Turbo 101

[flipstah]

With my first turbo car here with me, I want to make this car last. Are there any tips/rule that I should be aware of when owning a turbo-powered car?

- When starting, I let the engine idle a bit until it sits at ~1k rpm then proceed or let it warm up longer if it's cold out.
- When stopping, I let the engine idle a bit until the turbo has calmed down (~1-2mins) then shut it off

Anything else?

[Mibz]

30-60 seconds is all it needs to warm up, just drive normally until the oil is warm. No WOT, no high rpms.

Unless you're 4th gear pulls then immediately turning the car off, you're fine. A minute of normal driving is all that's necessary to adequately cool a turbo after aggressive street driving.

Don't be one of those guys that worries too much :P

[ducaudi]

I'd say you're okay with those in mind already. I used 5W-40 European Spec Oil for my car as well when I had a turbocharged engine. VW you're gonna be using Castrol SPT from the dealership, could also try using Amsoil Euro Spec 5W-40. Happy motoring! WhhhhooooshhhH!

[rage2]

Move to Vancouver (or anywhere sea level) haha. The turbos work so much harder to make power up in this elevation that it will fail a lot sooner than if you lived at sea level.

[flipstah]

Not really worried; just proactive.

Frankly, I'm crying more for the clutch than anything. Better at it but still sloppy.

Thanks all!

[1-Bar]

As stated above: Keep good diligence on your oil changes/intervals, lifeline of the turbo

[Cooked Rice]

Just good oil as mentioned. Your turbo has water lines connected to it from factory to dissipate it's heat after you shut it down, so waiting for it to cool down is not 100% necessary. Considering it hasn't been tinkered with from factory, you don't have much to worry about.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Synthetic oil, and don't get on the gas until your OIL is warm, not to be confused with your coolant temp. Just go easy on the gas until it's warm, it's engine load that spools the turbos, not just RPM.

I had ~140K on my old S4, it was chipped almost from day 1, and the turbos were just fine when I sold the car. Both turbos were working near their limit plus at Calgary's altitude with no problems. Just take care of it like anything else.

[DeleriousZ]

Not sure how much you know about turbo's in general, but garrett's website has an awesome read on turbo's from basic to fairly advanced.

http://www.turbobygarrett.com/turbobygarrett/basic
http://www.turbobygarrett.com/turbobygarrett/turbo_tech_advanced
http://www.turbobygarrett.com/turbobygarrett/turbo_tech_expert

Also an interesting tidbit about watercooled turbos:

If the cooling system is set up correctly (not getting too into it, water feed lower than water drain) the system will automatically cool the turbo down somewhat. This happens because of thermal convection (see thermosiphons) pulling water through the turbo's center section, effectively cooling it down. That doesn't mean you shouldn't let the turbo cool down for 15-30 seconds once you get to your destination, but it does help vs an air/oil cooled turbo.

Most factory water cooled turbo systems are set up like this.

[Sentry]

Originally posted by DeleriousZ
Also an interesting tidbit about watercooled turbos:

If the cooling system is set up correctly (not getting too into it, water feed lower than water drain) the system will automatically cool the turbo down somewhat. This happens because of thermal convection (see thermosiphons) pulling water through the turbo's center section, effectively cooling it down. That doesn't mean you shouldn't let the turbo cool down for 15-30 seconds once you get to your destination, but it does help vs an air/oil cooled turbo.

Most factory water cooled turbo systems are set up like this.
Yeah on my Civic I set it up to do that. Angle the CHRA a bit, but no more than 15 degrees or so. The one pointing up will be the outlet, the one pointing down will be the inlet and it will siphon when it's hot and you turn the car off. I could even hear it!

[lilmira]

What kinda oil does the R take? The GC is on sale at crappy tire if 0W30 works.