http://www.maperformance.com/ultimate-racing-18g-turbo-upgrade-2008-subaru-wrx.html Anyone have experience, knowledge, etc. of the above turbo? I am trying to plan my mods with care. I like the fact that it is customized for my vehicle's stock turbo orientation. Also I like that it is not a huge turbo and can make an extra +100 whp over stock at lowish boost levels (~14psi), if that company is telling the truth. I did search this forum and the others, the other forums only have a vendor posted dyno chart and such, no consumer reactions. I have stock internals fyi. Thanks!
Here's my $0.02...leave your turbo alone and go stage 2, injectors, pump and E-85. Nice bump in power, burns cooler, higher octane, arguably negligible price difference, hypothetically lower risk to your block, and cheaper. If you decide you still want more power, you'll already have the downpipe, fuel injectors (get about 850cc which will leave you head room for an 18g should you chose that route) and fuel pump that you'll need for a bigger turbo anyway (might need to add a bigger tmic or fmic for 18g though).
Jordan thanks! We think alike, I like your logic, that is for sure my plan. I'm not going to a bigger turbo at the same time I go stage 2. BUT I am trying to decide on going FMIC right away or the PW TMIC (rated to ~450 whp). I just don't want to buy expensive parts, then sell them 2 years later at a huge loss. Sorry I should have included that in the original post. I guess the question then becomes how soon will I want the bigger turbo. The answer is now , but I need to calm down and make myself wait until the car is a little older and/ or I buy another car as a DD.
Again, I'll offer my$0.02 from my past experience as a previous WRX owner... IMHO, the WRX hatch (11+ especially) is one of the best DD machines you can get for the money. Stage 2 + minor suspension mods, and you've got an awesome all-around DD. (besides the interior blows, but the 11's aren't bad). Then you start modding it more and more...until eventually you realize your transmission can't handle the power. That and all the money you through at it, you'll almost be at the performance level of an STi. Then you go from a stage 2 + suspension WRX into a stock STI, and realize the STI is just that much better in stock form. And it's a better base for more power. If it were me, I'd keep the WRX at stage 2 and suspension and if you really want to mod a car, get a (second car if funds allow) STI, EVO, or something that's a hell of a lot cheaper and still fun to drive and mod. I'm sure people will argue with me on this, but that's my advice from past experience (oh, and if you do buy an STI, stock or not, budget for a new motor. It's only a matter of time...and I was saying that well before recent events with my STI.)
why dont you get a turbo that you can grow into more and more as you add other parts? i would go rotated to at least a 30r. just because it can make 500 does not mean you have to run it at full power. start with low boost and work your way up as parts come along like fmic or bottom end ect. the right header/up pipe combo is not far off of stock spool with a 30r so start with that instead of wasting money on all the stock location crap that is hard to work on and does not clean any thing up in your engine bay. every one knows when you get the power bug you start by saying that 300whp is all i want. then you get it and it feels the same as 250whp did before. then its 400whp, then 500.... so if you start with a little bigger investment you wont be selling all the low power parts you wasted money one before when you are ready to upgrade. my $0.02
I've got an 09 with a stage 2.0 tune. I'm still on stock injectors/pump. (I can't bring myself to go E85 and give up the range ) The car makes more than enough power for me for everyday and occasional track use. I autocross mine regularly, and have more issue with wheel spin than I would like. (I know I need an STI) More power will just add to this. Then you start looking at clutches/transmissions/ etc. Subaru's are a slippery slope, but a fun one! As Nuke stated, stick with the stock turbo for now. Talk with your tuner and decide what your final goal for the car is, then start working on the parts. If you haven't been, come out to one of the NF events at DCTC, you will be able to see and possibly ride in a multitude of different configurations.
I should have also included this in my OP. Below are my "stage 2" plans. GS Uppipe GS crosspipe PW TMIC or Perrin FMIC Invidia downpipe (2 bung catless) -grimmspeed turbo to DP gasket -new subaru donut gasket Invidia q300 cat back (stainless) -poly exhaust hangers Grimmspeed EBCS Air injection system removal (torque solutions deletes) -perrin inlet hose -FIC injectors w/ plug and play harness (900cc) (E85) -go fast bits BOV/ BPV -DW65C fuel pump (E85) -TIC TGV delete (for plastic manifold)
I made 340hp-390tq to the wheels with my blouch 18g I would go with a fmic if you can. The tmic's are nice but if you don't mind loosing your bumper support or (if you have them) fog light's, go fmic.
the real question is, what do you want to do with your car and what do you currently do with your car? I had the same ideas, and at the end of the day, I kept my td04 left it at stg2 and just drive it. Still get good mileage, don't have to worry about making sure I can get whatever gas I need, I just drive it. And for me that is fine. Now if you want a weekend drag car, or a rallyx/autox car, you need to keep your power ideas in check. Russ
Stage 2 on e85 is quick enough and will make about the same power as a 18g on pump and will be quicker down low 1st gear is useless, just spins all 4 tires along with some torque steer. If that doesn't sound like enough power for you, then do whatever makes you happy but try it on corn first before you take off the turbo, you never know, it may be enough for you.
This is dead opposite of what I recommended lol. HOWEVER, if bigger future power is your goal, this makes absolute sense The way I cure the bug to always want more power in my STI is to buy a slow DD. Then every time I drive my STI, I be like (oh and the DD costs less that most big turbo complete setups.)
we did this with our daily driving sti. built a rotated turbo kit for a s366 and a cheap ebay fmic and drove it every day. think i spent $2000 to get it up and running with a rotated kit? bought parts as we could afford them and went from 450whp on a stock motor to 600whp once we built it. worked great for the 4 years we daily drove it and now its our track car only (might see a little street driving) and shooting for the moon with the power side of things. i just know from being around the Subaru seen since 02 that everyone seems to go the same route. they say i want 300whp and do stage two. then they end up hanging around with faster cars and want to be able to hang and it all goes down hill from there. everyone seems to pick turbos that reach a goal when the turbo is close to max and they get a nice fall off at the top end. with all the new tech in turbos they have turbos good for 7-800 spooling by 4k. when you over lay the graphs sure they dont make full power at the same time but at 250-300whp they are dang close on the graph. i mean i would like to make 400whp on pump with 18psi over 28psi and race gas or e85. i guess its to each there own but i thing people over look this option and get scared off when they think of big turbos.
oh and when people start a build for the first time they dont exactly know what they want because they dont know much when they first start building a car. i know that threw all the years i have been in the subie game i have gone over board with the power side of things but when i started my first build i was vary nervous about making more then 300. hell, i stopped at 230whp on my first build. the way i see it is 9 times out of 10 if people are changing the turbo to make more power they will change it two more times after that because it didn't satisfy any more.
Guys I really appreciate all of the advice and insight. The many years of Subaru experience really shows and it's awesome how helpful everyone has been. I decided to just do stage 2 for now including a tune, up pipe, turboback, and an IC. I'm not writing off E85, a pump and injectors, but I'm at least separating it into 2 parts. But even then I would run E85 open sourced, I would have an E85 and 93 tune loaded on my AP. Thanks again everyone!
I by far have little experience compared to others in this thread but wouldn't it be a waste of time/money to swap uppipes? Assuming you have a newer wrx. Put that 200ish dollars into something else.
