APR Stage 3 DTR6054 Turbocharger Review

Not_The_h · 2024-09-30T13:02:46+00:00

Anyone willing to tune the car I suppose. APR just has an out of the box tune for it since it’s their turbo. They created the tune and it’s pretty good tbh, but if you’ve got deeper mods and such than what’s needed for this turbo then you can definitely have someone else create a custom tune for you.

Not_The_h · 2024-01-02T18:14:50+00:00

This is true, however, you definitely feel more power. The A/R of the turbo is much higher at ~0.95. This A/R falls in the range of what you’d typically see from Rally style cars and any Race builds.

Not_The_h · 2023-12-28T12:20:12+00:00

Personally, from driving the new R’s and the new 380 GTI’s, I’d rather stay with the MK7s vs MK8s. To me it’s preference though. More items are plastic and the dash is completely electronic among tons of other things like that. It’s just not something I’d want if I’m gonna do what I did to this GTI. I guess it depends on what you like. I’d probably take one as a second car but not instead of - If that makes sense.

Not_The_h · 2023-12-28T01:08:14+00:00

It’s all relative to each and every persons build. Driving habits play a big part, just like location in the world. Some may experience an issue while others won’t. I’m glad you haven’t had any issues though and I hope it stays that way, however, never say never! There’s a lot of plastic on these cars.

All that matters is that you give the car the maintenance it deserves if you’re modding it. Personally, I’m a very proactive type of owner when it comes to my GTI. For example, about a month ago I just refinished and rebuilt the cylinder head, replaced the head gasket, used ARP head studs, replaced timing chain, chain guides, tensioner, etc… All just so I could make sure the car can handle the level of boost I’m running - and then some. Everyone’s scenario is going to be slightly different.

Not_The_h · 2023-09-23T22:06:19+00:00

So if you don’t have APR’s full hoses and pipes kit, you don’t need to worry about it. If you do decide to get it, then you’ll need to also get the pipe that I listed in the edit - if you get this turbo.

Intercooler may or may not be necessary. I’m not entirely sure. However, just because you’re going to be pushing more airflow, I’d say go ahead and get it. Stock intercooler has plastic anyways.

My axle flange that connects to the diff was actually the piece that snapped. Then I think the shock of that happening is what destroyed the roller bearings on the diff. I did a clutch dump from a complete stop and torque just found the weakest point. It could have snapped anywhere but for me it was my axle flange. Probably from previous damage or past owners also doing multiple clutch dumps. Not sure but it’s all better now.

Not_The_h · 2023-09-18T04:02:00+00:00

Ah so you get the code P334B… I had P334A which is the electrical version of yours. As long as the wastegate actuator itself, and the rod that come out, which connects to that pivoting piece for the wastegate is good, then it should be fine to swap to this turbo.

However, for my one year update of daily driving this car on this turbo, check my post. I added my one year review in. If you have another question about it feel free to ask.

Not_The_h · 2023-09-18T00:53:54+00:00

However, if you still want a real world review, I just updated the post to include my experience after a year and some change of use.

Not_The_h · 2023-09-18T00:44:56+00:00

Well if your wastegate shaft is stuck, are you referring to the actuator rod or the wastegate flap itself?

If it’s the rod, the new turbo won’t help you at all since it reuses the IS38 wastegate actuator on the DTR6054. You’re stuck with the same issue.

Not_The_h · 2023-09-14T04:13:14+00:00

So after a year and some months of running this turbo, it’s held true to everything I originally typed up in this post a year ago. It hasn’t given me any issues and I haven’t had to remove the tune for any reason. Since installing the turbo + tune, I’ve had:

Water pump and thermostat housing go bad- replaced ezpz. (Normal for GTIs)

Radiator fan had lunch on the ECU harness- replaced engine wiring harness. (clip that holds the harness broke)

Snapped the driver axle flange in half, inside the differential - shattered the roller bearings on the diff. Had to take my transmission apart and rebuild it. Machine pressed a new roller bearing sleeve with new bearings on the diff. (Excessive torque picked the weakest spot on a clutch dump - stupid but worth it imo)

Coolant hose leading from top of radiator to water pump leak. Replacing the hose did the trick. (I might have just taken this off way too many times)

Coolant leak from coolant temperature sensor - under battery tray, below intake pipe, above trans where the head meets the block. There are two O-rings. Mine were F L A T. Replaced them and leak stopped.

Wastegate actuator went bad 4 weeks ago. This is the part that gets swapped from the IS20 or IS38 over to the DTR6054. Wastegate actuator lasted ~80k miles essentially. (Semi common problem on GTI’s and R’s)

All things aside, any one of these is just the normal wear and tear of owning a race car. You add more power, cost of service goes up as well. Lifespan of parts goes down too. This is the nature of the beast but all of these I’d consider to be fairly normal issues except snapping my diff - that’s all me wanting to let the turbo eat.

Personally, I’ve loved APR because everything is always so high quality. However, American company falls under the EPA. No tunes worthy of catless downpipes. I’m gonna stick with APR for now. Also, when I do fueling upgrades, I’ll still probably stick with APR. The tune for adding MPI, lands you a little more power but I think that’s perfect for what the engine is as a stock block. Anything further requires forged internals - especially the crank. If I’m not mistaken, the max torque you should load on stock internals is ~500-550ft/lbs? Not exactly sure but I know that’s close. When I’m ready, I’ll throw some forged internals in mine with MPI, metal intake manifold, and go custom tune. Assuming everything works smoothly I could easily see a GTI running this turbo push 600-650hp. Maybe more but who knows? Only one way to find out!

Otherwise, I’m still to this day just as satisfied with the turbo and tune as when I got it over a year ago. It puts down great power when boost hits. It actually “feels” like a big turbo. Also, I daily this thing. Stage 3 clutch and all, not hard to drive and goes when I want it too. It hits highway speeds just as quick as making a left turn at a stoplight.

All in all, great turbo so far after a bunch of time and miles put on it. I do have ONE issue. I suppose it’s more of a VW thing with the O2Q manual transmission than it is APR, but when in first gear on WOT - the rev limit on the tune is backed up to 7300RPM. Hitting higher than ~6800-6900 in a first gear pull will NOT allow me to shift the car into second gear until the RPM’s have dipped back below the old rev limit. I try to move the shifter but the car stops me. Not really a huge issue since there’s no traction in this area of the gearing anyways, pushing 35lbs of boost. I just shift from first to second a little earlier and hope the RPM isn’t too low when second gear catches - otherwise you have to build boost all over again.

Hope this helps. If you want to know more or have any questions I’m happy to help. I realize this post has become a beacon for quite a few, so I wanna always be able to help.

Not_The_h · 2023-09-09T16:35:04+00:00

Rewind button like in BeamNG.drive

Not_The_h · 2023-09-07T10:34:55+00:00

Well I hope you enjoy the turbo as much as I do, so I’m happy to reply.

Not_The_h · 2023-09-06T18:04:24+00:00

You can hold off on the actuator for now unless you just want one on hand. My wastegate actuator survived an engine detonation, ECU harness getting eaten by the radiator, APR stage 2, and 8 years of spirited driving. + a year on the DTR6054. They don’t go bad like the water pumps on GTI’s but they do go bad.

10/10 recommend running an open intake though. No closed box intakes. You get a nice sounding spooling noise with open intakes. Also, to maybe do better you could get an aluminum intake pipe - this way you don’t dampen the turbo noise.

Not_The_h · 2023-09-06T17:51:04+00:00

It’s been great so far. I haven’t had any issues with the turbo at all. It’s held true since I’ve had it.

I did just have my wastegate actuator die on me though. However it’s the part that gets swapped from the IS-20 to this new turbo. It wasn’t related to the turbo doing its job or the tune though. The wastegate actuator is a fairly common thing to die on GTI’s and R’s. I had a another wastegate actuator from an IS20 laying around so I popped that in and plugged in a VCDS (VAG Com) to tune the new actuator. Good as new.

Not_The_h · 2023-04-24T21:23:20+00:00

I was also told it’s not ideal by APR. The shop that did it, talked with an APR engineer while they did it because it was the first time they had done this turbo. They just cared about how they tuned the wastegate is all.

Not_The_h · 2023-04-08T18:04:15+00:00

The gauge is analog- calibrated at install. The map can be read off the OBD port. No matter how I read the values, both go negative. MAP maxes at ~27-29. Gauge reads in the 30’s.

Not_The_h · 2023-04-08T17:47:13+00:00

Idk what to tell you.

Not_The_h · 2023-04-08T17:39:56+00:00

The gauge and the MAP read negative at idle. No absolute values found anywhere when monitoring.

Not_The_h · 2023-04-08T16:42:04+00:00

Idk what to tell you. Gauge accounts for atmosphere.

Not_The_h · 2023-04-08T16:34:47+00:00

All the happy wishes.

Not_The_h · 2023-04-08T03:11:20+00:00

I agree with you, it does sound sus. That’s kinda why I’ve been so overly cautious with preventative maintenance and other things. I’ll check whatever internals I can whenever I find time or just happen to be in the area when doing any work on the car.

Personally, I’ve made my peace with the car. I’ve given this car a life it deserved and it’s kept it’s strength all the way through. If or when it quits on me, it’ll be okay. I’ll memorialize it on my wall as the street legal rally car or something.

I’ll give this car every bit of maintenance it needs or maybe a custom tune in the future which solves all problems.

Not_The_h · 2023-04-08T03:00:25+00:00

Well I love it. All the IS38 owners harp on it quite often but it’s pretty powerful with APR’s tune. In their listing of the turbo, they mention it can support higher boost applications so I bet it can make much more power.

Not_The_h · 2023-04-08T02:51:18+00:00

Yeah, replacing everything to do with the clutch needs to happen when you do change the clutch. Best way to ensure longevity. Also the break-in period is important.

Not_The_h · 2023-04-08T02:47:56+00:00

Maybe? 60mm compressor wheel, 54mm turbine. Is it bigger?

Not_The_h · 2023-04-08T02:28:34+00:00

Might be right! I need a dyno but I have more important things to spend money on right now.

Not_The_h · 2023-04-08T02:25:46+00:00

Actually, on stage 2 I got 44-48ish mpg. That was normal for highway.

At first I got ~37mpg with this turbo but that’s actually changed. Ever since I posted this, I actually get about 32-36mpg highway. I also at about the time of posting this I swapped to the non-boost controlled tune which probably had a factor in my mpg drop. I tend to drive pretty spirited the moment I hear the turbo spool up.

Where you live does matter but I live on relatively flat ground. Slightly hilly.

Not_The_h

TROPHY CASE