Hei all. Tryed to Google this but dident find anything. 

Amy body know what turbo pressure are on the superb 280 mk3? 

 

 

Max 1.3 bar/19 PSI 

12 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

Max 1.3 bar/19 PSI 

Nice thx dident find that anyplace. Do you know what the limit for the turbo is? 

11 minutes ago, GnurkeGnurk said:

Nice thx dident find that anyplace. Do you know what the limit for the turbo is? 

I can't find an exact spec.  I believe the CJXA/B EA888 units use an IHI20 turbo.  A quick google suggests that tuners are 'safely' raising the boost pressure to 28Psi.  Though how safe that is would obviously depend on the the turbo limits (and other ancillaries) 

 

@newbie69 may know this as his dealings with Berger MS may have thrown up this info (?)

20 minutes ago, penguin17 said:

I can't find an exact spec.  I believe the CJXA/B EA888 units use an IHI20 turbo.  A quick google suggests that tuners are 'safely' raising the boost pressure to 28Psi.  Though how safe that is would obviously depend on the the turbo limits (and other ancillaries) 

 

@newbie69 may know this as his dealings with Berger MS may have thrown up this info (?)

The IS20 is found on the lower output CHH engines of the Golf GTI and Octavia vRS (230/245bhp).

The CJX engines found on the Golf R, Audi S3, Skoda Superb 280 etc. use the larger IS38 IHI turbo. These work @1.2bar stock (measured in 4th gear) and most stage 1 maps raise this to around 1.6-1.65bar. Stage 2 pushes this a little bit more, closer to 1.8. You wouldn't want to go much above that on a stock turbo for long periods unless you were looking for an excuse to blow it up and go big 

Also, (just in case) don't directly compare values with US cars (they are usually pushing a bit more boost than EU equivalents) as they have different mapping from factory and no multi point injection (well the newer EU cars don't have it either anymore).

@GnurkeGnurk  How come you ask about boost though? Working with some tuning box or? Off-the-shelf maps have the boost set to reasonable limits anyway.

Edited 5 June, 20196 yr by newbie69

8 minutes ago, newbie69 said:

The IS20 is found on the lower output CHH engines of the Golf GTI and Octavia vRS (230/245bhp).

The CJX engines found on the Golf R, Audi S3, Skoda Superb 280 etc. use the larger IS38 IHI turbo. These work @1.2bar stock (measured in 4th gear) and most stage 1 maps raise this to around 1.6-1.65bar. Stage 2 pushes this a little bit more, closer to 1.8. You wouldn't want to go much above that on a stock turbo for long periods unless you were looking for an excuse to blow it up and go big 

Also, (just in case) don't directly compare values with US cars (they are usually pushing a bit more boost than EU equivalents) as they have different mapping from factory and no multi point injection (well the newer EU cars don't have it either anymore).

@GnurkeGnurk  How come you ask about boost though? Working with some tuning box or? Off-the-shelf maps have the boost set to reasonable limits anyway.

Nice comment 😍

 

I allready blown up my turbo orginal. Shaft innside broke in half 🥴

 

Thats why i am afraid to do anything. 

 

 

1 minute ago, GnurkeGnurk said:

Nice comment 😍

 

I allready blown up my turbo orginal. Shaft innside broke in half 🥴

 

Thats why i am afraid to do anything. 

 

 

Yes that was/is the issue especially with some early batches of IS38 turbos of around 2015, tuned or not wasn't making much of a difference. There are tuned turbos running strong after 4years and 80K km and others that blew stock after 15-20K. Good thing is that when the turbo goes on these cars it almost never does any further engine damage so just throw in a turbo with upgraded shafts and bearings (I wouldn't go back to OEM after this) and you can sleep in peace. A shame really that some cars suffer from these chocolate shafts because the actual engine and peripherals are incredibly strong and can take up to 500bhp with only a few basic peripheral upgrades and no sweating at all.

What year is the car? Was it tuned when the turbo excused itself?
 

2 minutes ago, newbie69 said:

Yes that was/is the issue especially with some early batches of IS38 turbos of around 2015, tuned or not wasn't making much of a difference. There are tuned turbos running strong after 4years and 80K km and others that blew stock after 15-20K. Good thing is that when the turbo goes on these cars it almost never does any further engine damage so just throw in a turbo with upgraded shafts and bearings (I wouldn't go back to OEM after this) and you can sleep in peace. A shame really that some cars suffer from these chocolate shafts because the actual engine and peripherals are incredibly strong and can take up to 500bhp with only a few basic peripheral upgrades and no sweating at all.

What year is the car? Was it tuned when the turbo excused itself?
 

 

I got a 2017 model first registerd in april. and i have seen on internett that the last revision of the is38 came in july 2017. have searched a bit on this problem and found out realy fast that it was som problems early on. No not tuned or anything only the thought about it   But the workshop did a realy good jobb. a big bit from the turbin had shoot it sellf through the cat so new cat aswell. whit new intercooler and alot of stuff. they said it was alot of metal dust all over. so my quess is that the shaft was bad balanced and than starting to eat up the walls before the shaft broke in half. Sry for my bad english writing.

Just now, GnurkeGnurk said:

 

I got a 2017 model first registerd in april. and i have seen on internett that the last revision of the is38 came in july 2017. have searched a bit on this problem and found out realy fast that it was som problems early on. No not tuned or anything only the thought about it   But the workshop did a realy good jobb. a big bit from the turbin had shoot it sellf through the cat so new cat aswell. whit new intercooler and alot of stuff. they said it was alot of metal dust all over. so my quess is that the shaft was bad balanced and than starting to eat up the walls before the shaft broke in half. Sry for my bad english writing.

It was definitely more frequent on earlier cars but even with all these revisions they haven't completely eliminated the issue. There's been reports of newer cars suffering although it's a much much smaller percentage. You were really unlucky, before the Superb I had a MY17 IS38 turbo tuned to around 370bhp with a JB4 box and then a remap and hasn't missed a beat in 3 years so far (now with a different owner).

I don't think it's the balancing so much but the bearings and overall core of some turbos were just not up to the job. That's why all the upgraded hybrids replace those items with proven solutions. Since it was covered by warranty (I understand that right?)  it makes sense to put back an IS38 but If I was paying out of my own pocket I would absolutely throw in an upgraded solid aftermarket turbo, even if I didn't want to be pushing stupid numbers. You could set any of those hybrids at a ridiculously safe 400bhp (that's probably less than 1.5bar even) and not worry about turbo issues ever again.

Tuning your existing IS38 is basically pretty standard. If you still have warranty left and worry about it go with a JB4 box no question. Otherwise out of warranty any of the known tuners for these cars does a good job with the off the self tunes. As it's a IS38 though there's always that small possibility of failing again (tuned or not) although I'd say you must be really really unlucky to get two bad IS38's in a row. But you know...

51 minutes ago, newbie69 said:

It was definitely more frequent on earlier cars but even with all these revisions they haven't completely eliminated the issue. There's been reports of newer cars suffering although it's a much much smaller percentage. You were really unlucky, before the Superb I had a MY17 IS38 turbo tuned to around 370bhp with a JB4 box and then a remap and hasn't missed a beat in 3 years so far (now with a different owner).

I don't think it's the balancing so much but the bearings and overall core of some turbos were just not up to the job. That's why all the upgraded hybrids replace those items with proven solutions. Since it was covered by warranty (I understand that right?)  it makes sense to put back an IS38 but If I was paying out of my own pocket I would absolutely throw in an upgraded solid aftermarket turbo, even if I didn't want to be pushing stupid numbers. You could set any of those hybrids at a ridiculously safe 400bhp (that's probably less than 1.5bar even) and not worry about turbo issues ever again.

Tuning your existing IS38 is basically pretty standard. If you still have warranty left and worry about it go with a JB4 box no question. Otherwise out of warranty any of the known tuners for these cars does a good job with the off the self tunes. As it's a IS38 though there's always that small possibility of failing again (tuned or not) although I'd say you must be really really unlucky to get two bad IS38's in a row. But you know...

 

Yeah got everything on warranty. yeah you know when it broke on 32,000 km will be a long time afraid that this will happen again. but hoping this was a one-time case.

Hey guys, old topic I know but I'm just having a good read up about the IS38 turbo on my 2016 Superb 280. She's been well looked after but she has done 100k miles and I think I can hear mechanical turbo grating noise.. maybe.

 

I've been looking on eBay at upgraded IS38 cores as an option if she ever goes pop.. or maybe even as a precaution..

 

Many of the adverts (there a lot) claim a number of improvements over OE. Here's the text from one of the adverts . 

 

"This CHRA is a DIRECT FIT, plug and play and requires no modifications to install. Thrust bearing is upgraded with full 360 thrust pad, enlarged triple oil ways to improve load handling and reliability. The Turbine wheel is also upgraded to a staggered gap high temperature type, ideal for low back pressure exhausts with larger bores or removed silencers. Finally all CHRA are high speed balanced to motorsport tolerance to ensure maximum reliablity. This is the strongest standard replacment CHRA on the market"

 

Anyone else done thand how was it? Thoughts?

10 hours ago, spen686 said:

 

Many of the adverts (there a lot) claim a number of improvements over OE. Here's the text from one of the adverts . 

 

"This CHRA is a DIRECT FIT, plug and play and requires no modifications to install. Thrust bearing is upgraded with full 360 thrust pad, enlarged triple oil ways to improve load handling and reliability. The Turbine wheel is also upgraded to a staggered gap high temperature type, ideal for low back pressure exhausts with larger bores or removed silencers. Finally all CHRA are high speed balanced to motorsport tolerance to ensure maximum reliablity. This is the strongest standard replacment CHRA on the market"

 

You just want to be sure this is a reputable seller who knows what they're talking about and not just copy-pasting stuff that sounds impressive. I don't know enough to comment, but you'll find an experienced engineer could either read this and tell you its important stuff and would make a difference (provided its provably built) or equally stuff like this is utter word salad.

 

Yeah, my thinking is, issues with the IS38 turbo seem to be pretty well documented, especially early cars. After market solutions have inevitably popped up everywhere. The question is how to spot the good ones?

I'd swerve eBay - not because there aren't any good ones, but there's a lot of chaff created by bad ones. Start with reputable tuners/suppliers which, fortunately for VAG, there are a good few options. MRC, QST, CLP are 3 straight off the bat. I tend to get from Awesome GTI as I seem to have become a RacingLine fanboy and they have a decent raft of RL stuff but I think they also work on the cars too. 

Even the place that did the Sleeper Edition REPerformance or something like that? See what they suggest and set your expectation...

Garrett power max is a solid upgrade and well tested. 

2 hours ago, travs said:

I'd swerve eBay - not because there aren't any good ones, but there's a lot of chaff created by bad ones. Start with reputable tuners/suppliers which, fortunately for VAG, there are a good few options. MRC, QST, CLP are 3 straight off the bat. I tend to get from Awesome GTI as I seem to have become a RacingLine fanboy and they have a decent raft of RL stuff but I think they also work on the cars too. 

Even the place that did the Sleeper Edition REPerformance or something like that? See what they suggest and set your expectation...

 

Yeah, I had a nose around Awesome's turbo offerings but they are mega bucks! Hence putting it out there I guess.. Awesome do an IS38+ which I think is where they refurb the internals with ball bearings.. £1600!  IF (an it's this IF I'm trying to get a feel for) the aftermarket IS38 cartridges are good, they're between £100 to £150. And claim (?) the have engineered out some of the inherent weaknesses in the original spec IS38s 🤷‍♂️

21 minutes ago, UndertheRadar said:

Garrett power max is a solid upgrade and well tested. 

 

Temping but I want to keep everything looking stock.. So a rebuilt IS38 with improved internals is a really attractive option. The claimed improvements address design flaws and reliability of the original OE unit. BUT also claim to improve spool speed slightly.

Look at an internet search for IS38 Cartridge.. They're obviously churning them out in China and I'm guess quite a few of the sub £100 ones on eBay are probably from China too..

 

But AutoDoc are offering Ridex, Evoron, Alanko, Meat & Doria.. Never heard of any of them but if AutoDoc..  I trust them 🤔

 

   

There has to be an element of unknown I guess for all those manufacturers that make stuff for others. I knew a company called AB Automotive who made a part, which then got shipped out to US to be incorporated into the brake light switch for some Ford trucks. No-one would have hear of them and not known their pedigree I suppose. You'd hope Autodoc do their DD on suppliers...

Meat &Doria is a well-known brand of aftermarket and equivalent to OE parts, also they have been around since a while, but while I know for things such as fuel pump, I would not know for a turbo core ...

 

In your case, as you want to keep going stock, I would look for a reputable turbo builder in your area and have them refurb your unit, or swap for a refurb unit wich exchange. Buying online who knows what might work for cheap, but assembling together a turbo is little above average wrenching, and if something goes wrong you got the inconvinience to prove who or what was at fault. To each its choice ...

I've always thought that if I end up in this position (My 280 is chasing down 70k miles now) I'd go with a Littco L380x. Does anyone have experience of Littco Turbos?

12 hours ago, MarkyTDI said:

I've always thought that if I end up in this position (My 280 is chasing down 70k miles now) I'd go with a Littco L380x. Does anyone have experience of Littco Turbos?

Yep, mines up to 100k now and makes a suspicious noise so I need to think carefully about a remap..  don't want it to go pop but looking at cheapest/best way to solve the problem if it does..

 

Anyone come across this...? Any idea how I would identify which one I have?

"Early 702n turbos prone to going. 722H better." 

Bit of an update.. I've taken a punt on a used IS38 off a 2014 Golf R with around 80k miles on the clock.. only £100 so worth a punt. Still haven't decided whether to just keep it tucked away as a spare just in case or crack on get it refurbed.

 

My thinking is, I do want to remap my Superb 280.. I just haven't decided on the map.. some of them might be more aggressive on boost than others.. will my 100k miles turbo survive? Wait and see? Or pre-emp it?

 

And if I do refurb this spare one.. standard back to OE refurb.. or try and get some improvements (without going silly on cost) 🤔🤔🤔

On 14/02/2025 at 06:34, MarkyTDI said:

I'd go with a Littco L380x

 

This is one I've spotted and is on my 'maybe'.. so a Hybrid ball bearing IS38 for around £800 which isn't bad for a full hybrid.

 

Vortex is another Hybrid that comes up a lot and apparently opens up big BHP increase.. but it's not cheap. Another I've spotted is a the Mamba Hybrid.

 

What I'm hoping to find is a turbo specialist who offer different levels of rebuilt.. new core and refurb to OE, refurb with design flaws improved on.. stronger basically and maybe a rebuild with tweaks.. bigger, faster, bit more boost.. I dunno.. will have to see what's out there for sensible money.

Here's a local'ish option.. 

 

Refurb to OE or upgraded options.. I'll have a chat with them and see what's what 🤞