realOOOOestate

So I am about to get my car back up and running after the turbo blow. There has been so much back and forth on K03-K04 upgrades without the full stage upgrade. Basically this has come down to price since niether is a repair you like to HAVE to do.

Who has had experience putting K04's and piping ONLY in their 2.7 and not upgrading fuel or ecu? I am aware I will more than likely need a boost controller as well.

It is coming down to only about $700 or so difference for the upgrade over stock but feel that i could be opening myself up to more issues since this is my daily driver. More strain on auto trans, more strain on other parts etc.

Basically what are the thoughts on having to fix your daily driver but the fix being so involved that a turbo upgrade is cost effective without the full stage upgrade........

4Driver4

Here's my take:
First, you can run the K04's on your car as is without any issues. It "stresses" nothing any more than a K03 does. You will not need a boost controller and you should not run one.

The K04 with stock everything else will give a little later spool up.

If you are planning on staying stock, stay 03. If you are chipping, go 04.

PPGOAL

I don't think the full K04 kit itself will stress the drivetrain, it's a more a matter of if you can restrain yourself from kicking it. I enjoyed the extra power of a chipped engine at 74k and by 89k had to replace the clutch and flywheel. If I did not run the car up to 150 mph (alleged) I think I could have avoided the problem for a while. Since then it's been 51k trouble-free miles, but I don't hammer it when accelerating and it hasn't been much over 100 since then. So, even with the power, gentle treatment will prolong life.