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Does anyone know of any reputable big name firms making tubular manifolds?

I basically can't afford the MRC manifolds (£1200 - eeek!)

The £335 ones on eBay (XS Motorsport) are <beep> quality, apparently the turbo's end up hanging off cos the welds are that bad

So far I can think of Longlife (got one near me in Leeds), anymore?

Cheers

Nick

unless you are going to use hybrids stick with standard or rs4 . I don't think that you'll find better or cheaper than mrc .
Remember , if they fail it's the engine out again and they could damage the turbos .

grizz wrote:unless you are going to use hybrids stick with standard or rs4 . I don't think that you'll find better or cheaper than mrc .
Remember , if they fail it's the engine out again and they could damage the turbos .

That's a fair point and one I had allowed for, I would (and will if I can) buy the MRC solution - but right now £1200 is a bit out of my reach.

That said I was considering going down the roller bearing turbo route, (GT2860RS??) with a few tweaks (not many, gotta keep the price down). Ultimately I'm after ultra fast spooling, with moderate flow - I don't feel the need to go more than 400hp, but I do want low down stomp without lag.

Ultimately if I can't source anything then it's a ported RS4 manifold as they seam cheap enough to acquire.

*edit* a pair of stock used K04's just fetched £570 on ebay.de, by the time delivery probably £600 - not bad versus £1100 for brand new pair of KO4's.

roller bearing turbo

Are K04s different to this? (i.e. not roller bearing?) And do roller bearing turbos spool up quicker?

nickb834 wrote:
*edit* a pair of stock used K04's just fetched £570 on ebay.de, by the time delivery probably £600 - not bad versus £1100 for brand new pair of KO4's.

Gotta be careful though dude. I paid 670 for my used KO4's which were
advertised with 40k km and fully working. The rebuild has basically cost
me 600 quid as the oil seals were gone hence both shafts needed replacing
and there was FOD on both compressor wheels.

S4TAN wrote:

roller bearing turbo

Are K04s different to this? (i.e. not roller bearing?) And do roller bearing turbos spool up quicker?

Ah .... u slag ... thought u would a known that...

k03/04 have a bearing surface made from a copper/brass type metal, the actual bearing is yr oil, which centres up yr shaft and keep it in line,
this is why its imperative to use the correct oil and do warm ups before WOT... or u can spin the bearings/warp the shafts

Roller bearing turbs can have a closer clearance tolerance on the cool side, allowing more efficiancy, spooling quicker etc.. plus yr bearings are made of a hardened metal allowing more abuse ....

my .2p anyhow......

Nice one Dave , so I guess RB turbos are generally more expensive?

thought u would a known that

Nah - mechanical ignoramus me ...

................................... you slaaag!

Eh? Are you stuck in a loop mate?

Well, I've been offered a very good deal on K04's from a very reputable source - I'm very tempted but I fancy those roller bearing turbo's.

Think I'll go off and see what the life of K04's is like, I need em to last me a couple of years say 30k miles - and then another 30k for the next guy.

Hmmn, RS4 K04 threads here I come.......

Nick,

You are moaning about the cost of custom manifolds but want to fit RB turbo's - somethings not right there
mate! . I don't think KKK do anything in a compatible housing which has a 360 deg. thrust bearing. The
only RB turbos I know of is the autospeed GT28RS kit and, guess what, you need custom manifolds to fit
one of these anyway! (and downpipes and oil lines and water lines and, etc.etc.) big $$$

Go for tweaked K04's and a nice easy 400 - 450BHP....

k04's r fine ..... or they wouldnt have been fitted on high performance cars from build .....

U can get em off the shelf too ...

Apart from the obvious differences between K04s and K03s (i.e. 04's are bigger and produce more boost) are there any other differences? ... are 04's built differently, more robust, reliable etc than 03's?

I basically can't afford the MRC manifolds (£1200 - eeek!)

The £335 ones on eBay (XS Motorsport) are <beep> quality, apparently the turbo's end up hanging off cos the welds are that bad

Whats stopping you buying the XS power manifolds and getting a new run of weld put around the joints still going to be the cheapest option. i dont see how the welds can be that bad anyway! This company weld stainless all day long if they couldn't weld correctly they would be out of buisness in no time.

HobsonS4 wrote:I basically can't afford the MRC manifolds (£1200 - eeek!)

The £335 ones on eBay (XS Motorsport) are <beep> quality, apparently the turbo's end up hanging off cos the welds are that bad

Whats stopping you buying the XS power manifolds and getting a new run of weld put around the joints still going to be the cheapest option. i dont see how the welds can be that bad anyway! This company weld stainless all day long if they couldn't weld correctly they would be out of buisness in no time.

i hear they crumble too and get blown into the turbos. incidentally i'm selling my new unfitted asp tubulars since i bought woody's mtm ones...