Once you begin tuning your 1.8T, there are a few things you should consider. We've decided to compile a list of necessary modifications for when you decide to go for high boost. None of these things are absolutely needed for the car to run, but all of them are presented to you in the interest of keeping the motor alive. For instance, if you are pushing 25 pounds of boost, then it might be good to have some gauges to monitor what the engine is doing. You may also want to move to silicone hoses and decrease the pressure by throwing on a better flowing intercooler. Just remember that turbo motors need more love and attention than naturally aspirated motors do, as they run at higher temperatures and pressures. What follows is a list of things for you to think about. These are in no particular order-it's just how Neil wants it for his Perfect Design, and we try not to question Neil, because that can get messy.
Synthetic Oil
There are numerous advantages to running synthetic oil in your turbocharged car as compared to running fossil oil. The best reason to change to synthetic is because it flows really well when the oil is cold. As you know, most engine wear and damage is done when the car is first started and has no oil in the system. Low-temperature flow characteristics are important in turbo applications. Synthetic oil will also run lower temperatures because of the reduced friction; it has been shown that using thinner synthetic oil can actually give you back some horsepower that is lost by reducing the amount of friction and weight the crankshaft has to overcome.
Silicone Hoses
Silicone hoses are a recommended upgrade because they are made of a superior material to rubber. Silicone hoses withstand higher temperatures, resist expansion, and don't deteriorate the way standard rubber hoses do. Over time, the heating and cooling of rubber hoses will cause them to crack and burst. This can create a number of different leaks on your car, all the way from coolant leaks to boost leaks. Turbo cars run more extreme temperatures then naturally aspirated cars do, so the hoses tend to wear more quickly. Think of silicone hoses as a preemptive strike on vacuum and boost leaks that will occur a few years down the road. Troubleshooting those types of problems is never any fun, so you can save yourself the headache by swapping to better hoses before problems arise.
Gauges
On a turbo car, it is very important to monitor certain things that are going on within the motor. The trick is knowing which gauges you need and which ones you don't. For example, running lean or rich on a turbo car can be detrimental to the life of your motor, so knowing what your air/fuel mixture is can help you tune your car and keep it alive. Top recommended gauges for your turbo car, in no particular order, are as follows: boost, air/fuel, EGT (exhaust gas temperature), oil pressure, oil temperature, vacuum pressure, water temperature, and cylinder head temperature. There are quite a few other things you could monitor, but these are some of the more important ones that came to the tops of our tiny little head.