# My C2 Turbo experience and build (Review time!)



## TeamZleep (Aug 28, 2007)

I should have done this a few weeks ago, but I wanted some more seat time in the car to really give a good review. I forgot to take a LOT of pictures, and they are iPhone quality, so bear with me guys! 

So as you guys know, I bit the bullet in September and bought the C2 stage 1 kit. I chose the stage one because I plan on building it more in the future, and I had like 700 extra things going on with the car too (Eurojet 3in. exhaust/ATE rotors/replaced my Hawk HP's with a fresh set of HP's/gauges/Sterns/shifter/shifter bracket bushings and a few other things), so I had my work cut out for me!

The car rolled into the bay looking like this:








All it had was a BFI mount insert and a BSH intake.

Day one was literally tear down... Luckily owning a 3 year old car meant that everything came apart pretty easy... Managed to get the entire exhaust off the car and intake/battery with ease. I took the time to remove the SAI from the driver's side of the block, and installed the block-off plate. (I learned later that I had the single SAI and had to switch blockoff plates, no biggie). The ECU wasn't too much of a pain, I didn't even remove the cowl panel. Just undid the (2)10mm bolts that hold the upper firewall piece and pulled the ECU. Now.. The ECU was a pain in the ass, but once I looked it up and realized that I had to dremel out a bracket, it popped right out. I wound up pulling the front bumper to make the install easier too, but that's just some fender liner screws and 2 torx screws under the grill. 








Day one.

Day two was the oil pan/injectors/stud removal/start to put it all together. The oil pan was really, really easy. Pull pan, clean the area, add sealant to the new pan, and install. The Injectors were really straight forward as well, Just had to do a little bit of cutting and soldering and it was all good to go. The exhaust studs weren't as easy. I highly recommend the socket style stud removers... I had a hard time getting my hands back there to do the bolt method and the bulky stud remover just didn't fit. Once I got that sorted out, it was all gravy. The new manifold went right on, and the exhaust side of the house went right together. I had lots of other things going on as well... I did that and threw in the EJ 3in. and worked on my brakes. 








EJ 3in. exhaust!!!








Wrapped up day two.

Day 3 was the turbo fitment, WG install, and charge pipe install. The turbo was a little tricky, lots of trial and error. I ended up clocking both sides of the turbo to get it just right. The oil feed/return lines were straight forward, not much detail there. I took c2's advice and reused some exhaust bolts for part of the wastegate, and the other side was used with supplied bolts. Once that was done, it was on to the charge pipes. Big note here! Measure, measure, measure, then cut the silicone couplers. If you take your time and mock everything, it will all go together smoothly. I really wish I had taken more pictures, but like I said, I had 700 things going on. 

Day 4 was the wrap up of things. Intake side of everything and the SAI. To be honest, the SAI kicked my ass. It wasn't that it was hard to route, it was just a pain grinding the ribs off of the factory SAI plugs and fitting the hoses. At first, I really felt that I needed a picture, so I called Chris and he hooked me up. After that, it was pretty easy to follow. I tapped in the air lines for the DV and ran the line to the wastegate (wg was run per at the bung in front of the TB, and I tapped the DV off of the fuel pressure vac line). Once that was done, I measured out the intake couplers, and attached all of that good fun. By then, the ECU had made it's way back, and well it was all good from there! Here's what it ended up looking like completed.










I left out a lot of the other stuff like gauges and whatnot, let alone my wheel fiasco... But here's the finished product.





















Now for the fun part... REVIEW! 

The build was pretty easy to do, provided you have a set of torx bits and good sockets available. I was really easy on the car for the first few hundred miles, to let the ECU adapt to it's new settings... After that, it was ON. The car is a completely different animal, and I have to say that I'm more than satisfied with just the stage one. The power delivery is amazing, and it doesn't really lag at all (unless you try to pull off in 4th at like 30mph... ain't happenin). The off throttle driving is just like stock, and there is very smooth power delivery. The car has pulled stock mileage on the highway and taking it easy, but it's really hard to keep your foot out of it. I went through a tank of gas pretty much on it constantly, and had to refill at 290ish miles. I still had an 8th of a tank, so it's still pretty good on gas. Any questions I had along the way or any issues on how something was run, C2 always answered the phone, and helped me out. I was going to a custom setup from here, but after talking to Chris and Ryan, I'll be sticking with them.  Overall I'm happy and I know I missed things, so if anyone has any questions, pick me apart!


----------



## BlackRabbit2point5 (Sep 6, 2007)

get an LSD ASAP


----------



## ~kInG~ (Jun 8, 2005)

Does C2's kit include detailed installation instructions or was it DIY?


----------



## TeamZleep (Aug 28, 2007)

BlackRabbit2point5 said:


> get an LSD ASAP


Yeah... It NEEDS to happen... I know I have a later transmission and all... But I know the diff is packing it's bags, and is about to be on it's way out! I have to baby it until tax time.



~kInG~ said:


> Does C2's kit include detailed installation instructions or was it DIY?


It comes with a checklist and a pretty good writeup, but it seemed like it was geared to shops that know the motor well. I felt like parts of it really needed pictures, but I haven't checked with Chris or anybody at C2 to see if it's cool to post them up (all I did was call and they sent me everything I needed). Since I had never gone further than reg. maintenance on the car, I felt like some areas could have been explained in a bit more detail, but once you take a breather and squeeze your head in the car it all figured out. 

I just wanted to kinda point out that this can be done in your driveway with a jack and a good tool set.


----------



## ENRGZR (Oct 11, 2006)

Great to hear!!! I have loved my kit since day one over 2 years ago.


----------



## nightshift1983 (Sep 4, 2006)

I dont intend to change the ops post but what suspension are you running and what is the setup?:thumbup:


----------



## TeamZleep (Aug 28, 2007)

nightshift1983 said:


> I dont intend to change the ops post but what suspension are you running and what is the setup?:thumbup:


No.

PM me or something, keep this engine related.


----------



## BlackRabbit2point5 (Sep 6, 2007)

don't feed the troll


----------



## TeamZleep (Aug 28, 2007)

BlackRabbit2point5 said:


> don't feed the troll




He actually PM'ed me... Odd!


----------



## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

is he an actual being? what did he ask??

lol.


----------



## ~kInG~ (Jun 8, 2005)

keep it on topic!!!


----------



## TeamZleep (Aug 28, 2007)

lol. He asked about wheel/suspension setup... It's nothing special at all. :screwy:

So there is ONE thing I dislike about the setup... I hate how my charge pipe is now the lowest part on the front end... No bueno. Lucky I haven't figured out what I want to do for an IC yet, this just makes me want to do the water-air that much more.


----------



## vwluger22 (Jan 25, 2005)

TeamZleep said:


> lol. He asked about wheel/suspension setup... It's nothing special at all. :screwy:
> 
> So there is ONE thing I dislike about the setup... *I hate how my charge pipe is now the lowest part on the front end*... No bueno. Lucky I haven't figured out what I want to do for an IC yet, this just makes me want to do the water-air that much more.


I never understood why this was done. :facepalm:


----------



## ~kInG~ (Jun 8, 2005)

my inspiration...


----------



## darkk (Jun 22, 2006)

BlackRabbit2point5 said:


> get an LSD ASAP


I have a 2007 Jetta with the stage2 kit. It has been on for around 30,000 miles. I still have the stock trans and clutch. I don't seem to have the problems others report about like blown trans,slipping clutches etc. I don't abuse my car but trust me when I say I do drive the hell out of it. I suppose some people could break a crowbar in a sandbox...
You don't just happen to remember what ratios the in/out sides of your turbo were do you? Mine is 60/81 It does have slight low end lag but very little. It will pull until I let off the gas, even over 140mph. Low end is impressive but it has massive high end pull.


----------



## TeamZleep (Aug 28, 2007)

darkk said:


> I have a 2007 Jetta with the stage2 kit. It has been on for around 30,000 miles. I still have the stock trans and clutch. I don't seem to have the problems others report about like blown trans,slipping clutches etc. I don't abuse my car but trust me when I say I do drive the hell out of it. I suppose some people could break a crowbar in a sandbox...
> You don't just happen to remember what ratios the in/out sides of your turbo were do you? Mine is 60/81 It does have slight low end lag but very little. It will pull until I let off the gas, even over 140mph. Low end is impressive but it has massive high end pull.


I have no idea about my turbo... I just know it was the 50trim/.63ar turbo.. It feels just as you describe... It's really impressive at higher speeds.


----------



## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

i feel happy to know that the 2.5T owners are happy. it makes me wanna do my set up so much more.


----------



## TeamZleep (Aug 28, 2007)

thygreyt said:


> i feel happy to know that the 2.5T owners are happy. it makes me wanna do my set up so much more.


You gotta get on it man! You won't regret it!! I know the biggest complaint is bang for the buck, but once you're there, the tweaking is endless as long as you have a good relationship with a tuner... haha. 

I mean... If you're looking for big power, you're looking at a built bottom end and all the fixin's.. It'll be by no means cheap. I mean... Either way it's gonna be a build, but it's what you want to make out of your car.


----------



## darkk (Jun 22, 2006)

bang for the buck is there. add the head spacer kit for an additional $399 when you buy the kit and you can have 325-350 HP for around $4900. how is that not a good deal? And no head ache to figure it out yourself.....:wave:


----------



## TeamZleep (Aug 28, 2007)

darkk said:


> bang for the buck is there. add the head spacer kit for an additional $399 when you buy the kit and you can have 325-350 HP for around $4900. how is that not a good deal? And no head ache to figure it out yourself.....:wave:


Good point. I didn't know stage 3 was that cheap... It's not even listed. I think that's why people complain about the bang for the buck factor. I'm going to do the stage 3 but do internals instead of a head spacer.


----------

