My APR K04 install, *UPDATED 1/18*
I know a few people have done reviews on the k04 kit recently, so I won't go into too much detail, but thought i'd share my experience.
Pricing: I bought most everything during the APR winter sale.
Ko4- $2,400 shipped
Ultimate Racing DP catted, resonated-$499 shipped
APR Carbonio- $180 shipped (used on ebay!)
APR FMIC and AWE TOP- $1,082 shipped (USP had an extra 10% discount for items under $1k)
Install-k04- $840
Install- FMIC and AWE TOP- $500
***SouthBend Endurance Clutch- $1,200 ($1,050+shipping+taxes)*** Updated 1/18
Clutch install- $300 (Redline Speedworx)
TOTAL: $7,001
Thoughts on install and pricing: When you add up everything at once, it's an expensive proposition. It's not as simple as order the k04 and install for $2,300. Yes, there's cheaper ways to do it such as the S3 intercooler and doing the install yourself, but if I'm spending ~$5k on my $25k car, I want to make sure it's done properly. I feel confident I went with the top products and that takes a lot of questions out of my head, i.e. If I had only gone with.... Also, I saved some money by not going stage 1 or stage 2 first. I went straight from stock as I knew I was going to go k04 at some point, so I sucked it up and eventually saved a good amount of money by not flashing the ecu and then having to pay again to have it flashed to k04. However, it's not for the faint of heart, dropping $5k is a significant investment, and don't tell the wife
Impressions on driving: This thing is faasssssttttt. No question that there's a significant boost in power. I had a stage 2 mk5 before this, and this thing would blow it out of the water. I only have driven about 50 miles on the car, so i'm assuming the ecu is still adapting a bit, but the car is a beast in any and all gears. Much, much quicker than stage 2, it will definitely role with some of the big boys.
Concluding thoughts: The car is super fast. I went with the UR catted and resonated dp because I wanted it to be quiet. It's very quiet. It feels like driving a stock car with a lot more power, which was my goal. I expect to blow out the clutch within 10,000 miles (I only have 4k on the car), so that will be another $1k and install, which I expect to be around $700 (not positive). So all in, I'm looking at over $7k. Is it worth it? If someone said, give me $7k and i'll give you 365 hp, I'd say no. However, for some reason, since you buy it in pieces, it doesn't seem that bad. Being a little bit older, I am able to pay for it in cash. When I was younger and modding my cars, I didn't always play by that rule, and I would encourage anyone to think long and hard before dropping it on a credit card, especially if you're younger. So, yes I'm very happy with the increase in power. It was a fairly painless process, and it's nice to have a car that is fast when I want it to be and civilized when I want it to be. I have the ultimate sleeper with stock exterior and suspension, and the downpipe is as quiet as stock, so that's going to be pretty fun to sneak up on some people.
Quick vid, this doesn't really do it justice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPphEF8M7E8
***Update 1/18/12**** after putting about 750 miles on the k04 my clutch is starting to slip. It's pretty significant in third and fourth, and even slips a bit in 6th gear on the highway. I recieved an estimate for $2k installed for the South Bend Endurance clutch ($1,050+taxes+shipping+ ~$800 for install). I only have 4,000 miles on the car/clutch, so I would definitely put this in the mandatory column when upgrading to k04. I'm hoping to get a few more months out of it, but I also don' want to not be able to drive my car like it should. Also to note, I haven't ever dumped the clutch from a dig, never tracked, and don't really beat on my car too hard......Update 3/4/13...Went with stage 3 disc only, have had it for 11,000 miles with no issues. Installed at Redline Speedworx for $300
I know a few people have done reviews on the k04 kit recently, so I won't go into too much detail, but thought i'd share my experience.
Pricing: I bought most everything during the APR winter sale.
Ko4- $2,400 shipped
Ultimate Racing DP catted, resonated-$499 shipped
APR Carbonio- $180 shipped (used on ebay!)
APR FMIC and AWE TOP- $1,082 shipped (USP had an extra 10% discount for items under $1k)
Install-k04- $840
Install- FMIC and AWE TOP- $500
***SouthBend Endurance Clutch- $1,200 ($1,050+shipping+taxes)*** Updated 1/18
Clutch install- $300 (Redline Speedworx)
TOTAL: $7,001
Thoughts on install and pricing: When you add up everything at once, it's an expensive proposition. It's not as simple as order the k04 and install for $2,300. Yes, there's cheaper ways to do it such as the S3 intercooler and doing the install yourself, but if I'm spending ~$5k on my $25k car, I want to make sure it's done properly. I feel confident I went with the top products and that takes a lot of questions out of my head, i.e. If I had only gone with.... Also, I saved some money by not going stage 1 or stage 2 first. I went straight from stock as I knew I was going to go k04 at some point, so I sucked it up and eventually saved a good amount of money by not flashing the ecu and then having to pay again to have it flashed to k04. However, it's not for the faint of heart, dropping $5k is a significant investment, and don't tell the wife
Impressions on driving: This thing is faasssssttttt. No question that there's a significant boost in power. I had a stage 2 mk5 before this, and this thing would blow it out of the water. I only have driven about 50 miles on the car, so i'm assuming the ecu is still adapting a bit, but the car is a beast in any and all gears. Much, much quicker than stage 2, it will definitely role with some of the big boys.
Concluding thoughts: The car is super fast. I went with the UR catted and resonated dp because I wanted it to be quiet. It's very quiet. It feels like driving a stock car with a lot more power, which was my goal. I expect to blow out the clutch within 10,000 miles (I only have 4k on the car), so that will be another $1k and install, which I expect to be around $700 (not positive). So all in, I'm looking at over $7k. Is it worth it? If someone said, give me $7k and i'll give you 365 hp, I'd say no. However, for some reason, since you buy it in pieces, it doesn't seem that bad. Being a little bit older, I am able to pay for it in cash. When I was younger and modding my cars, I didn't always play by that rule, and I would encourage anyone to think long and hard before dropping it on a credit card, especially if you're younger. So, yes I'm very happy with the increase in power. It was a fairly painless process, and it's nice to have a car that is fast when I want it to be and civilized when I want it to be. I have the ultimate sleeper with stock exterior and suspension, and the downpipe is as quiet as stock, so that's going to be pretty fun to sneak up on some people.
Quick vid, this doesn't really do it justice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPphEF8M7E8
***Update 1/18/12**** after putting about 750 miles on the k04 my clutch is starting to slip. It's pretty significant in third and fourth, and even slips a bit in 6th gear on the highway. I recieved an estimate for $2k installed for the South Bend Endurance clutch ($1,050+taxes+shipping+ ~$800 for install). I only have 4,000 miles on the car/clutch, so I would definitely put this in the mandatory column when upgrading to k04. I'm hoping to get a few more months out of it, but I also don' want to not be able to drive my car like it should. Also to note, I haven't ever dumped the clutch from a dig, never tracked, and don't really beat on my car too hard......Update 3/4/13...Went with stage 3 disc only, have had it for 11,000 miles with no issues. Installed at Redline Speedworx for $300
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