Turbo help/opinion

[ThatDevilForrest]

Hey guys,
So, I've had my 97 spyder gst since last June, and it has been an absolute blast to drive! Now I've done a whole lot of lurking on this site, and a lot of research in general on how to go about upgrading my car. I had originally wanted to drop the customary e3 16g in when it came time to upgrade, but the price had skyrocketed so badly that I almost couldn't see the sense in paying that sort of money for a 16g. So, I fell back on the choice of the fp big28, as I live in the Appalachian mountains, and im trying to keep spool low as there are few straights and maaaany curves, and all was going well wish list wise. Now for my question, I've recently come upon a vendor here in the classifieds offering the new rebuilt e3 16g for 550, and also recently found out my older cousin has a big28 with a broken compressor wheel/ generally needing a rebuild. Now my plans are for about 350 hp until I can find a donor for the awd swap, as anything above that I'm going to spend most of my time spinning tires, so which of these two turbos and their corresponding setups would suit my needs best? I don't track the car, but I drive these mountains hard, and there is aloooot of heavy acceleration and heavy braking, so I guess what I'm asking is would it be worth my time and effort (and cash) to get the big28 from my ###, or hit the e3 16g from the vendor? Any input would be great here!

 

[demonic racing]

I would go with the 16g and look into some good brakes.

 

[ThatDevilForrest]

Yeah I'm definitely scoping brakes. Again there I am torn between just going all out with an evolution 8 setup, or just go with outlander fronts until I do the awd swap (whenever that may be) decisions decisions....

 

[WES_393]

The E3 16g and T28 are pretty different. The T28 is going to spool a tad slower than your stock T25. The E3 16g is going to spool a tad faster than a 20g.

If I were you, I'd go with a Small 16g. More flow than a T28, faster spool than the E3 16g. Cheaper too, E3 16g's aren't even worth it now days.

 

[ThatDevilForrest]

hey man thanks for the input. yeah , what i meant was the forced performance big28. its built like a stock t25 lookswise but apparently flows just around the same as a 16g. and the only reason i am considering the e3 is because of turbolabs prices. i cant find a 16g period right now for anywhere near 550.. i just dread the idea of sending that big 28 back to forced performance. the bill would probably knock my socks off hahaha

 

[ThatDevilForrest]

Yeah the genreal consensus is that they are great, but again, i think i am leaning towards the e3 as the cost difference could be pretty crazy. then again, i would have to email forced performance to find out what a rebuild would cost, so until i know and have a definite price on what the big28 would cost me, i guess its sorta one sided hahaha.

 

[WES_393]

Small 16g's go used for $300 all the time. I just sold mine for around that much. If you were to go small or big (instead of E3), I'd go with the small. Here's why:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/turbo-system-tech/318980-difference-between-small-16g-big-16g.html

But IMO, I'd rather buy a small/big 16g and have it converted to a 20g long before I ever purchased a legit E3. Not that the E3 is a bad turbo, it's just not cost-effective.