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1. I don't believe a chip stresses the turbos beyond their design. What probably usually happens is that a TBB valve or something fails causing extra stress on the turbo. If one chips, one should replace all the components suggested by the chip maker.

2. Tuners should be bitchslapped by us consumers for not specifying whether or not the chips' tuning parameters exceed any of the functional specifications of the K03 turbos. The turbo manufacturer will tell you the operating pressures, , temperatures, etc... of their turbos. The tuners write programs with the responsibility of not exceeding the specifications of engine components. Right? Wny don't they just state that! This would make the "do chips fry turbos" argument mute. If they do exceed any turbo specs they should say so and allow the customer to decide on the risk that imposes.

3. Reducing backpressure in an exhaust system increases scavenging, thus increasing pressure, thus increasing torque, thus increasing hp, thus increasing.... wear? I don't know about the last one but chips do the same thing. They increase torque, thus... blah blah blah. So I don't think that a reduced backpressure exhaust system increases reliability.

skidmark

agree with audi points,complaints/anybody besides mtm,oct,(north amer) making k04 kits for allroad?

Haystack

Good reply. I appreciate this.

If I may address your points one by one, as I may have a misunderstanding.

1. I think that a tuner could create a conservative chip or a high performance chip -- each within the operating window of the turbos. I believe that heat and overspinning are at the root of many failures and that the K-03's and the stock DP's present a serious restriction thereby keeping that part of the exhaust path really hot.

Freeing up the exhaust path with DP's and freer flowing exhaust should allow lower pressures at these points, with resulting lower temperatures.

You are right though when you say that increased flow will cause more torque and more wear.

2. The K-03's are probably just right for their intended (stock) application -- relatively low boost for a medium displacement engine. They also probably have plenty of margin to accept free flow exhaust, DP's, intake mods, etc... I have not seen the curves for the stock K-03's nor do I know what the MFR's temp/boost/flow rating is for XXX hour life, so I can't comment here.

You are right about the tuner's responsibility: stay within the limits. We need to understand what they consider "limits" to better understand their tuning philosophy. I imagine some say "noone will ever be at xxx load for longer than yyy here in the USA, so let's adjust the maps for 1/4 mile and stop light drags, not 10 minutes straight of top gear WOT running". Again, I agree, the data should be provided so we can decide if we want to take the risk. (BTW, my tuner of choice was the only one who would freely talk about exhaust temps, fuel/timing/boost strategy for making HP/TQ, philosophy regarding long term reliability etc.. with me. That was a strong influence on my decision to use their components. At the end of the day, I was willing to spend more to get similar performance at greater theoretical reliability than what I believe other offerings would provide)

3. I touched on this in 1. above. If the ECU remains the same, the same boost should flow more volume if restrictions are reduced or removed. My understanding is that if you tune to take advantage of this reduced pressure, you can get more power at cooler temps than if you programmed for the same power with a more restrictive system. This is at the root of which tuner to choose! Once the chip is installed, I agree that reducing restriction increases flow and load on moving parts. I guess I was approaching the problem from the other side... "given that I want xxx horsepower or yyy performance what is the safest way to do it" -- in contrast to " I have xxx equipment installed in my car, what is the most possible performance I can get from it?"

It all comes down to philosophy and faith at the end of the day. These are complex decisions with many factors. We are all likely to bring our own beliefs and priorities to the decision process, and do what feels right!.

Thanks again for your reply.