Stage 3/continental R turbo swap - mk8 GTI. Initial impressions…
I just picked up my 2024 autobahn after getting APRs Oem plug and play continental golf R turbo swap and a stage 3 ecu flash (93 octane low torque). I am FBO and originally was flashed stage 1 high torque ECU. My initial feeling is it’s a night and day difference!!
The stage 1 w/ intercooler, intake, exhaust made the car quick and was explosive in low/midrange. But one of the reasons I went with Continental golf R turbo upgrade was I didn’t want to lose the OEM low and midrange torque feel and I can say it’s even better and much smoother overall with the R upgrade. The Continental turbo just feels effortless and more powerful through mid range and into gears 5-6 it just keeps going vs falling off like it did on stock turbo. I did a 60-100 roll and it kept pulling to redline whereas the OEM on stage 1 you’d feel it start to fade and drop off around 100-110 mph. Overall I’m very pleased with the initial impression and especially like that there’s clearly a lot more power at the top end without making the car “laggy” at low/midrange which as you know is often the problem with the big turbo swaps on GTIs.
Kudos to APR for a shrewd decision on the Continental which is different than what other companies are offering for their MK8 stage 3 turbo upgrade and big props to Auto Engineering in Lexington, Mass for all their work on my entire build. 👏🙌🙏 🚘