Turbocharged Volkswagen engines and what GP Turbos has built for them
Grant Parker has been tuning cars since the early 1990s, and by his account several of his own cars have been Volkswagen Golfs. In the late 1990s, he says, he ran a Mk2 Golf GTI fitted with a 1.9 TDI engine in the quarter-mile sprints at GTI International, recording 13.40 seconds. GP Turbos Ltd was incorporated in 2013, and by early 2023 the Volkswagen section of its online shop held 27 listings.
TDI diesels
TDI stands for turbocharged direct injection. Most of GP Turbos' Volkswagen hybrid listings were for the 1.9 and 2.0 TDI engines with Pumpe-Düse (PD) unit injectors, and for the diesels that followed them:
- PD130 and PD150 (engine codes ASZ and ARL): Garrett variable-nozzle turbos from the factory, part numbers 720855 and 721021.
- 2.0 PD140 (BKD): a Garrett 724930 in the Golf, Passat and Touran.
- Smaller 1.9 TDI engines (BKC, BXE, BLS and others): mostly turbos from KKK (Kühnle, Kopp & Kausch, now part of BorgWarner) in the 5439 series, although the listings also named a Garrett 751851 for the BKC.
- 2.0 TDI CUNA in the Mk7 Golf GTD: a Garrett 821866-series turbo.
- Touareg 3.0 V6 TDI: a Garrett 769909, shared with the Audi Q7.
GP Turbos also offers hybrid cores: the centre housing and rotating assembly on its own, with upgraded internals, which a capable mechanic can build into the car's original turbo housings.
TSI and TFSI petrol engines
For the 1.4 TSI (turbocharged stratified injection), GP Turbos listed a hybrid built on the factory KKK K03, covering the Golf, Polo, Scirocco, Tiguan and Touran. TFSI is the Volkswagen Group's name for its turbocharged direct-injection petrol engines, and the Mk6 Golf R's 2.0 TFSI (engine code CDLF) had a hybrid of its own, based on its factory K04.
Newer engines are a different case. The third-generation EA888 in the Mk7 Golf GTI and Golf R uses IHI IS20 and IS38 turbos respectively. No hybrid for either appeared in GP Turbos' past listings, so ask before assuming one exists for yours.
Vans and standard replacements
The Transporter 1.9 TDI had hybrids of its own. For the Transporter T5 2.5 TDI, the Crafter 2.5 TDI, the Polo 1.6 TDI and the Passat 2.0 TDI, GP Turbos listed standard reconditioned turbos rather than upgrades. If your van or car simply needs its factory turbo put right, see turbo rebuilds.
Whatever the engine, a hybrid only pays off with the right supporting modifications and an engine calibration matched to it; how hybrid turbos work explains why. Many of these engines also sit in Audi, SEAT and Škoda models.
GP Turbos is an independent turbo specialist and is not connected to Volkswagen. Model names, engine codes and part numbers are used only to identify parts.