club.liberty.asn.au

I've found a TD05 18G for a pretty good price, basically ready to bolt in.

Initially I was keeping my eyes out for a VF52, but they seem harder to find for a good price.

This is on a MY08 GT, 6MT. Supporting mods are a TCP 3" Turbo Back exhaust, Process west cold air intake and TMIC, Kobe silicon intake pipe, 3 port boost solenoid, DW65C fuel pump and custom tune. Injectors are stock. Engine is stock with high k's but still going strong.

I'm wanting a turbo just to give a tiny bit more kick (happy if it comes on a tad later than the VF46)... that will run comfortably at lower boost (15/16psi). Not wanting to build a monster and not wanting to kill my engine.

Curious to know if anyone has done the same upgrade, and was the difference noticeable?
More fuel efficient for around town? (easier to drive around off-boost?)

Kim

the td05-16g isnt an overly big turbo, so it will get you up to speed nicely but wont give you much in the way of 'OMG'. 15/16psi should be fine and being a fairly normal/ smaller turbo there wont be much off boost time! should spool up very nicely

Cool thanks. About the same sort of size to a VF52?

I'd go an 18G not 16G if you are after more "kick"

I have brand new VF52s in stock for $1400 shipped.

Ooops... just editedmy first post. Meant to say td05 18g... (Not 16g).

Would still be keen for vf52 and $1400 is a good price... but the td05 18g i can get is still half that price (second hand)

cynner wrote:Ooops... just editedmy first post. Meant to say td05 18g... (Not 16g).

Would still be keen for vf52 and $1400 is a good price... but the td05 18g i can get is still half that price (second hand)

$1400 is very good - to get one from somewhere like Celtic Motorsports in the US would cost you somewhere north of $1700 including shipping these days with the AUD$ so weak compared to mid-last year.

You can't compare the price of a new turbo to a second hand one. You're buying a lottery ticket with a second-hand turbo - sure, there are ways to minimise the chances that something will go wrong, but sometimes you just can't see what condition a turbo is in externally, and a turbo that looks fine may in fact be able to fall apart. I believe the TD-series turbos can be broken down and serviced, you may wish to consider the cost of that as part of the purchase price if you really want to be sure (the VF-series turbos are non-serviceable as far as I am aware).

Manaz wrote:

cynner wrote:Ooops... just editedmy first post. Meant to say td05 18g... (Not 16g).

Would still be keen for vf52 and $1400 is a good price... but the td05 18g i can get is still half that price (second hand)

$1400 is very good - to get one from somewhere like Celtic Motorsports in the US would cost you somewhere north of $1700 including shipping these days with the AUD$ so weak compared to mid-last year.

You can't compare the price of a new turbo to a second hand one. You're buying a lottery ticket with a second-hand turbo - sure, there are ways to minimise the chances that something will go wrong, but sometimes you just can't see what condition a turbo is in externally, and a turbo that looks fine may in fact be able to fall apart. I believe the TD-series turbos can be broken down and serviced, you may wish to consider the cost of that as part of the purchase price if you really want to be sure (the VF-series turbos are non-serviceable as far as I am aware).

Lottery ticket - that's a bit harsh, Rob...?

I bought Ian's SH turbo with 7,000km on it - bloody wonderful turbo, practically new. Owen bought Dr0t's SH turbo - still going strong by all accounts.

If the 18G turbo is serviceable - can be rebuilt to be 'as new' - it should cost around the $350 mark.

I've seen many VF's rebuilt/modified by ATP, not to mention all the US companies that rebuild them?

Kim - what brand, what core, how many kms on it, if the seller is known as a reliable one, all things to consider.

18G over vf52 in terms of power, possibly torque....BUT the formula for a street car is - go with the smallest turbo that reaches your power goals.

IMO for the price, even with a rebuild and for the added fun factor - the 18G. Engine should be fine, just don't expect better fuel economy lol...

Yeah, it's a good brand 18g (blouch), with the red compressor wheel (billet) which is apparently better. The shaft feels firm (no play at all), and it's from a reputable mechanic who I go to regularly.

Just curious as to how different it will feel to drive (I'll know in a couple of weeks I guess!)

Needs more 20G...
bigger rear, better for 2.5

Nigel's 2.0 Legacy had the 18G ad was seeing 18PSi by 3000-3200rpm and that's on an old EJ20G non AVCS motor.
with yours the 20G should see that boost even sooner, but bigger housing making it more linear, better breathing too.

The 18g I'm getting has an 8cm rear, so should suit the 2.5. Apparently benefit of 20gb would be stronger up the top end (to red-line), but other than that very similar I'm told. I'm not wanting to improve power at high RPM... (engine life more important)...

Check out the blouch 20Gxtr with an 8cm rear vs a vf52 graph

As Kim got the 8cm rear, the 18G xt should pull very similar numbers. This being a Blouch 18G, it flows 42-44lbs (nearly the same as the 20G) vs Td0518G usually flowing 40 and having smaller rears.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthr ... ?t=2243209



Xluben: "For comparison, here is a layover of the curves on top of a recent VF52 log that I had. Should be all the same parts besides the turbo (ie. same exhaust, both have FMIC, etc). This shows the difference in spool and powerband between the two turbo's.

The turbo does spool about 500rpm's slower than the VF52, but you can see that it's really never making less power, so it is still very driveable on the street. I am really enjoying it so far! The power is very linear and it just keeps pulling on the top end, where the VF52 fell off. It is very addicting! "

alexeiwoody wrote:Lottery ticket - that's a bit harsh, Rob...?

I bought Ian's SH turbo with 7,000km on it - bloody wonderful turbo, practically new. Owen bought Dr0t's SH turbo - still going strong by all accounts.

That's probably a fair call. I probably should have said "can be a lottery ticket" - as you've noted, there are plenty of good second hand turbos out there as well. I've heard a few stories of bad ones too though.

A new turbo is still a better bet - but of course, comes at a substantial additional cost. I personally chose a new turbo over second hand options, because it was the safest bet (I can't afford to blow a turbo and have the car off the road for repairs to turbo/engine).

If the 18G turbo is serviceable - can be rebuilt to be 'as new' - it should cost around the $350 mark.

I've seen many VF's rebuilt/modified by ATP, not to mention all the US companies that rebuild them?

I've certainly seen a lot of TD-series turbos rebuilt. I'll accept being wrong on the VFs there (but will ask the question - are the rebuilds on them as cheap/easy as on the TD series turbos?).

Kim - what brand, what core, how many kms on it, if the seller is known as a reliable one, all things to consider.

18G over vf52 in terms of power, possibly torque....BUT the formula for a street car is - go with the smallest turbo that reaches your power goals.

IMO for the price, even with a rebuild and for the added fun factor - the 18G. Engine should be fine, just don't expect better fuel economy lol...

I'd qualify that by saying "Smallest turbo that comfortably meets your power goals" - you don't want to be pushing a little turbo too hard, as you end up operating at lower efficiencies, and that can be bad (stresses the turbo itself, heats the air up more than is ideal, etc). My original VF46 would probably get to the same power levels I'm getting now, but would do it quite differently to how my VF52 does, and the car drives MUCH better with the VF52 and its much fatter torque curve.

I have a Garrett ball bearing turbo though. They were built to run 20+ psi all day long under ideal circumstances (enough oil and water cooling), so I wasn't too concerned about buying Mick's slightly used turbo.
I'd be more concerned about buying a used journal turbo that's been highly boosted before.

Finally put the car on the dyno since fitting the TD05 18g. Below is a dyno sheet.

No surprises, the VF46 came on sooner, and starts to fizz out towards the top. However, to my surprise the VF46 produces more power (about 10kw) and more torque (about 40nm) all the way to about 5000rpm.

Despite this, the TD05 18g feels stronger... and did produce an extra 10kw at the top end, however given that I've now lost a fair bit of torque and low-end power, I'm not sure it has been worth the upgrade.

Having said that though - I am running less boost that before (for safety), so perhaps increasing the boost would bring back some of that mid-range power...