Help me understand turbo upgrading

[907dirtybird]

I am at the point in my project to start looking for a turbo upgrade. I know I can easily do a few different bolt-on options, but I'm still trying to learn what I am reading when I'm looking at turbos for sale. Currently I have a cheapy eBay exhaust manifold bolted up to a completely stock setup. I get lost when looking at turbos on STM and other vendors. How do I know if it will bolt up to my manifold, and o2 housing? Say I want to get an internally gated turbo and have it work with everything I have, what am I looking for? What if I find a good deal on a turbo, are the housings changeable to make it compatible with stock flanges and such? Thanks for any clarification on my newbie confusion.

 

[Dsmkauai]

First it would help to figure out a goal your trying to reach. Then you can pick a turbo based of those needs. Its sounds like you need to learn and reward a lot more before jumping into a turbo upgrade! Assuming your on the stock turbo still you need to worry more about tuning and fuel upgrades to support more airflow from a larger aftermarket turbo! There's a lot more to it that just swapping turbos. Also all the info you could need on this subject is on this site already if you do some simple searches!

 

[JusMX141]

This covers the basics but is a little dated.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/turbo-system-tech/199534-turbo-education-thread.html

 

[hocka09]

With reference to your interest in keeping the same hardware for the most part, you'll want to go with a Mitsubishi Hard Industries style turbo (MHI) i.e. a EIII 16g or a 14b off of a 1st gen. If you read that bit that justin posted you'll learn about some of these different choices. Seeing as you're new to the dsm game, Once you get all maintenance done I would stick with one of the mhi turbos as it will generally bolt right up to your manifold and o2 seeing as you already have a t25 in. Again though, read up on here and you'll begin to pick it up, we were all at your level at one point.

 

[gsxbro13]

First you must determine what your car will be used for (daily drive, track, ect.)
Then figure out what kind of budget you have to work with. It is not as easy as to just slapping on a bigger turbo to make power. There are many supporting mods that need to be done to make the true potential of your turbo come Alive.
Lastly you need to figure what power goal you have in mind.

Based on the info you provide I can not tell you what would be a good route to go or what to do next. However there are many turbos on this forum that people run and you can get plenty of info on. Popular street turbos would be 14b, big or small 16g, 50trim, t28, and Evo 3 16g (my personal favorite)

All turbos are different and your manifold and o2 housing could or could not work with what turbo you choose.

Decide on what your looking for out of this turbo and maybe we could help give you some more info.

 

[907dirtybird]

This covers the basics but is a little dated.

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/turbo-system-tech/199534-turbo-education-thread.html

This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you! Believe me I did search a lot, just didn't have any luck I guess.

Thanks for the advice everybody. To clarify, I have upgraded my fuel system, new lines, Walboro 400 lph on custom sending unit with rewire kit. 680cc injectors (got a good deal, plan on bigger) The ecu is getting socketed as we speak and I have DSM link V3 awaiting the ecu. Motor has a fresh rebuild on it, but the manifold is in need of replacement and the turbo is just the dinky stock t25, so I am simply educating myself on turbo specifics. May not replace it just yet, but the more I know, the easier shopping will be. Thanks again for the useful info!

 

[lasthope05]

If you want to replace your manifold, FP is having a sale right now on theirs. It's one of the best mitsu based cast manifolds out there.

 

[Fullthrottle7]

Thats quite the fuel upgrade without an end goal in mind but at least you left yourself some headroom! Excellent purchase getting Link, that will make your life much easier and as far as its come as a program there is no reason not to go big right off the bat in my opinion. Yes, an EVOIII 16g is plenty for a street car, but since you've already spent the money to do fuel (you mention bigger injectors coming, those 650's will suppport ~ 380whp) you may as well get a 30r sized snail and slowly tune to your desired performance. I got my ball bearing 50 trim Garrett dirt cheap which is roughly the same size, a 20g would fit the bill and Justin who helped you up a few threads does a wonderful job and seems to usually have one posted in the classifieds. Last thing you want to do in my opinion is start small and have to shell out again each year for the first few upgrades till your power needs are met. Just keep reading and you'll learn quick. If you don't get bigger injectors, more than a 16g is going to be severly limited in output.

A big part of this equation is what type of rebuild did your motor receive? If it is a simple upgraded stocker with nice bearings, etc. but stock rods/pistons you will never use half of that fuel system. If you're forged with some 272 cams or bigger though, get the GT30 and don't look back! Learn to tune yourself, get a remote tune, or go to a shop nearby and enjoy your 500hp...


* Also fill out your profile with the motor specs and upgrade info so people know where you're coming from in the future!

 

[derekd]

A Garrett gtx30 is awesome turbo !! well worth a look

 

[417EricM]

The issue with switching to a GT3076R or the like is that you'll need all an all-new manifold and downpipe. You'll also need to modify the charge piping to work. It would cost quite a bit more to go that route.

I'd probably find a 20G!