Going K04 on my B8

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Finally after some years I decided to upgrade to a K04 on my B8.
(Audi A4 B8 2012 180hp CFKA 2.0TFSI/TSI Quattro E85 FFV)

I was really close to selling the A4 and get a S3 8V but after reading about the new BMW 7 series plugin hybrid (326hp) I found out that I will keep my A4 for like 3-5 years. Buying an S3 now to find out that they will release some 300+ hp plugin hybrind in the near future will be the same as throwing my money out the window.

For my K04 upgrade I also decided to kick out the terrible Milltek exhaust system than sound like I have an exhaust leak. People telling me that my exhaust system is lose or that I have a big leak.
(“NO” I say, ”it’s only the terrible Milltek exhaust system that sound like this. It’s like normal.”)
(Listen yourself : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FnFUy6aJdc)
The new system will be the quad tip exhaust system from AWE tuning without the downpipe. I will use the stock downpipe to reduce sound. I was told that replacing the downpipe will only give more sound and not more hp.

K04 turbo is the true K04 from CTS turbo that comes with a HFC to mount on the turbo outlet. I was told that the 034M HFC I am using today won’t fit on the turbo.

Intercooler I landed on is from Unitronic. It has a core volume ~10.5l, easy install, symmetric design and whole IC core is exposed to air flow (nothing is hidden behind the bumper closer to the 45 degree rule**)

I will keep the stock air filter box and insert an ITG oil filter. Someone told me that APR’s cold air intake is not the best for these engines and some had problems using them on the 2.0TSI engine.
Anyone here have any experience with these filters?

ECU will be Revo stage 3. Now I just have to say I love Revo for the quick answer they gave. I contacted my local tuner and asked if there was a K04 upgrade for my car. He redirected my question to Revo and after a week they gave an answer. The answer was not a yes or no (like I get from APR  which is NO, NO and NO) but the actual ecu file for my car.
WOW that’s wat I call service  and thanks again Revo for making this possible.

Revo also write on their page that I need uprated sparkplugs “NGK Iridiums recommended” but I don’t know where to find such sparkplugs. If anyone knows where to get such plugs then please let me know.

I will update this post with pictures and logs from VCDS when I get the parts and upgrade.

Well. Now starts the long hard waiting and waiting for the parts to show up at the post office.

(**I read about the 45 degree rule in the intercooler comparison thread.)

[Liquid Smoke]

nice, looking forward to the progress.

and you can get the NGK spark plugs from ECS. they say they are the 'one step cooler plugs', so those are the ones u want to run when tuned.

[b6Hate4]

Ditch that ITG filter, they are garbage. Though if this is going to be a daily I can understand you going k04, if not why not go big with all this effort?

I say this because I have built a ko4 before and ripped it out to put a proper garrett in within a few months, because no amount of power is never enough once you crave that boost! My b8 is getting GTX3076R now that its no longer my daily.

[ND_audi]

sounds like a really good plan you have in place. did you look at doing the k04s from Unitronics or APR as well? The apr. K04 would be compatible with your HFC.
Btw.
Edit: I probably should read everything before posting. :)

[context.eax]

sounds like a really good plan you have in place. did you look at doing the k04s from Unitronics or APR as well? The apr. K04 would be compatible with your HFC.
Btw.
Edit: I probably should read everything before posting. :)

I did check out APR's K04 and as far as I can tell you have to buy the turbo with the tune. APR does not have a tune for my car so that ruled them out.
CTS turbo have a summer sale now on the K04 + test pipe for about $2000 and you can upgrade the test pipe to a HFC for $120.
From Unitronic homepage I see the K04 is a bit more expensive. $3000 for the kit.
Also the K04 from CTS is a true K04 and not a modified K03 to fit the stock cat etc. CTS K04 has a larger outlet and will probably spit out more exhaust and perhaps be a more powerful turbo? (just guessing)
But what's most important is that Revo told me that the CTS turbo will work great with their software so I think it's a smart thing to listen to them :)

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Ditch that ITG filter, they are garbage. Though if this is going to be a daily I can understand you going k04, if not why not go big with all this effort?

I say this because I have built a ko4 before and ripped it out to put a proper garrett in within a few months, because no amount of power is never enough once you crave that boost! My b8 is getting GTX3076R now that its no longer my daily.

It's a family car and daily driver so I think a K04 will be ok. Also I don't know how smart it is to extract much more that 350hp out of this engine without upgrading internals etc. It just sound like a lot of in and out of a workshop to get it fixed when something breaks.

[ND_audi]

Uni's comes with a tune thus a higher price. I thought about doing the CTS products as well however uni and apr in my book are more reputable vendors. Relability and quality where priorty over price to me. Just my $0.02. Ive been resear hing and slowly gathering parts.

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Uni's comes with a tune thus a higher price. I thought about doing the CTS products as well however uni and apr in my book are more reputable vendors. Relability and quality where priorty over price to me. Just my $0.02. Ive been resear hing and slowly gathering parts.

If I lived in the US I would also probably go with APR or some tuner close to where I live. However I live in Europe and US Audies and European Audis are a bit different. It looks like APR is specialized in tuning the US Audies and not Audies from Europe. Revo on the other hand is tuning them both and that is probably why Revo is one of the few tuners that can tune my car.
My car is also tuned with Revo stage 2 now and to get stage 3 I only need to pay for the upgrade.
Now when it comes to the K04 turbo the CTS turbo is a Borg Warner K04-0064 and is probably also made by Borg Warner. CTS turbo is probably only making them fit the A4 B8 as they where originally made for the S3/Golf R.

What parts will you be using on your car?

[ND_audi]

I didnt even think about you being in europe. Im 50/50 on turbo and tune its the last thing I need between uni and apr. Im gonna run the BFI front mount, all eurocode piping, awe exhaust, my cts catch can and alu will be here monday. I have to decide on a the turbo before ordering a hfc.

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Today it was a good day. TNT visit me and delivered the K04.
Wow this shiny thing smell power :)

First thing I notice is the cat comes without the extra small mount/tap to mount it to the car just before it connects to the downpipe. Wonder why they removed this mount?
Now the whole weight of the exhaust system will rest on the turbo itself.

Also I can see on the turbo where they did the modification to fit for a A4 B8. It shows pretty good because they use some shinier metal.
On the turbo air inlet and outlet they have mounted some extra tube of some kind and on the inside you can see that it's a bit to long in length so it sticks i bit out.
Wonder if this can have an impact on the air flowing??

Well. Here are the pictures I took today.
If anyone else have some pictures of their K04 then pleas share.

[KaleZ]

That CTS K04 is sexy. What are the advertised HP gains from stage 2 for Revo? Are you DIYing this yourself or having a shop do it?

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That CTS K04 is sexy. What are the advertised HP gains from stage 2 for Revo? Are you DIYing this yourself or having a shop do it?

Stage 2 Revo with 98ron in good condition (guess below 20c) is close to 300hp.
If using a K04 (like I am going to) you go Revo stage 3 which is close to 350hp running on 98ron in good condition.
95ron in not so good condition is like 320hp ish.

[STA4]

Today it was a good day. TNT visit me and delivered the K04.
Wow this shiny thing smell power :)

First thing I notice is the cat comes without the extra small mount/tap to mount it to the car just before it connects to the downpipe. Wonder why they removed this mount?
Now the whole weight of the exhaust system will rest on the turbo itself.

Also I can see on the turbo where they did the modification to fit for a A4 B8. It shows pretty good because they use some shinier metal.
On the turbo air inlet and outlet they have mounted some extra tube of some kind and on the inside you can see that it's a bit to long in length so it sticks i bit out.
Wonder if this can have an impact on the air flowing??

Well. Here are the pictures I took today.
If anyone else have some pictures of their K04 then pleas share.

What's that tube for? You'd think they'd cut and grind it down before welding it in to reduce turbulence.

[A4 Centaur]

Looking forward to your review! Great mod!

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I asked CTS about the missing bracket on the HFC and the answer was that this is how they make it and this is how I ordered it and this is how the picture is on their web.
When I look at the picture on the web I only see the test pipe and from the direction of the picture you/I cant tell if the bracket is on the cat or not.

So now I have to ask my workshop to remove the bracket from 034M HFC and remount it on this CTS cat.
Does anyone else here run a cat without that bracket?
There must be a reason for Audi to design the stock cat with such a bracket or??

[Alex1188]

ive been running without that bracket for over 60xxx miles no problems

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What's that tube for? You'd think they'd cut and grind it down before welding it in to reduce turbulence.

I was wondering about that too and after comparing it with the CTS K04 B7 turbo it looks like this is where the dump valve will be installed. In the packet there are two extra hoses and a small metal part to use with it.
If this is the case then I wonder where the dump valve is installed on the APR or Unitronic K04? From the pictures it does not look like they have these extra pipes.

[bermudakid]

Is it me or do some of those welds look criminal

[Frinkferta]

You are going to love it!

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ive been running without that bracket for over 60xxx miles no problems

I am sure it will run fine for the most of the time.
Our wheels have 5 bolts to mount it and I am sure using only 4 of them will also work most of the time.
Point is that there must be a reason why we have 5 of them. Same goes to this extra bracket.
What will be worst case scenario driving around without it?

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Today I picked up the new ECS DV and some Iridium spark plugs.





Anyone using this piston based DV?
Perhaps this is the same as I already have on my 2012 B8 (Revision D)

[KFizz]

Today it was a good day. TNT visit me and delivered the K04.
Wow this shiny thing smell power :)

First thing I notice is the cat comes without the extra small mount/tap to mount it to the car just before it connects to the downpipe. Wonder why they removed this mount?
Now the whole weight of the exhaust system will rest on the turbo itself.

Also I can see on the turbo where they did the modification to fit for a A4 B8. It shows pretty good because they use some shinier metal.
On the turbo air inlet and outlet they have mounted some extra tube of some kind and on the inside you can see that it's a bit to long in length so it sticks i bit out.
Wonder if this can have an impact on the air flowing??

Well. Here are the pictures I took today.
If anyone else have some pictures of their K04 then pleas share.

What is going on with this weld? It looks like it's not even attached. This looks like a weld that's failed.....

Seems like they tried to weld stainless to cast iron and it wasn't done properly

[poweredbyaudi7]

Is it me or do some of those welds look criminal

What is going on with this weld? It looks like it's not even attached. This looks like a weld that's failed.....

Seems like they tried to weld stainless to cast iron and it wasn't done properly

This is the forst thing I noticed...that weld is suspect as hell! Maybe it is just the angle of the picture? I would validate that it is solid and air tight prior to install...

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And today the MFIC arrived from Dave Meister.
Not to many was willing to ship to Europe but they did. Thanks for that.
Some pictures of the beast :)














Weight: 9.3Kg



Looks like it fits perfectly on the K04



I was hoping I could get the FMIC mounted before the K04 so that I could compare it to the 3.0TDI FMIC that I have installed now. (If I can get 18C ambient temp like when I logged the other one)

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Today I started mounting the new intercooler.
Just have to say Unitronic did a very good job designing this thing. it fits down to the smallest mm.
I just hope the front also will fit when I get to that part.

Here are some pictures from the installation:

Here is the 3.0TDI IC mounted on my car


Stock 2.0TFSI IC, 3.0TDI IC and Uni IC for compare.













Probably the best part. The whole core will be exposed to air flow:

[A4 Centaur]

^Sweet!

Still owe you a big thanks for getting us the TDi FMIC Part numbers a while back. I'm ok with it until I get a K04 or Crashes' Loba Kit.

[o1turbo30v]

Those are the worst welds I've seen, why CTS would massacre the turbo like that....

[ParadigmTony]

A couple of things, I have the CTS K04 and Test Pipe. No Bracket, doing fine. Its not really supporting the weight of the exhaust, the hangers hold the majority of that. The Support Bracket in my OPINION would actually add stress the stainless pipe. The stock Pipe is much thicker and rigid, and heavier, needing more support. As for software I run APR's Stage 3 v.3 software just fine and it rips. Lastly in regards to those welds, mine doesn't look like that. Hopefully its just the picture. All in all you should love the notable difference. Its a blast to drive.

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Mounted the hoses and the air guides today.

The hose coming from the turbo is in contact with some wires and I hope they wont eat through the hose over time.




Air guides fits like if this was the stock intercooler. Looks like Unitronic really know how to design these things :)




Lets just hope this thing perform as good as it fits :)

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Any opinion on removing the sound box while I have the front off?

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First major problem!!

Front/Bumper wont fit with the new intercooler :(

Some pictures of the problem:

Red ring shows where the intercooler hits and trimming this will be a pain:



Here you can see that it barely fits without this plate on.




And plenty of space to move the IC design back a bit:


Here you can see that it is leaning a bit forward. Or it sure looks like it:


Squeezing the plate in here will just be a big mess:


So as you can see the front plate mounted to the bumper (front) wont fit because the IC stick to far out. The IC also tips a bit forward (looks like it) and makes the problem even worse.
Have anyone mounted the Unitronic FMIC and encounter same problem?
Could this be a S-Line/Non S-Line issue? I think the installation manual is for a non S-Line car.

[Dub_prime]

Is there a difference in the bumpers on the euro models, I know in previous generations there was.

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When mounting the bumper without the front lower plate it kind of worked. Had to squeeze it a bit but after some time I got it to fit.

To be able to mount the plate I had to remove some plastic:


And now I was able to fiddle it in place:



When the plate was mounted you can still see that the intercooler got some pressure on it but when I inserted the 4 screws it looks ok.


Final result:



Next now is to do some logging when I get 18C outside so I can compare it to the 3.0TDI IC.

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Is there a difference in the bumpers on the euro models, I know in previous generations there was.

I don't know but strange that there is no one else with same problem.
Could also be S-Line or non s-line bumper.

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Finally temperature dropped to 18C so I could do a log on the new IC. Reason I wanted 18C is that the previous compare chart was logged at 18C.
The three log lines are 3rd gear pulls from about 2200RPM and up to 6000RPM.



Red line is Stock IC (6l)
Blue line is 3.0TDI IC (8l)
Green line is Unitronic IC

WOOW :)
This I like!!

Engine was probably freezing when I reach 6000RPM :)

[Dub_prime]

Nice numbers, this wasn't even on my radar. Looks like a solid piece and I like that the shroud isn't modified and it's fully exposed. I'm assuming this would work with the EC turbo muffler delete and possibly the hoses?

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Nice numbers, this wasn't even on my radar. Looks like a solid piece and I like that the shroud isn't modified and it's fully exposed. I'm assuming this would work with the EC turbo muffler delete and possibly the hoses?

If the EC Turbo muffler has a stock outlet then it will fit on the Uni hose.
I am still running with the stock IHI K03 and a stage 2 car.
If you are referring to the turbo inlet hose then it should fit. The turbo outlet hose is designed to fit the stock turbo and the Uni FMIC.

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Here are the three runs I logged.
Still a stage 2 car running on the stock IHI K03 turbo.
There is about 10min delay (cooldown period) between the runs

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Here are the boost and MAF values from run 2.
Will be fun to compare these values to the K04.
Clearly the IHI turbo struggle delivering air required by the revo tune. Lets hope the K04 can do a better job.

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Today I delivered the car for turbo swap. I was driving the car in stock mode to the workshop with the K04 in the trunk. LOL, I could swear the car performed better with all that unleashed power back there :)
6hrs later I called the worhshop to ask if any problem. They told me that it was fine so far but the installation manual missed out some adjustment they had to do. Will get a full report tomorrow when I pick up the car.
Wonder how I can sleep tonight knowing the car is soon ready :)

Anyone here have this turbo installed and know of any extra adjustment compared to the installation manual?

Also, I read about driving the car in stock mode with the K04. Some say it is ok and other say it can destroy the engine/turbo. Some also say one should remove the N75 connector so the wastegate will stay open all the time.
Any suggestion?