Turbo kit, a good start?

[rob_skater 0]

Well over the past month or so i have been doing endless research on forced induction and i have decided to go down the turbo route.

My initial plan was to buy most of it seperately and fabricate a couple of things myself, but today i stumbled across one of these "kits" http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RARE-JDM-VW-GOLF-JETTA-CORRADO-VR6-12V-T3-T4-TURBO-KIT_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem518f98a027QQitemZ350301495335QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

The price is reasonable i think, although the turbo itself looks pretty cheap, all the other parts i was going to search around for are there.

When doing builds like this i have found its all the tiny things that make up for the large ending price, and this kit does seem to have pretty much everything i want, apart from injectors management and a head spacer.

So guys what do you think?

[Pearsy47 1]

see i looked at that kit but then my mate said turbos always break down so don t bother or he was just scared of the raw power the vr would make lmao

[SamboVr6 0]

see i looked at that kit but then my mate said turbos always break down so don t bother or he was just scared of the raw power the vr would make lmao

Maybe you should just stick to twin hairdryer power steve lol :-p

[SamboVr6 0]

Although in all fairness i looked at this exact kit not too long ago and after having a few convos with some people the conclusion was drawn that it was possibly too cheap to be any good :-(

But hey i dont know a great deal so.. *-)

[Pearsy47 1]

the twin hairdyer sambo will work and will be a fucking monster lmao

[rob_skater 0]

My exact thinking, "it may be tooooo cheap"

but in all fairness, even if the turbo itself is pretty shoddy, the cost to buy all the other parts seperate and also the effort in buying all the other parts may make this a deal.

[CALICO 130]

also maybe for left hand drive

[SamboVr6 0]

http://www.pistonheads.com/SALES/1426872.htm

Can someone lend me a grand? :-(

[craggsy 91]

Well $800 is about £550ish. A decent turbo im led to believ will cost you that as a minimum. I'm no expert on these things but it does seem really cheap. Oh and I cant see a downpipe either.

What ive read on here is that the 2 key things is the manifold and turbo, so get good ones of that and pick up other bits and bobs here and there

[rodney 17]

I have a purely personal perspective on these things... I want the best so it doesn't kill the car ...

I do not know this kit and so will bow to someones greater knowledge... Usually these cheaper kits are manufactured by a Chinese company or the likes and not always the best quality. (though usually a copy of the main brands) Also this will be a LHD set up so you would still need the RHD bits. I had a quick look and didn't see any brand names on anything.

As with all these things... you gets what you pays for.. you pays your moneys... yous takes your chances....

Hope it helps a little

[rob_skater 0]

Yeah, i get you.

I have been waiting for a pm of some guy about a whole load of turbo stuff on ed38.

And buying his stuff i should be paying 500 for his turbo (to4e garret internals .50 coldside), tial wastegate, and manifold.

[Pearsy47 1]

or you do what im going to do at pod and strap a hairdyer on lmao what raw power !

[rob_skater 0]

or you do what im going to do at pod and strap a hairdyer on lmao what raw power !

LOL you wanna get a petrol leafblower!

there are a couple of vids with a civic trying one. but to be honest most electric "superchargers" actually will restrict the flow of air after a certain rpm

[SamboVr6 0]

or you do what im going to do at pod and strap a hairdyer on lmao what raw power !

Stop ruining peoples posts with your hairdryer nonsense pears :-p

[Pearsy47 1]

look im just a mad man ok and i will and a little tescos bag to slow me down coming out the sunroof lmao

[FishWick 21]

As with all these things... you gets what you pays for.. you pays your moneys... yous takes your chances....

Couldn't agree more sir.

As already said, a lot of the parts - if not all of them - are chinese made and to give the seller his dues, he is taking a small margin on them, which partly explains the low cost of the kit.

Whilst I'm not against chinese cloned parts, just be mindful of the fact they don't go through the same rigourous testing programs as the genuine parts and aren't made to industry standards, such as German TUV, British Kite mark and so on, which is why they're so cheap. They rely on the parts they are copying to have gone through all that already, and so long as they copy them near as dammit exactly, all should be fine. Unfortunately it's usually the quality of the materials that ultimately lets them down, so long term reliability is the main thing to watch out for.

I don't want to sound like a turbo snob, but if you buy a nice Garrett GT35R from a reputable dealer in the UK, long service life is assured and if it breaks within a year, you know you can easily return it and get a new one. Can you be sure of the same with these £600 ebay kits sold from someone's bedroom in America?

If you just want a cheap punt onto the Turbo ladder and aren't that bothered about massive power or mega reliability, then those kits are ideal for an experiment :-)

If I had a ropey old VR6 hack daily commuter, I'd probably stick something like that on it for a laugh and annoy some reps with it :-)

[rob_skater 0]

As with all these things... you gets what you pays for.. you pays your moneys... yous takes your chances....

Couldn't agree more sir.

As already said' date=' a lot of the parts - if not all of them - are chinese made and to give the seller his dues, he is taking a small margin on them, which partly explains the low cost of the kit.

Whilst I'm not against chinese cloned parts, just be mindful of the fact they don't go through the same rigourous testing programs as the genuine parts and aren't made to industry standards, such as German TUV, British Kite mark and so on, which is why they're so cheap. They rely on the parts they are copying to have gone through all that already, and so long as they copy them near as dammit exactly, all should be fine. Unfortunately it's usually the quality of the materials that ultimately lets them down, so long term reliability is the main thing to watch out for.

I don't want to sound like a turbo snob, but if you buy a nice Garrett GT35R from a reputable dealer in the UK, long service life is assured and if it breaks within a year, you know you can easily return it and get a new one. Can you be sure of the same with these £600 ebay kits sold from someone's bedroom in America?

If you just want a cheap punt onto the Turbo ladder and aren't that bothered about massive power or mega reliability, then those kits are ideal for an experiment :-)

If I had a ropey old VR6 hack daily commuter, I'd probably stick something like that on it for a laugh and annoy some reps with it :-)

[/quote']

Cheers haywire, i was waiting for you to post a reply for me

in all honestly, i just want something to spend some spare cash on, and i fugure this is going to be the best power to money ratio thing out there.

Allthough saying that, i have read the budget turbo build one of the guys did on here and it seems like he has good results with the begi fmu and mostly second hand parts, Its just finding all these second hand parts at relativly cheap prices.

I had my self a cast mani, tial wastegate and to4e turbo lined up of ed38 but the guy just sold the wastegate. I think i may buy the turbo and mani off him and start peicing all the parts together. Like i kno the ebay cheap kit may do the job, its just weither it will be worth the money compaired to spending say £300 more and getting branded products second hand.

Quick tally of second hand prices

to4e £200

wastegate £100

mani £50

intercooler £80

downpipe (few jetex peices) £100 ish

pipework (b and q :S) £100

bov £30

head spacer £80

injectors £150

c2 software ? ill set aside £300 for this

that leaves me with £ 1190 with me doing most of the fab work and install my self

how does this sound compaired to the cheap ebay kit?

[matty.vrt 120]

What ever you think its going to cost double it.

[sharky_70 0]

Yeah' date=' i get you.

I have been waiting for a pm of some guy about a whole load of turbo stuff on ed38.

And buying his stuff i should be paying 500 for his turbo (to4e garret internals .50 coldside), tial wastegate, and manifold.

[/quote']

you wont have much luck, most of the good bits are on their way to me 8-)

as for that £1000 kit on pistonheads, i sold a better quality more complete set than that last year for less money. crazy i know

things with those ebay kits... you could pick up that cheap stuff yourself for less, or take your time and get the bargains for the same except they'd be better quality. and its not even a complete kit.

false ecomony if you ask me

[rob_skater 0]

Sharky, what you having of that guy on ed38?

what you recon of his turbo for £200, seems cheap to me!

[sharky_70 0]

manifold, wastegate, head spacer, injectors. few other bits i cant remember

didnt fancy the turbo, the specs arent good for a VR. it would spool up too quick and run out of puff too early in the rev range

[FishWick 21]

Allthough saying that' date=' i have read the budget turbo build one of the guys did on here and it seems like he has good results with the begi fmu and mostly second hand parts, Its just finding all these second hand parts at relativly cheap prices. [/quote']

Yeah that's how I fuelled my first turbo lump. All stock OBD2 with a spacer, fuel pump and BEGI. I was surprised how well that worked actually :-) I was only running 8psi at the time, but I could tell by how frequently the MAF clipped, running more boost was going to be a pain, so I went standalone.

its just weither it will be worth the money compaired to spending say £300 more and getting branded products second hand.

Personally I would take s/hand branded parts over the ebay stuff' date=' so long as they're in good nick. I've seen GT35Rs come up for sale with <1000 miles on them for £400 - £500. That's a £1000 turbo new :-)

Quick tally of second hand prices

to4e £200

wastegate £100

mani £50

intercooler £80

downpipe (few jetex peices) £100 ish

pipework (b and q :S) £100

bov £30

head spacer £80

injectors £150

c2 software ? ill set aside £300 for this

that leaves me with £ 1190 with me doing most of the fab work and install my self

how does this sound compaired to the cheap ebay kit?

Depends on the brands! If it's £100 for a TIAL wastegate and BOV, then yeah, good prices!

How much boost are you wanting to run? And bear in mind turbo boost is nothing like S/C boost. Once you have a turbo on there, you WILL want to keep turning the boost up.

Small turbos tend to run out of puff easily, and the last thing you want is a wheezy little 1.8T kind of power band if some chav gets up your arse. You want that power to keep going to 7000rpm, and that's where big turbos excel. So personally i'd always spec a little bigger than you need and aim to bring the boost in at around 3500rpm, otherwise you'll just spin the wheels and go nowhere.

The T3/T04e is a nice enough turbo, but I'd aim for a 0.82 back housing personally.

If you want to run 15psi or more, I'd get a GT35R or equivalent size (TO4S) :-)

[rob_skater 0]

Cheers haywire!

I am definitely going to go down the turbo route, and i have just done a quick sum up of my available savings to blow and i have £1200. it seems enough for me, the only problems being the price of the turbo and management. I believe you can purchase them c2 chip's for £250, is that right?

But yeah, i will be aiming for 15psi absolute max!! and will be wanting to start on 9-11 psi just to see how the thing drives and weither i may need to invest in some other things before i turn it up.

Ive just been down the bank today to cash a couple of cheques, so now the searching and buying starts!

And other essential recommendations to consider?

[rob_skater 0]

Allthough, realistically, i will start on 6 or 7 psi, but i doubt that will be for more than an hour or so aha

[FishWick 21]

I think the C2 chips are £350 mate. Are you running OBD2?

15 psi is nice! 9-11 psi is quick, but 15psi is REALLY quick :-)

I didn't see a fuel pump on your list, but you'll definitely need one. I don't think an external pump is necessary for your power goals, so a nice Walbro GSS340 in tank will do just fine.