Golf R Mk7.5 - Blown turbo after 2 weeks of stage 2

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12-12-2021, 04:20 PM
clarcus

Golf R Mk7.5 - Blown turbo after 2 weeks of stage 2

Car: 2019 MY20 Golf R Mk7.5 - ~19,000kms on odo
Background: Car is running Giac Stage 2 ECU & TCU with the below bolt ons:
- RacingLine R600 full intake, piping, elbows, etc
- IE dump pipe
- APR coil pack
- RS7 plugs
- IE intercooler

All's been up and good with it up until today 😳. Did a little rolling pull while driving today and POOOF tonnes of white smoke in my rearview mirror with complete power loss.

Pulled over had a look around the engine bay, nothing out of the ordinary. I tried to start it and the motor sounds fine (no knocking, etc) but stalls almost straight away with a SAFE message displayed. Car deffo knows it's ****ed. We also saw some white smoke also coming from the turbo.

No messages displayed when doing a scan with the OBD11 dongle I had with me.

It's deffo looking like a blown turbo so just hoping there's no damage to anything else. Coolant & Oil levels were checked prior to the drive.

Cars currently in a holding yard and getting towed to the tuners tomorrow for a proper us.

I know there's been issues with the turbos on older year model R's but thought mine would have been fine. Everyone I've spoken also seems to be surprised that the turbo went. IDK if I just had a defective turbo from factory or I have bad luck :(.

Either way, I got the car tuned knowing it'll void warranty and that there was a possibility of ****in **** up. Hopefully a bigger/stronger turbo next.

THIS IS ALL BASED ON THE TURBO ACTUALLY BEING BLOWN. I could be a dud and something else could be wrong.

Anyone heard similar things or had similar experiences?
12-12-2021, 05:43 PM
Lucas_R

IS38’s are quite a weak/bad design turbo. Despite many revisions, the main weaknesses still exist.

If its blown you may as well get the new Garrett Powermax Stage 1 turbo which is an upgrade over the IS38.
13-12-2021, 10:27 PM
clarcus

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucas_R

IS38’s are quite a weak/bad design turbo. Despite many revisions, the main weaknesses still exist.

If its blown you may as well get the new Garrett Powermax Stage 1 turbo which is an upgrade over the IS38.

Yep, tuner confirmed she's blown. Sussing out the options now. Thanks for your input mate :)
14-12-2021, 08:10 AM
Lucas_R

I guess the issue is if you decide to move away from the IS38 then you will have to get the car tuned to suit either the Garrett I mentioned or a hybrid (modified) IS38. GIAC used to be pretty popular in Australia 5-10years ago but you dont hear of them much these days, so not sure if they offer tunes to suit upgraded turbo's? If not, you may need to move to a different tuning company or go with a custom tune.
18-12-2021, 01:59 PM
clarcus

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lucas_R

I guess the issue is if you decide to move away from the IS38 then you will have to get the car tuned to suit either the Garrett I mentioned or a hybrid (modified) IS38. GIAC used to be pretty popular in Australia 5-10years ago but you dont hear of them much these days, so not sure if they offer tunes to suit upgraded turbo's? If not, you may need to move to a different tuning company or go with a custom tune.

Yeah, the tuner confirmed that Giac don't have a suitable tune for Garret we're currently looking at.. Possibly going down the route of a custom tune. Nothing to over the top as I still want reliability and don't want to be upgrading a bunch of other stuff.

So many choices!
10-01-2022, 02:03 PM
amunra

go for 450+hp
10-01-2022, 02:43 PM
Lucas_R

If you want to keep things as simple as possible and stick with a normal IS38 turbo (no changes to your software) then it seems the HPA OEM+ turbo is the best option. It has a revised bearing system and they have also addressed most of the the other common failure points on the IS38 turbo. HPA Motorsports OEM+ IS38 Turbo Upgrade – AutoInstruct
12-01-2022, 05:57 AM
lenny555

Sorry to hear about the turbo, this is why i chose to run the HPA IS38 oem + turbo which cost me roughly $2500 shipped. I have a dyno tune running 250kw and it runs nicley. The standard is38 is known to have issue with aggressive stage 2 tunes.
14-01-2022, 11:58 PM
MK7DU

It is unfortunately the most normal thing that an IS38 stock turbo blows (stage 2 | 350+ whp).
Options:
LM440 IS38 Hybrid
Garrett Powermax 1
Lots of other manufacturers of IS38 Hybrids (DBV, TPC, Tom., etc.)

https://youtu.be/qRiGmm3dSmQ
15-01-2022, 02:19 PM
malR

Sorry to here about the blown turbo.

Shameless plug ,I have a Littco L500 turbo if your interested , looking at $1K for it . It's been on my car for 2 years ,my R was tuned by Underground Performance . I've recently changed to a Turbo Technic's V5 to scratch an itch I've always had for the V5 .

Cheers
Mal