Hybrid turbo owners, worth it?

[DanGum]

Lads! need some advice on your experiences with the hybrid turbo. I cant decide whether to stick to the standard pd150 or go all out on the hybrid pd150. I dont want high figures of 230-240, ideally im after 220bhp as its my daily driver ( i do 15- 20k a year) i dont want to hamper reliability toooo much.

Ive got my uprated sachs clutch ready to be fitted, once that is done, its turbo time.

So, main question, was it worth the money? ive seen descriptions of it being ''fabia on steroids'' which sounds class haha. Any problems after going hybrid?

Any help always appreciated!

Dan

[wilsy7]

Don't go hybrid, go with this

http://www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/products/darkside-gtb-turbo-kit-for-1-9-8v-tdi-engines.html

[DanGum]

Good shout mate, but 2k is alot of money lol

[max132]

Mines a daily drive (about 25k per year) and I love it - the good thing is if you drive it sensibly it's similar to a standard remap - I did a run of over 400 miles 2 weeks ago, on A roads mostly, and returned over 46 mpg (my figures not the trip computers), but you have the extra power when you need it.

You may also need to consider new FMIC though which will add cost.

There are not many 5 door hatches you can buy with the power you are looking for that will cost less and be as reliable imo.

GO for it but get a reputable company to do it and tune it for you - the usual names will come up - Unit 18 - Jabba etc - I have experience of P-Torque nr Wolverhampton who are top - speak to Will if you need advice.

I'm in South Wales and happy to take you far a spin if you are interested and we can arranger a day

[tagrap2003]

^{interesting thread im very curious to answer of this question myself, does any one have a price of a true hybrid conversion? i assume a remap after the new hybrid turbo unit is installed is needed, would a fmic be needed?}

[DanGum]

I've got the supporting mods (I think) lol I got seat sport fmic, 312mm brakes, jabba rarb, koni fsd's and eibach springs and sachs uprated clutch/dmf setup. Just need turbo now I think. I would love to come for a spin dude I would appreciate it a lot!! I'll give u a pm mate :p

[max132]

For turbo and FMIC (& pipe kit) with tuning and fitting you are probably looking at £2500 - you should also look at a performance clutch which will set you back about £800 plus decat / sporst cat and air intakes if you want.

If you are going down this route get the hardware done first then remap after to take advantage of all the new stuff.

I've spent about £5000 on mine (don't tell the wife) but that also includes coilovers / bushes and a few remaps and RR's.

I'm sure loads of people will think me mad spending that on a 5 year old car, but I have a car I love. Only problem is I'm now considering a LSD so the modding bug never ends.

hope this helps

[joelk2010]

Talking to one dealer, already mentioned in this thread, I got the following price.

"The turbo, our custom intercooler and Sachs performance clutch would be £2797.00 in VAT fitted."

Sounds VERY good value to me but cant quite justify the expense on such an old car. Maybe if I could split the costs I would do it but finding "cheap" second hand parts is rather hard at the moment.

Edited 9 March, 2012 by joelk2010

[faboka vrs]

If your buying new turbos then a hybrid pd150/160 makes sense. Go for a smooth map without silly boost.

[SimonK24]

Well when I got prices from the Turbo Centre UK, their hybrid was about £250 more than a stock PD150. I had a good long chat and thought about it, and for me decided the stock turbo was enough for what I wanted.

I've been on track enough now to know that between a hybrid and my PD150, it is very close until you are approaching triple figures when the extra horsepower of the hybrid nudges it ahead. Shark said that your looking realistically at about 15-20bhp difference between them.

If I had to do it all again though, I think I would be going to Darkside for one of their kits & some nozzles.........

[max132]

Talking to one dealer, already mentioned in this thread, I got the following price.

"The turbo, our custom intercooler and Sachs performance clutch would be £2797.00 in VAT fitted."

Sounds VERY good value to me but cant quite justify the expense on such an old car. Maybe if I could split the costs I would do it but finding "cheap" second hand parts is rather hard at the moment.

from your location I assume this is from Will at Perfomance Torque. If so you can be sure he'll look after you and get the most out of the car, but in a reliable way.

[gac]

Can't really comment as I haven't driven the same car with standard turbo and with hybrid, but the hybrid PD130 turbo on my Fabia holds power for longer than the stock PD150 one on my old Leon, plus feels like it spools up quicker thanks to the fact it's slightly smaller. If I had the money I'd go for a Darkside GTB kit and go mental but a hybrid can still be good IMO and needs less work (in most cases they're bolt-on upgrades?). Depends how much it's all going to cost really, and to get the best out of the big turbos you're going to need better injectors (I know we've finally got cars like warwick hunt's old one that do 260bhp on standard injectors, but with bigger injectors and the right mapping you could probably be nudging 300ish like Tom.

[DanGum]

Well when I got prices from the Turbo Centre UK, their hybrid was about £250 more than a stock PD150. I had a good long chat and thought about it, and for me decided the stock turbo was enough for what I wanted.

I've been on track enough now to know that between a hybrid and my PD150, it is very close until you are approaching triple figures when the extra horsepower of the hybrid nudges it ahead. Shark said that your looking realistically at about 15-20bhp difference between them.

If I had to do it all again though, I think I would be going to Darkside for one of their kits & some nozzles.........

Yeah i remember you saying about sticking to standard pd150 Simon, and on your track day vid i can see you kept up well against a hybrid, for the sake of £250 extra i think i probably will do it, being a stronger unit it will keep my mind at rest.

Im luckily being taken out in Max's hybrid soonish, so will help me make my mind up i feel =]

[vindaloo]

For 15-20K per year, are you sticking with the DMF then? Thinking about the character of the car if you spend "time" in traffic on our lovely trunk routes...

IMO Decat or sportscat is a good move. Anything to help boost threshold/reduce lag.

J.

[DanGum]

For 15-20K per year, are you sticking with the DMF then? Thinking about the character of the car if you spend "time" in traffic on our lovely trunk routes...

IMO Decat or sportscat is a good move. Anything to help boost threshold/reduce lag.

J.

Yeah man sticking with DMF, ive got a piper cat back system at the moment, will look into decat/sports cat options though cheers!

[Tech1e]

I would consider the reliability of a hybrid turbo over a standard one. Many hybrids have bearings fitted to the turbine shaft, I think even the standard 150 turbo uses the same floating idea as the PD130 turbo where there is no actual bearing supporting the shaft, I think it has a surface on the thrust side but it uses oil as the bearing.

[SimonK24]

The info that the Turbo Centre gave me said that the standard PD150 had a 360 thrust bearing fitted by Garrett, and that any turbo builder that said that by fitting a 360 degree bearing to their hybrid units was an upgrade was misleading.

[Tech1e]

Next one I take apart I'll have a look, but I'm pretty sure there is no bearing in there as standard.

[SimonK24]

Thanks, I'd like to find out, as I can't find any info on the web about the standard unit!

[Janno1]

Touch wood....mine seems ok. Wanna fit boost gauge and goin on rolling road soon but mines been around for donkeys been used hard and still goes quit well.believe its the pd150 hybrid running 210 and the power is nice. Pulls harder towards top revs than me mates standard fabia. His is quick as it is but we've not done a proper next to each other 321 go or sat in a gear and gone to see what its like.....hummmmm might se if he wants to do it tonight. I'll get some videos up.

[phil555]

Mine is fitted with a Turbo Dynamics Stage 2 Garret MD Turbo (can't remember the MD no', on a reciept somewhere) and is mapped by Jabba Sport to 236 bhp / 396 lbs ft. Mine is used as a daily driver and is spot on, although a little wild with all those torques. I have a Sachs clutch, lightened flywheel & Quaife LSD from Jabba Sport to help with the extra torque.

[Janno1]

I deffo need lsd. Comin out of corners sins. 30 in 3rd spins wen put foot down. Phill your car is awesome.

[jordy_wd]

I spoke yesterday to TorqueTronix over here in Northern Ireland and they seem to be amazingly good value for money. I didn't realise that the KKK turbos in the fabias couldn't be hybridised, so they explained to me that i'd have to get a garrett turbo from a pd130 or pd150 car and get it hybridised.

Cut a long story short their hybrid turbo was £650 + vat, with an uprated Sachs clutch at £550 + vat, and they also do a full Miltek exhaust for about £450 + vat. About £1980 and you would just have to get an intercooler, ie. the group buy one at £200 which seems flawless.

I don't know if i'm ready to take the plunge with that setup just yet, but figures of around 230bhp seem awesome.

[Guest BigJase88]

Best part of a hybrid is the noise! No other mod on a derv comes close

Rarrrw!!!

[Janno1]

I thought it was ****** wen first booted it :-) has a little play with a astra vxr and he was shocked wen I told him it was diesel. Said turbo roared incredibly loud lol