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Driver Motorsport/Frakenturbo F23T Review

Bunnspeed

Salad Tosser
Location
MA
Car(s)
2008 GTI four door
I was supposed to receive the programmer by this weekend...but it is a no-show as of now. I have the MAP and I'm ready for the stock reflash...so yeah! Ready :thumbsup:
...I just hope mine is easy enough to be dialed in ;)
I don't think I have any real surprises to present to DM.

Nice! Looks like big things are right around the corner. :happyanim:

I know the track is closed for the season, but is there any way you could use some kind of GPS app to time some acceleration runs with the GIAC tune as a baseline, and then repeat the process once you have the DM tune? I know those times can't be taken too literally, but if you can get some consistent times with both tunes at least we'll have an idea as to whether or not the tune is worth a few tenths against the same measuring device (not that being faster means that much, but it'd be nice if the DM tune does prove to be faster, and not just a better driving experience subjectively).
 

brokenparts

Go Kart Champion
Location
hillsboro,or
Nice! Looks like big things are right around the corner. :happyanim:

I know the track is closed for the season, but is there any way you could use some kind of GPS app to time some acceleration runs with the GIAC tune as a baseline, and then repeat the process once you have the DM tune? I know those times can't be taken too literally, but if you can get some consistent times with both tunes at least we'll have an idea as to whether or not the tune is worth a few tenths against the same measuring device (not that being faster means that much, but it'd be nice if the DM tune does prove to be faster, and not just a better driving experience subjectively).

You will have some dyno numbers soon :). I understand that you want numbers and times and that definitely has merit. I want to re-iterate however that the driving characteristics that the tune and turbo exemplifies are well rounded and that the tune has many driving dimensions... not just at the track. Judging from my ass dyno... the hard numbers wont be too shabby.
 

Dutchy

Go Kart Champion
Location
Bay Area
Awesome review, glad to hear it's been a success for you so far! Definitely makes a strong selling point for both the F23T and DM tuning. Especially with the price of all parts totaled up, it makes for some convincing evidence for people to skip past K04 and go straight for this! Definitely interested in the long term results of this, of course assuming you don't jump into something new ;)
 

Bunnspeed

Salad Tosser
Location
MA
Car(s)
2008 GTI four door
Awesome review, glad to hear it's been a success for you so far! Definitely makes a strong selling point for both the F23T and DM tuning. Especially with the price of all parts totaled up, it makes for some convincing evidence for people to skip past K04 and go straight for this! Definitely interested in the long term results of this, of course assuming you don't jump into something new ;)

I totally would have gone this route instead of K04 if the DM/ F23T combo had been available when my K03 shat the bed about a year and a half ago.
 

ROH ECHT

K04 PLAY
Location
PDX OR
Car(s)
2007 MKV GTI
Nice! Looks like big things are right around the corner. :happyanim:

I know the track is closed for the season, but is there any way you could use some kind of GPS app to time some acceleration runs with the GIAC tune as a baseline, and then repeat the process once you have the DM tune? I know those times can't be taken too literally, but if you can get some consistent times with both tunes at least we'll have an idea as to whether or not the tune is worth a few tenths against the same measuring device (not that being faster means that much, but it'd be nice if the DM tune does prove to be faster, and not just a better driving experience subjectively).
I have a vid of the current tune from 0 to 120mph...and trying not to spin too badly through 1st and 2nd gears. But you will notice it spinning up to and into the 50's mph. You'll see the speedo drop to its actual speed when wheel spin finishes at the 2nd to 3rd gear shift. Of course I'll do another when the K04+ is running as good as it gets. I hope Brokenparts and I can get on the same dyno so DM will have even more data to help future users decide which way to go for themselves. I'm pretty sure that many will opt for a F23T&WM set-up, but they will certainly see that the 'K04+' is an honest contender. Our, or at least my, data will not be posted on their site due to my LPFP and Forge WGA. He told me that he wants data from more common set-ups to post for the average user:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKmy6VkdT_M
 
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djunited

Ready to race!
Location
lebanon
Making me wanna run this turbo.
 

djunited

Ready to race!
Location
lebanon
Don't you have a k04? K04 is only a few hp less than this. Not worth the cost. Get w/m instead.

Yes k04
Still not dialed in for water meth.
A bit more peak hp yes, but isnt the area under the curve much greater at redline with the f23t? How much more hp is the f23 producing at redline than a k04?
 

freshpots

r'zub n t'zug
Location
Canada
Car(s)
'22 GTI, '19 GT350R
Yes k04
Still not dialed in for water meth.
A bit more peak hp yes, but isnt the area under the curve much greater at redline with the f23t? How much more hp is the f23 producing at redline than a k04?

Not much, I think it's more of a cost alternative compared to the K04..


Tapatalkin
 

djunited

Ready to race!
Location
lebanon
Not much, I think it's more of a cost alternative compared to the K04..


Tapatalkin

I see. I expected it to be close to the gains people are seeing when upgrading from a k04 to an lo400.
 

doug@frankenturbo

Turbos Galore
Location
Oregon, Yo!
Car(s)
Gary Fisher HiFi
Yes k04
... isnt the area under the curve much greater at redline with the f23t? How much more hp is the f23 producing at redline than a k04?

I expected it to be close to the gains people are seeing when upgrading from a k04 to an lo400.

When we were developing and first tuning the F23T we were aware of the "conventional wisdom" that the K04 is good for 300whp. So it was good to see our turbo making 350 and above. But we also knew that the K04 is a very good turbo, and that it was under-estimated in the market.

How did we know this? Well, because the F23 turbo got its start years ago on the 1.8T, where its main competition was from hybrids using K04-064 wheels. And our experience was that those K04 hybrids were pretty formidable. So we tinkered with the F23 until we were satisfied that it would outperform that K04 on its "home territory", the 2.0L engine. Not by a lot, though -- and certainly not by 50 wheel horsepower. So my expectation is that the gap between our product and the K04-064 will tighten as better tuning becomes available for both options.

At the end of the day, I think the F23T is a 325-350 whp product. And the K04 is more like a 300-325 whp product. Not a huge difference. But we do differ in that our warranty is longer and the F23T's internals are more robust. Ultimately, while the K04 can be pushed to compete to near the F23T's level, it was never designed to do so. That's worth considering, I think.
 

Bunnspeed

Salad Tosser
Location
MA
Car(s)
2008 GTI four door
These last few posts are making me feel a bit better about having a K04 and not totally missing the boat with the advent of the 2.0T F23T. I'm hoping the right tune and/ or hardware fixes plus the Devil's Own wmi kit I've been sitting on will have my K04 car closer to where I want it by springtime. I'm still feeling some serious F23T envy though.

There's no question that if I could do it all over again, today, it'd be with a F23T, stock injectors, and DM tune. I'd have saved a ton of money with tuning fixes versus hardware changes while trying to work around static OTS tunes, and I'd have at least 25hp more than I do now.
 

gti2slow

Go Kart Champion
Location
NH
Id like to see some dynos and am curious about why boost is starting at 4K
 
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