Decked Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 As some of you are aware I have decided to replace the VF stage 2 supercharger for the HPA turbo. After having my VF supercharger stage 2 installed, although I was impressed with the power and the smooth delivery I wanted more… VF are no longer providing the stage ¾ upgrade…. But thanks to Fiftypence (some of you may remember him from TSN, he don’t seem to venture on here anymore), he decided to sell his R32 without installing the kit. So I managed to buy the new kit off him at a good price. Anyhow, the HPA kit is an FT360 kit but I already have an HPA manifold (if you remember I ran it NA with the cams etc a while ago) so to upgrade, it’s a few pipes, intercooler, remap and upping the boost. Having had the car back a couple of weeks now, I’ve had a fair amount of seat time. Unfortunately, as with the VF kit, the HPA kit isn’t complete, but as I have a friend with an FT400 kit that he’s run for well over a year, he knows of all the issues and he’s given me a list of everything that needs to be updated/replaced/relocated to make the car perfect. However when we got round to the install there were a few more pipes needed than we expected. Everything has now been tweaked and I’ve done all the running in required, I can now give it full beans! It is a machine! HPA were a great help by email and by phone (they even phoned me Chris had questions to ask about the kit!!!) All the problems surround the air-con pipe work and some additional feeds because the kit is designed by HGP in Germany it’s really for the LHD market, but if you have someone like Chris doing the install it's not a problem! Chris got all these re routed and it’s all spot on! Apparently is very similar to the MK5 setup now. My first impressions were good, the only thing that shocked me was the amount of lag, although when it hits full boost it ripped, there seemed to be a bit more than I thought i'd be getting. However, now the cars done some more miles, the ECU has learned and it’s smoothed out a lot. The power surge is still there but seems a lot smoother. Below 3.5K it was like driving the car with cams but seems smoother (possibly something to do with the lowered compression) but when it hits 3.5K it goes mental! It feels like it keeps pulling hard all the way up to 7K, possibly not as hard as the SC from 6.5K but everywhere else in the rev range it’s imense. The gears just run out so quickly, with the VF it seemed to lengthen them, this feels like it shortens them. When you have your foot planted every gear change brings you back into boost and provides a lovely pop out the exhaust, it’s perfect! The kit is supposed to be 360bhp…. I can tell you now it’s more than that. I believe the US cars make 360+ on 91 octane, I’m running 99 with cats, exhaust etc. I’m probably going to get it dyno’d fairly soon as I’d love to know what it's really kicking out! Here is a quick pic with the engine coven on, it doesn’t fit perfect as it needs a bit more trimmed off but I’m leaving it off for now anyway. Saying all this, there are 2 small issues…. One disappointment is the noise, although the engine sounds great, the Milltek doesn’t. It basically sounds like stock, I think…. (I have the straight through Milltek with hi flow cats). With the SC it was really loud! So loud in fact I was going to get the silenced Milltek fitted, now I won’t have to go down that route so it could be a good thing….. Secondly, cold starts, it needs to be turned twice on a cold morning (it may be a simple fix like a new temp sensor or something like that) but I have now established that if you give it a tiny bit of gas it’s fine but it’s obviously nothing I’ve had to do before. It’s something I may get HPA to have a look at…. I believe they know of the issues with the FT360 remap and are looking at a software update for the issue, but it’s not something that bothers me at all. Not when I look at what the kit has done to the R. Other than that it’s awesome! I’m really impressed with it, I’m yet to take in on the track but it’s coming! Huge thumbs up to Chris at Zeema for installing the kit and HPA. I’m one happy customer! When I can get some vids made up i'll get them posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjallaway83 Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Beast! Do they do a kit for the mk5? And how much does it cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan32 Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Looking good Keith. Now all we have to do is twist your arm to get you over to a Brighton meet as I'm sure there will be a list of people wanting passenger rides, me included! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brisel Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Nice one DR32 The turbo will take out a lot of the noise - it is a high speed baffle after all Shame about the noise - SimonV6Golf's EIP sounded great, but AFAIK his exhaust was nearly straight through. Just can't find the link... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woppum Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Intresting. glad you like it. Do you have an option of upping boost later and getting more power if you want it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decked Posted December 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 They do a kit for the Mk5, not sure if HPA have released it yet, but HGP in Germany have and i'm sure it's a beast too. I will be at the Brands Hatch meet in January, I may pop down to Brighton, not too sure how much juice this thing is drinking at the moment..... I think Simon had the full EIP system, I have heard that their exhausts do sound good with the turbo. And yes I can upgrade, I have the manifold and HPA are offering good deals at the moment. But I'm happy with it at the moment so I don't want to be playing with it again so soon. I will upgrade to the FT400, but not the FT450.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrakeSnake Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 Nice post mate. Git. I've been after one of these for a while and came so close to getting one when HPA had an offer on earlier this year. Bogdan is running a Mk V with the FT400 kit on it. As far as i'm aware the FT360 isn't yet available for the Mk V... It was in the pipeline last i heard. Awesome bit of kit, glad you like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simple_man Posted December 13, 2007 Report Share Posted December 13, 2007 I hope HPA will come out with FT360. It is a nice option to have as entry level. This way you can have a nice balance between high compression stock motor and additional power. I heard that MKV R32 motor is pretty much the same to MKIV, but ECU is much faster, better module which should allow for better mapping = more and smoother power at same boost levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogdan Posted December 14, 2007 Report Share Posted December 14, 2007 Yes, but even with the 360 entry level kit you'll have to lower compression. This is the safe way to go when adding a turbo on a NA car.And I don't think they will ever come out with a 360 non-intercooled stage for MK5, due to some A/C lines or something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasT Posted December 15, 2007 Report Share Posted December 15, 2007 Cheers for the review DeckedR32. Now go get it on the rolling road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now