Tevenor
20+ Year Contributor
- 1,785
- 14
- Mar 18, 2002
-
Rochester,
New York
I have been running the AGP L1R for about 3 months now and have had a chance to run it at the autocross course, the drag strip and on the street. I havent spilt the beans about it per Ben and Kevin's request since they wanted to make sure it was performing up to par as to what they wanted. Now that they are on sale publicly, I can let you know what I think.
Setup and Install
First my setup. I am running a 6-bolt short block with 9:1 Ross pistons on 6-bolt big rods with a slightly worked 2G head. I still run the 2G TB and 2 intake manifold (torque is golden in autocross). Am running the DSMLink on 720 cc injectors and a Walbro 255 pump with a MBC. Installed are a 2.5 tubular 122Performance.com O2 housing with an external dump and a 3 turbo back straight through exhaust. You can drop a golf ball in my O2 housing and it will roll out the tailpipe.
I had some issues with install not because of the turbo but because I am running a 6-bolt block with a Galant VR4 tranny. This means my front roll stopper engine mount is at the factory 6-bolt location. The only problem with this is the subframe brace is in the stock 2G location which means I needed to orient the compressor housing just so to get it to fit. Once I found the perfect angle, I had to give the water pump a small relief to snug it in there. Although the TO4E housing will require some manipulation of the water pipe, I have the TO4B housing and this housing should fit normally without denting the water pipe so dont use my experience as the usual. Everyone should know by now that my car is a bastard frankenstein.
The install (other than the problems caused by my engine setup) is really easy. Since the center catridge, the exhaust housing, and compressor housing all rotate independent of each other, you can arrange them in any location you want to facilitate your IC/Exhaust/Oil line-return setups. The real benefit is that if you find a better way to run your IC pipes, You can always just reorient the Compressor pipes to meet your new pipes.
Autocrossing
This thing rocks. In autocross situations, boost threshold and transient response are kings. You want to have quick spool up and lowest possible lag as you are constantly on-off throttling. Most turbos can be kept spooled by a combination of smooth driving and left foot braking. However this has its pros and cons, especially on a manual car (3 pedals, 2 feet). The idea is to get something that is as close to instant on-off switch as possible (think supercharger).
I had the chance to run the L1R for the last 3 events of the year (approximately 12 runs). The thing that I was most impressed with was the transient response. The ball bearings definitely show their true colors when you go into a 180 degree turn hot, trail break, get back on the gas and have the boost right there waiting for you. This alone allowed me to go in with confidence and hit the apex hard and let the car run out the turn. So in the short technical sections, the turbo stayed spooled and had incredibly minimal lag. We are talking approximately 300 rpm between boost-vacuum-boost. If that isnt sick, then I dont know what its. Just to give you an idea, spectators heard my wastegate dumping a majority of the day on that last race of the season. Mainly because I was almost always in the gas and even at part throttle turns, the boost was just a flick of the gas pedal away. Unless someone can convince me otherwise, this will be my race turbo for next year.
Drag Racing
As much as I love autocrossing, drag racing has always taken a back seat, as my short times will show. The same transient response that I love autocrossing the turbo also showed itself at the track.
I was only able to run it once at the track since most of the other days landed on autocross race days. The weather was ~40 degrees and traction was hard to find, especially on street tires. The day started out in the mid to low 13s with 2.1 short times and 107 or so mph trap speeds. I tweaked and fiddled, trying to get around my heat soak problems with my stock sidemount and finally was able to run a couple of good runs before I had to leave: 12.76 @ 112mph and followed that up with a 12.69 @ 110 mph. Both had 1.95 short times and knock at the top of 3rd and 4th gears. These runs were made at 21 psi on 100 octane unleaded pump gas and I was still able to squeeze 112 mph out of it with a conservative tune. Unfortunately the tracks closed before I could get a good run at 25psi on C16 with a front mount however that will be the first thing I do in the spring. I can easily see mph much higher mph than what I was running with the L1R dipping into the 11s in the hands of someone who can drag race much better than I. (Yes its bench racing for now until someone does it but its my opinion).
The real kicker for drag racing, similar to autocrossing, is the on-off-on boost response. Even granny shifting, the boost lag between shifts was barely perceivable. This alone will save tons of DSM trannies as you wont have to no-lift-to-shift to keep the boost spooled. Being in the boost almost all the time is very nice. Even though the L1R is the smaller turbo of the line, it is by no means small. We are talking 20g flow.
On the Street
This has got to be one of the most fun street turbos I have seen. In many respects its similar to the feeling of a Big 16G on the street from a roll however it pulls so much harder. I ran against a friend of mines Green equipped, FMICd, 91 AWD running 18psi on 93 pump gas on the way home from an autocross and we held damn close. We went from a roll a few times and each time, the lag difference was very noticeable. I would jump ahead by a car length just because of the boost response. Then he would catch me. Granted the Green is a damn big turbo and has the issues that any big turbo would have, but even after he spooled, he didnt catch me as fast as I would have envisioned he would have. **I AM NOT SAYING THAT THE L1R IS FASTER OR BETTER THAN A GREEN AND IF TURNS INTO A DEBATE I WILL BE VERY UPSET** They are different turbos for different purposes however this was a matchup that I found interesting.
Problems
The only problems I have seen so far is that I have had some boost creep. I have a 1-2 psi creep running through 3rd and 4th after porting the wastegate and flapper area. This is more a function of the exhaust I have built and the fact that I have manifold turbo and o2 housing all port matched. I have more porting to go on the wastegate bowl area and after that, I am sure that the creep will be resolved. The exhaust side is so efficient and it spools and flows so much that, in my setup's case, I need to pay a little more attention to the wastegate passages. Even though this is more 'whole system' issue, I thought I would mention it. If after the finished porting, I may need to upgrade to a bigger flapper door and do a little more porting. It's a balancing act.
Final thoughts
The coolest thing is shutting her down after letting it cool down and hearing that turbo spin down like a jet engine. Schweet. I haven't stopped grinning since I took it for a test run.
To sum it up I think this is a kick a$$ turbo. The true bb center section adds so much to not only autocrossing, but the strip and the street as well. It pulls like a raped ape and has incredible transient response. So far, I think it is a damn good autocross turbo and should hold its own against other bigger turbos on the drag strip in the right hands and with the right tuning. As far as daily driving, it drives with all the ease of a 16g but with all the pull on tap of turbos much bigger than the 16g.
Setup and Install
First my setup. I am running a 6-bolt short block with 9:1 Ross pistons on 6-bolt big rods with a slightly worked 2G head. I still run the 2G TB and 2 intake manifold (torque is golden in autocross). Am running the DSMLink on 720 cc injectors and a Walbro 255 pump with a MBC. Installed are a 2.5 tubular 122Performance.com O2 housing with an external dump and a 3 turbo back straight through exhaust. You can drop a golf ball in my O2 housing and it will roll out the tailpipe.
I had some issues with install not because of the turbo but because I am running a 6-bolt block with a Galant VR4 tranny. This means my front roll stopper engine mount is at the factory 6-bolt location. The only problem with this is the subframe brace is in the stock 2G location which means I needed to orient the compressor housing just so to get it to fit. Once I found the perfect angle, I had to give the water pump a small relief to snug it in there. Although the TO4E housing will require some manipulation of the water pipe, I have the TO4B housing and this housing should fit normally without denting the water pipe so dont use my experience as the usual. Everyone should know by now that my car is a bastard frankenstein.
The install (other than the problems caused by my engine setup) is really easy. Since the center catridge, the exhaust housing, and compressor housing all rotate independent of each other, you can arrange them in any location you want to facilitate your IC/Exhaust/Oil line-return setups. The real benefit is that if you find a better way to run your IC pipes, You can always just reorient the Compressor pipes to meet your new pipes.
Autocrossing
This thing rocks. In autocross situations, boost threshold and transient response are kings. You want to have quick spool up and lowest possible lag as you are constantly on-off throttling. Most turbos can be kept spooled by a combination of smooth driving and left foot braking. However this has its pros and cons, especially on a manual car (3 pedals, 2 feet). The idea is to get something that is as close to instant on-off switch as possible (think supercharger).
I had the chance to run the L1R for the last 3 events of the year (approximately 12 runs). The thing that I was most impressed with was the transient response. The ball bearings definitely show their true colors when you go into a 180 degree turn hot, trail break, get back on the gas and have the boost right there waiting for you. This alone allowed me to go in with confidence and hit the apex hard and let the car run out the turn. So in the short technical sections, the turbo stayed spooled and had incredibly minimal lag. We are talking approximately 300 rpm between boost-vacuum-boost. If that isnt sick, then I dont know what its. Just to give you an idea, spectators heard my wastegate dumping a majority of the day on that last race of the season. Mainly because I was almost always in the gas and even at part throttle turns, the boost was just a flick of the gas pedal away. Unless someone can convince me otherwise, this will be my race turbo for next year.
Drag Racing
As much as I love autocrossing, drag racing has always taken a back seat, as my short times will show. The same transient response that I love autocrossing the turbo also showed itself at the track.
I was only able to run it once at the track since most of the other days landed on autocross race days. The weather was ~40 degrees and traction was hard to find, especially on street tires. The day started out in the mid to low 13s with 2.1 short times and 107 or so mph trap speeds. I tweaked and fiddled, trying to get around my heat soak problems with my stock sidemount and finally was able to run a couple of good runs before I had to leave: 12.76 @ 112mph and followed that up with a 12.69 @ 110 mph. Both had 1.95 short times and knock at the top of 3rd and 4th gears. These runs were made at 21 psi on 100 octane unleaded pump gas and I was still able to squeeze 112 mph out of it with a conservative tune. Unfortunately the tracks closed before I could get a good run at 25psi on C16 with a front mount however that will be the first thing I do in the spring. I can easily see mph much higher mph than what I was running with the L1R dipping into the 11s in the hands of someone who can drag race much better than I. (Yes its bench racing for now until someone does it but its my opinion).
The real kicker for drag racing, similar to autocrossing, is the on-off-on boost response. Even granny shifting, the boost lag between shifts was barely perceivable. This alone will save tons of DSM trannies as you wont have to no-lift-to-shift to keep the boost spooled. Being in the boost almost all the time is very nice. Even though the L1R is the smaller turbo of the line, it is by no means small. We are talking 20g flow.
On the Street
This has got to be one of the most fun street turbos I have seen. In many respects its similar to the feeling of a Big 16G on the street from a roll however it pulls so much harder. I ran against a friend of mines Green equipped, FMICd, 91 AWD running 18psi on 93 pump gas on the way home from an autocross and we held damn close. We went from a roll a few times and each time, the lag difference was very noticeable. I would jump ahead by a car length just because of the boost response. Then he would catch me. Granted the Green is a damn big turbo and has the issues that any big turbo would have, but even after he spooled, he didnt catch me as fast as I would have envisioned he would have. **I AM NOT SAYING THAT THE L1R IS FASTER OR BETTER THAN A GREEN AND IF TURNS INTO A DEBATE I WILL BE VERY UPSET** They are different turbos for different purposes however this was a matchup that I found interesting.
Problems
The only problems I have seen so far is that I have had some boost creep. I have a 1-2 psi creep running through 3rd and 4th after porting the wastegate and flapper area. This is more a function of the exhaust I have built and the fact that I have manifold turbo and o2 housing all port matched. I have more porting to go on the wastegate bowl area and after that, I am sure that the creep will be resolved. The exhaust side is so efficient and it spools and flows so much that, in my setup's case, I need to pay a little more attention to the wastegate passages. Even though this is more 'whole system' issue, I thought I would mention it. If after the finished porting, I may need to upgrade to a bigger flapper door and do a little more porting. It's a balancing act.
Final thoughts
The coolest thing is shutting her down after letting it cool down and hearing that turbo spin down like a jet engine. Schweet. I haven't stopped grinning since I took it for a test run.
To sum it up I think this is a kick a$$ turbo. The true bb center section adds so much to not only autocrossing, but the strip and the street as well. It pulls like a raped ape and has incredible transient response. So far, I think it is a damn good autocross turbo and should hold its own against other bigger turbos on the drag strip in the right hands and with the right tuning. As far as daily driving, it drives with all the ease of a 16g but with all the pull on tap of turbos much bigger than the 16g.
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