After doing some reading i see that ka-t have a tendency to be short lived. why is this?
Because people get impatient. They don’t budget their time or money properly. They start rushing shit, and don’t properly tune the car. For most people it’s their first turbo project/car.
Shit ive known of a Ka-T that ran 60000k Trouble free at 8psi… No problems ever.
its a idiot rumor. as long as you do it right you be aight
8psi is nothing really to brag about 
The motor just isnt built for high boost levels. If I knew in detail why, I
would but all I know is the internals aren’t all that great when it comes to
forced induction. And even at 7 or 8psi, it really won’t last all that long.
This is all on stock internals mind you. Build it up top to bottom and you
can have a pretty stout motor.
i when 3 year on stock block end never had a problem. Its all about tuning and your fuel managment system.
it wont matter what motor you have, if your a dumbass, it wont last long.
If you even remotely knew what you were talking about, then perhaps your comment may have some merit.
First off, PSI means NOTHING without AIRFLOW. We’re talking dynamic pressure here, which has components of both pressure and airflow. This is why 7 psi on say a T25, is COMPLETELY different then 7 psi on say a straight T4.
This is also why air tools are not only rated for a certain pressure, but also a certain airflow rating (CFM). Otherwise they will not operate at peak efficiency.
Secondly,
Where do you get this from? Are you a mechanic? Do you have an engineering degree? Have you ever worked with the internals first hand while having an unfaltering understanding of the effects of additional stress?
Didn’t think so. In other words you are basing this on hearsay, which is absolutely worthless to a factual discussion.
Thirdly,
Again, read above. Where do you get this from? I don’t like to cite other people’s experiences, but if you have read over any forums, kat.org namely, you would realize there have been several ka-t’s running 300 rwhp on stock internals for over 3 years. This is all while competing in several autox events throughout the year.
As for personal experience, I just happen to have built my own KA-T setup from scratch. I took my time and did it right. My motor currently has 195,000 km, that ladder 10,000 have been boosted at 6 psi on a 60 trim T3, with NO problems.
As others have mentioned, do it right and it will last as long as any SR.
Titan: I agree with what you said. My comment(s) were fairly naieve
(surprise surprise) but you are right on comparing PSI vs. CFM.
Just that majority of people run T3/T4s (or bigger) so it’s fair to say most
do start out in the 6-8psi range on these units.
But I guess it’s also fair to say that the majority of people doing KA-Ts
shouldn’t be doing KA-Ts, what with their limited knowledge of tuning and such.
^^^ I wouldn’t say most run T3/T4 or bigger.
there are lots of ka-t guys on here that run smaller actually.
I haven’t had any major problems related to going ka-t either, I’ve been turbo for a while as well now.
Not true , ka-t can last as long as you own your car , change the oil more often and let the car cool down and dont overboost ,
In my case , my car still running but without turbo , all that because I got too lazy to hook up the water line :shock: .
I should be boosting before christmas :lol: .
3 years + RACING on a KAT at 15psi+ on a t3/t4
bottom end is still perfect…
Man, I feel so schooled.
stock bottom end?
Everyone except for ADAM afaik.
its all about fuel management and tuning.
if you just bolt a turbo on to a 15 year old engine and start beating on it then the engine SHOULD blow up.
if you do it properly it will be fine.
the problem is that very few people do it properly, they try and do it on a budget and try to cut corners.
Isn’t that the whole idea of doing a KA-T bing? To be as cheap as possible 
No, I think that’s the mentality of the majority of people actually doing it.
I’ve been running 5-7 PSI for 4,000kms+ with no issues.
I spent a lot of time trying to set up every detail just the way I wanted it, it wasn’t rushed. It’s not a marvel of a setup by any means, but it was thought out.
Another thing to consider is listening to general advice as far as starting out with a healthy, preferably lower-kms, engine that’s not burning a ton of oil etc.
Thanks to Titan for clearing up some good info on the subject.
But aren’t you on motor number 2?