To all Turbo experts,

What are your thoughts on this ebay special?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...2509%26fvi%3D1

 

It's just a basic and very incomplete kit. Also, I wouldn't trust boost control to their cheapie wastegate. For the BOV imitation brands work well enough, but for the wastegate(exposed to hot hot exhaust gasses) make sure you go brand name to minimize failure. The turbo is "good enough" to use as well, but I'd personally go with a namebrand turbo for longer operational life. A cheapie ebay turbo will work good for probably 2-3 years while a nice brand name one will probably last you longer. Also the namebrand turbos are built to tighter tolerances/design and probably built with better materials and bearings. In the end this just means a quicker spool for the better turbo.

For that kit, it's still missing the BOV, intercooler, intercooler piping, oil lines/flanges, and most important...some kind of engine management. The cheapie turbo is ok to use, but please junk that wastegate and get something good. You don't want the diaphragm bursting on a cheap wastegate and cause your boost to spike to 25psi.

 

Here is one with the intercooler parts from ebay @ $1350

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2JZGE...QQcmdZViewItem


It seems to be an upgrade from the first kit, but still no AFC

 

Ditch the WG for sure and maybe even the BOV. You wouldn't want the BOV fail to do it's work then just have your car stall.

 

Garbage, end of story.

Eric

 

For that price you can just get the XSPower turbo kit from Mark at XSPower.

 

I wonldn't be so quick to dismiss it.

Most of those parts are of decently good quality. Obviously not as good as a race built $2000 manifold or something like that, but it's still pretty decent. All the parts are usable and should be reliable in a daily driver turbo setup. The manifold and intercooler are both solid, they rarely fail. If they do, you can either get it welded/repaired or just buy a new manifold for like $100-150. The turbocharger is of decent quality, just don't expect it to last more than 2-3 years...then again, a replacement is only $150-250. The BOV is good as well. I actually ditched my real HKS BOV to test out a $30 imitation HKS BOV temporarily. So far it's actually working better than my HKS BOV lol! I'm even thinking of selling my real HKS and just use the imitation one lol. The only thing I wouldn't use in those kits is the wastegate. A wastegate is basically a piston that's moved by a flexible diaphragm. Kinda like a rubber balloon. When boost increases, the balloon inflates and pushes the wastegate piston open. Only reason I'd be against using a cheap wastegate is that they might use a cheap material for the diaphragm which under extreme heat may burst. The BOV isn't subject to excessive heat so it's not as critical as the wastegate.

 

I have to disagree. The only saving grace in the whole equation is that it's cheap. Garabge in, garbage out.

Eric

 

Jeff im suprised you would go on the turbo and on the wastegate. I would rather have a wategate go than a turbo. Even with that being said, I would not recomend going cheap on any moving / functioning part in a turbo kit. (Turbo, Wastegate, BOV, etc.) I would say the manifold and piping is all that should be used. IMHO

 

For roughly the same money for a turbo kit (with IC) from $1299 , I think I would go to somebody who knows that their kits work very well and from the forums on www.clubna-t.com all I see is great support and knowledge.

http://www.clubna-t.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2037

 

I used to think the same way about the turbos, but my friends have swayed me otherwise lol. I have a buddy that bought an ebay turbo for his Supra just for the hell of it to see how fast he could blow it up. $250 turbo and it's putting out about 800rwhp lol. Spool speed is a tad slower(500rpms slower than another friends supra with a Precision turbo with pretty much the same turbo specs) than a highly tuned name brand turbo, but those usually costs upwards of $1500-2000 or so. So far it's been half a year and still holding strong. I also have 2 friends with turbo'd Hondas running cheap turbos, one guy with RX7, one with a SR20 swapped 240. They all started out as "oh this is just a tempoary turbo for kicks until I can buy the name brand one". It's funny, it seems like those turbos are in for the long haul for them lol. Still though, I'd still rather use a name brand turbo just for the "bling" factor. Nothing cooler than popping the hood and seeing GARRETT or HKS stamped on the turbo housing

As for the wastegate, it's a very very critical component in the whole turbo setup. Probably the most important right up next with the turbo. If that fails, your boost will spike up incredibly quick and destroy the motor. I'd rather have a turbo fail on me and stop building boost rather than a wastegate fail and blow up my motor.

 

If a turbo stops spooling thats one thing. If the bearings are junk and the impeller starts to move around, chips, and throws metal toward my motor its not cool. A turbo itself is more complicated than a wastegate. A wastegate is a prety simple device and easier for a company to make than a turbo. I think it is harder for a company to mess up a wastegate compared to how easy it would be for them to mess up a turbo (from a design & manufacturing standpoint). I do agree that a boost spike is a very very very bad thing but so can be a budget turbo. Its hit or miss with these things. The Master Power turbos started out as crap a couple years ago and I heard that there quality went up and they started to make some decent turbos. But I will not be the one to test it. I would rather run something that is proven and reliable with a warranty. Whatever someone chooses to do is up to them, and I wish them the best, just be carefull and please dont cheap out. Im all about working on a budget myself. Im not rich and that is why Im not boosted... yet. Good luck either way.

 

That's just it, every part of a turbo system is a moving / functioning part. The manifold "breathes" with the rapid heating and cooling, as well as the DP although to a lesser extent.

Eric

 

I agree with what you are saying but if I would not care if I paid $100 for a cheap manifold and it cracked. You get what you pay for and you better expect that from the begining. If your for real about durrability go cast iron and skip the stainless manifolds all together. Good luck finding one though. SRT would not return my emails about buying just the manifold.

 

My thoughts, exxxxxxactly.

Eric