are not in the boost anyhow. ATP also gives all free softwear updates so if they ever come out with a switchable chip or race program or something you get it for free. Personally I am debating all three but the PES kit is on the bottom of the list and the ATP kit is at the top. To me the PES kit is overpriced for what you get, whereas with the APR kit you are getting high quality parts that may be overkill for a high price. The ATP kit is reasonably priced but not much is known about it. Sorry for this rant or whatever you call it but I felt I would voice my opinions about the whole BIG turbo discussion.

rigor

Someone on vortex they were talking about a custom T25 fabricated to fit the stock manifold/downpipe.. Give it a little time and this will be the shiznit..

xr4tic

I think it was just a rumor, and not true at all.

WJM

APR: you are correct. I spoke to APR about the use of inconel and they say it is like $100 of additional cost to have it. To me that is money well spent for the piece of mind.

PES: yup right on, totally agree... time will tell though. I look forward to more people getting it, and having it installed

ATP: Other t3/t4 experience leads me to believe that when it hits it hits hard! APR has designed the power delivery to be pretty linear. I would expect that the spool time and hard hit will only appeal to some.

DustysA4

Personally I'd swap the APR and PES kit on my list....ATP still gets the first spot.

I do realize that the APR kit includes more expensive parts than the PES kit, but the PES kit has so far shown some promising results. If it outperforms the APR kit and it cheaper than the APR kit and remains reliable, then I think it is a good bargain. Also, there is a ballbearing option that you can get from PES, I think it was 500 bucks extra(could be wrong) and it spooles up 500rpm sooner is what they told me. Also PES told me that their turbo can be rebuilt, where the ball bearing option won't allow that.

I like overkill to a certain point, but if you can achieve the same numbers from cheaper parts, then it becomes a waste of money.

But like I said, ATP still gets the first spot in my book. I am just going sit back and wait. Maybe by the time the ATP kit is done some new info will be brought in to light, or another good kit will be introduced.

Ray Khan

of the kit.

Toaster29

Very logical and very true.