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Best turbo for money? Newbie here

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Good evening,

Tried looking through search results but it's a minefield.

I'm hopefully getting a Fabia VRS this weekend running darkside egr delete and seat front mount. I'd like to upgrade the turbo and run 200-220 bhp reliably. What turbo would you recommend? Can get a hybrid 160 Garret 1749v?

Thanks

James

Have a quick read on here, if you scroll down there is a little chart that shows what power you can expect from each turbo, what revs it provides full boost at and the safe boost pressure to run. 

 

I think you'll be pushing the limits of reliability on a hybrid 1749 pushing it past 200bhp. You'd be better going for the GTB1756VK which can reliably push to 230bhp / 31psi. 

 

If you want a drive in/drive out service then Darksides offer isn't bad beat but if you want to just buy the turbo and have it mapped by someone else then xman on here (I think that's his name) is highly regarded on here for turbos. 

Edited by mattbvRS

gt1756 (not GTB) from XMAN performs well. Currently mapping one at the moment. Below is a boost graph of it running 1.7 bar still work to be done on it with final boost to be 1.75 bar. I recon good for 200-205bhp with little smoke.

 

 

post-953-0-74807400-1445982985_thumb.jpg

My gt1752 mapped to 220bhp and had more to give but the standard clutch was slipping.

Out of interested did you measure it on a dyno?

Yeah, I had print outs, pretty sure I've still got a picture of them. The print out went with the car when I sold it.

Been running around 220bhp over a year now and still running fault free also :)

Interesting, are you not pushing the gt1752 past it's safe boost pressure to achieve that sort of power? 

 

Not saying your wrong but to get 220bhp you'd have to be pushing the limits of that turbo? I've always thought you'd need the 1756vk to push past 200bhp hit the 220-230bhp mark. 

My pd150 hybrid by AET is running 225bhp.

Interesting, are you not pushing the gt1752 past it's safe boost pressure to achieve that sort of power?

Not saying your wrong but to get 220bhp you'd have to be pushing the limits of that turbo? I've always thought you'd need the 1756vk to push past 200bhp hit the 220-230bhp mark.

Xman only quotes 1.75 with 1.85 peak for his turbo so that's what I'm mapping it too. Turbo dynamics quote higher at around 2bar which I've had 2 dyno at between 220 and 230bhp again with low smoke levels.

Xman is properly putting quite a safe limit on it for reliability. Mine peaks at 28/29 psi, but settles 25ish.

I think its worth bearing in mind when selecting an upgraded turbo the other additional costs that will be incurred to cope with extra power and torque, which can soon start to add up to perhaps to more than the car is worth.

 

We recently replaced the std KKK BV39 turbo on the wife's mint low mileage SE and fitted a Garrett GT1749VB (PD160) which required the map to be held back to 194bhp @ 3700rpm and 410Nm torque @ 2200rpm to protect the std clutch.

 

On the road the car can be a delight to drive but with no LSD and an otherwise relatively std car it can also be a bit of a handful even at these low (ish) power outputs.

 

The car has already got Eibach springs and a Miltec exhaust but for us to go to the next step and release the cars full potential we would probably need uprated clutch, fly wheel, LSD, FMIC, suspension, anti roll bars and better brakes, all of which add up to quite a lot and in our case would not be worth it.

 

Please don't think I'm trying to put you off, just trying to show the true cost of a turbo upgrade.

 

HTH      

I agree and that's exactly the reason I've not tuned mine! It's just not that good of a base to start from. To get good power out of them and to be able to put that power down effectively, not just sit there spinning the wheels, can soon add up to thousands once you factor in all the other bits needed. Don't get me wrong they are cracking cars for what they are and if my standard turbo ever goes pop I'll probably upgrade, but once you start chasing figures they can become serious money pits. So it's something to bear in mind and ask yourself if you'll be happy with 200-220bhp in the long term. 

 

I think the 200bhp mark is a sensible goal on the vRS. Any more and you'll really need a clutch/flywheel upgrade and an LSD to take full advantage of the extra power, which adds to the cost significantly. Not to mention the mandatory suspension and brakes upgrades!

Standard clutch and flywheel seem ok at around the 220bhp mark, thats why i set that as my goal when i started modifying. not saying it wont start slipping but a new replacment should coup fine for a while with it.

 

I dont belive the turbo was pushed over whats safe, like i said, it had more to give but once the clutch started clipping in 6th gear tuning was stopped, im sure with a replacment clutch and flywheel it could have gone back and got an extra few bhp from it.

 

I removed the cylinder head, cleaned it plenty and got an engineering company to look over it, they said they "removed the odd high spot" i then put all new valves in and spent plenty of time grounding them in extra to get that little bit extra compression.

 

- Straight through piper exhaust

- THS FMIC

- made my own pipework

- Jabbasport cone in a box filter

- pd160 intake
- darkside intake pipe

- GT1752 hybrid

 

im sure ive missed plenty but im sure thats the bulk of it to get to 220bhp

Clutch to get the most from the new power. I know 2 people who have/are running 250-260bhp on a stock clutch. Helps with the GTB2260VK coming on boost later :)

FMIC is a must if you do anything more then quick 3rd gear blasts.

Exhaust leave stock.

Air filter leave stock.

Pd160 or DIY air feed wont do any harm.

Decent turbo.

 

Brakes. Do you over heat the pads? If not then leave them alone. If yes then fit better pads. If you need discs then pay the extra and get the 312mm calipers and carriers :)

Suspension. 2 options. Drivers training to allow you to get the most form the stock setup or pay good money for bilstein, Kw, H&R. I remember a wet track day on stock power and stock suspension with Jabba rarb having fun with a Kw v1. LSD, strut braced 340lbsft/175bhp fabia. Some part I would pull away, some parts he would catch up. :)

  • Author

I don't mind upgrading the clutch if it fails just don't want to put too much into a turbo. £600 would do me nicely for a turbo?

Can get a PD160 hybrid of XMAN for good money

i seen a GTB second hand for £300 a few days back, that was a bargain imo.

  • Author

Where was that and what mileage?

That one needs a manifold as well.

I apologise if it's no good, I didn't put two and two together.

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