Category Archives: The Turbo Engineers

Posts with a significant portion of the discussion involving The Turbo Engineers products

TTE 550 Getting More Interesting

Previously I’ve shown a dyno chart provided by The Turbo Engineers of their TTE 550 turbocharger for the B5 S4 and RS4.  The TTE 550 is on my candidate list as a potential replacement turbocharger for my B5 S4 and the dyno chart comparison of the TTE 550’s versus the same car (B5 RS4) with K04 turbochargers was encouraging.

While the dyno chart was showing encouraging performance from the TTE 550 I was skeptical of the K04 turbo results being representative of what a K04 equipped car would produce when tuned for performance, the comparison numbers on the chart are apparently for a stock RS4.

I came across a dyno chart from the same shop, MRC Tuning, that was of a K04 equipped S4 in a seemingly tuned state.  Below is an overlay of the K04’d S4 torque and horsepower curves and the TTE 550 dyno’s.  It’s evident that the base dyno chart does not illustrate well the performance differences between the TTE 550 and K04’s in a typical state of tune on a modified B5 S4 or RS4.  The differences in performance for tuned cars are not as large as they appear on the dyno chart alone.

On the other hand, what is impressive is how well the TTE 550 can match the K04 in low end performance with nearly identical torque and horsepower numbers below 3000 rpm.  Above 3000 rpm the TTE 550’s have a solid advantage over the K04’s all the way to redline.

TTE 550 vs RS4 K04 Dyno chart overlay
TTE 550 vs RS4 K04

 

TTE550 Getting Interesting

This dyno shows the TTE550 turbo’s on a B5 RS4 versus baseline data on the same RS4 with the RS4 K04 turbo’s.

TTE550 vs Stock RS4 Turbo's
TTE550 vs Stock RS4 Turbo’s

I find these results very encouraging as I look for a turbo that is similar to K04’s in low end torque and able to take full advantage of the stock S4 motor limits.

The scaling and units make interpreting the chart a bit challenging for me being accustomed to U.S. units at the wheels, but the curves showing similar low end response and significant delta that the 550’s put down over K04’s are unmistakable.

TTE 550 Another Contender

The longer I wait the more interesting things become.

Another option that I’ve recently been made aware of is a product from The Turbo Engineers, an outfit in Germany.  While they have a large product line the turbocharger that caught my attention was the TTE 550 (image below).

The Turbo Engineers TTE 550 B5 S4/RS4 Turbocharger
TTE 550

This turbocharger pair is based off of the BorgWarner K04 with modified RS6 internals.  It’s a pairing of components that I have heard good things about and one that I think provides a great upgrade path to someone with K04’s that would like to max out their stock motor, or even push a little closer to the 500 whp range.

For less than the cost of new turbochargers TTE modifies the used BW K04’s, milling the compressor housing so that RS6 internals can fit into the K04 housings.  This means the turbo’s go right back where they came from in the engine compartment without need to purchase RS6 turbine housing compatible DP’s.

TTE offers a number of additional modifications for this turbo such as:

  • Ported exhaust entry
  • Gasket matched exhaust flange
  • Ported boost outlet
  • Ported compressor inlet
  • Compressor cover painted in black Hi-Temp coating
  • Actuator painted red in Hi-Temp coating
  • Lightened Turbine wheels

I’d like to find some additional performance results from users of this turbo, but the data supplied from the manufacturer looks promising.

My list of turbocharger candidates now looks like:

  • BorgWarner K04
  • FrankenTurbo F21
  • ProjectB5 RS6-X
  • SRM Billet K04
  • TTE 550

Next: FrankenTurbo F21 Mixed Flow