I asked him re Borg Warners comment about the kO3s being limited to 215' date='and...

[i']My understanding was that the KO3S had a compressor stage similar to the KO4 But it's not info I reviewed from Borg Warner, who rarely releases any info. We can reliably tune these to 215 hp, any more and you are risking turbo and engine longevity. The difference between a standard KO3 and the KO4-01 is only around 30 kw anyway.Most KO4 files we have done have dyno'd in the 230-235 region[/i]

so,Des was right,any RR that gives 230 for a KO3 is very close to seriously reducing your engine and turbo,or its just bull****

I've had a K03, K04 and K03S and the above comments just don't ring true. I don't want to get into the BHP numbers achieved other than to ask if the figures quoted are flywheel or wheel figures as most US tuners tend to only quote WHP.

The K03 and K04 are dated weak turbos in comparison to the K03S. The K04 can move more air than K03S at the same pressure, however the K03S is considerably stronger so can run higher levels of boost. From what I have seen comparing BHP figures there is usually only around 5bhp difference in peak power between the K03S and K04. The big difference is the K03S' stronger midrange and much higher torque. If the two turbo's rolling road graph's were compared the following would be observed:

K03S - Torque comes in early and with a big spike, holds well in the midrange but drops off towards the end. This is reflected in the power with a steep rise but flatenning earlier.

K04 - Torque comes in later due to later spool up, spike isn't has high but torque is flat and holds upto the higher revs. Power is more uniform upto the high revs.

The end result is peak power is about the same for both, they just get there in different ways.

As for the K03 it's a bit pants, low torque and not much happening after 5krpm. With just a remap they give about 185-190bhp with loads of other mods you should be happy if you break 200bhp.

I thought the existence of the KO3S had been laid to rest in this thread? :confused:

K03S is the name commonly accepted to distinguish between the old 12 vane K03 and the new 8 Vane K03(S). It's just confusing if you call them both K03 and a bit long winded to start detailing which variant you mean when most people understand that the S is refering to the newer design turbo.

As for the K03 it's a bit pants, low torque and not much happening after 5krpm. With just a remap they give about 185-190bhp with loads of other mods you should be happy if you break 200bhp.

I consider myself suitably put in my place. Oh how I wish I had a big one like yours .... :P

As you're already Jabba'd it would be fairly cost effective to upgrade from the old K03 to the new one. The turbo can be had for around

I thought the manifolds were different?

Just the turbo intake pipe is different, these often come with the turbo or you can just use a Samco TIP.

Jabba have done quite a few of these so give them a call if you want more info. However I don't think they'll do the fitting due to how busy they are.

Oettinger quote K03s figures from 205 to 215 hp, so there's the view from a respected German tuner.

the turbo on my carbroke and got replacedunder warrenty about 2 months before i bought the car, and its standard so i don't know what went wrong with it just that the warrenty history on my car states new turbo charger just under a year ago.