black E

iTrader: (77)

This is now the 3rd turbo kit I've had on a Evo X platform (had a 08 MR now in a 12 GSR) but it is my first brand new one so I wanted to share my experience and opinions on the kit based in part by my experience with my other kits.

I ordered my kit through my local performance shop down here in South FL. I had already called FR and got a quote and asked the questions I need to ask before ordering.
I wanted a external WG turbo kit because I like the boost control precision and ease (once correctly setup), but was very disappointed when I found out that FR does not sell the EWG kit with the dump tubes. They expect you to have them fabbed up on your side.
This part I don't understand at all. FR said that this is because the dump tubes may or may not fit depending your own personal setup. To me it would seem that the dump tubes are not as hard to build as one of the manifolds they make, so to me it sounded like a BS reason.
Now, to be fair, Geoff did offer to get Dino from Speed Circuit to build me a set because he was going to be doing the EWG kit on his car and a costumers but I did not feel conferrable with this because I just don't know what I would get or how they would fit.

So based on the dump tube thing I ended ordering a Internal Wastegate Turbo kit. I ordered the following:
-FR T4 twin scroll turbo kit with a EFR T4 twin scroll 8374 with the .92ar backhousing.
-FR turbo kit intake.
-FR intercooler upper and lower piping (the lower doesn't have a DV outlet since the EFR has the integraded DV).
-Forge Motorsports EFR internal wastegate ( I got this on FR advice based on my PSI needs).
-2K* coating on the DP, manifold and the turbo hot side.

Now, even by adding the LICP, the ceramic coating and the extra Forge WG, the IWG EFR FR kit is a VERY good value. It's cheaper then a similar ETS, AMS or MAP kits. Part of this is because the IWG EFR doesn't need the 2 EWG's but even at a lower price the FR kit is a very complete and well thought kit.
I read a forum member complain that the FR installation instructions are not good but I can tell you that a ETS kit doesn't come with installation instructions, nor does a AFI kit.....having said that, I thought the instructions are not 100% detailed step by step but they are plenty good for anyone with any wrenching experience.
The main things I like about the FR kit are:

-The manifold is very well made and beautiful piece.
-Not needing a EWG (even though I still like the EWG better).
-No dump tube or dump tube noise (this is a big one with me, love how quiet the car is, even at WOT).
-The turbo oil feed line goes behind a heatshield so it doesn't get cooked.
-The oil and water fittings & lines are of very good quality and they give you plenty extra.
-The manifold studs have 1.5 pitch on the manifold side and 1.25 on the nut side so they stay better on the manifold and the nuts don't back out as easy. They also include Inconel nuts and SS Nordlock washers.
-The intake pipe comes with a support bracket to hold the weight of it (see pics)
-All aluminum IC and intake piping, it also comes already coated wrinkle black.
-It all came very well packed.
-The kit includes a generous amount of gold heat protecting material.
-A Speed Circuit firewall heat shield fits perfectly, and can be installed after the turbo kit installation (see pics).



This is a honest inpartial review, so here is what I don't like about the kit:

-The DP rubs against the OEM heatshield that goes from the lower section of the firewall to the underside of the car (see pics). I did not notice this until I started the car and had a bad rattle. This can be fixed by bending the heatshield but I recommend doing this before installing the DP because it becomes a PITA after.
-The turbo sits to close to the shifting cables. This causes the intake to turbo coupler to rub against them and get slightly deformed. Is not the deformation of the coupler that bothers me, is the fact that over time the coupler may rip because of this (see pics).
-4 of the 6 couplers for the IC piping are VERY thin, which is weird because you would think you would get the same quality of couplers for all the connections (see pics).
-All of the T-bolt clamps that they give you are really meant for the thin couplers. You can use them on the 2 thick ones but it's not easy to get them on.
-The air filter looks like a ebay special.
-FR said it was going to be 4 weeks but it took 6.
-The intake doesn't come with any bungs for BCS intake return or valve cover to intake return.

Once the kit was installed I started tuning and messing with the IWG. The IWG EFR turbo has a very good exhaust bypass setup, so good, that it's a PITA to get the WG setup correctly.
I bought the Forge WG with the white spring under FR's advice. I would not recommend this WG to anyone running UNDER 30 PSI of boost because this WG has some really bad boost creep problems. with the white spring and 0% WGDC boost would hit 18PSI at 4500 RPM and creep to 28PSI at 7500 RPM regardless of preload on the WG arm.
I then ordered the Borg Warner "high boost" WG but in the mean time I tried the "medium boost" WG that come with the turbo from the factory. The medium WG will not get you more then ~22psi regardless of WG arm preload.

Now I have the "high boost" WG and this one works the best. I hit 27psi with ~58% WGDC and hold that until 8K RPM with ~69 WGDC, this is with ~5mm preload on the WG arm.
Word of caution with this IWG setup: I noticed that the WG changes with temperature. When the WG is cold, it requires LESS WGDC to reach the desired PSI. The best thing I found is to wait until the car is FULLY warmed up to put the hammer down.

Here's a link to the dyno results:https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...lock-dyno.html

On to the pics:



This is the bung I added for the BCS return:


Some pics of the SC heatshield fitment:




This is were the DP rubs ( I already bent the heatshield):



This is the intake support bracket:
[IMG][/IMG]http://i352.photobucket.com/albums/r340/clinton112583/DSC_0007_zpsf5f70781.jpg


This is a comparison between a ETS coupler and 1 of the 4 thin FR couplers:


Here's a close up of the air filter:


This is the inside of the turbo intake coupler. It's hard to see in this pic but try to notice the bulge in it:



If you get the SC heatshield for this kit, I suggest covering the turbo oil feed line with a rubber hose and cover the cutout on the heatshild with a vacuum hose to avoid rattles:

OkinawaFD3S

Great write up. I'm really surprised to hear about the quality of the kit. This is the first FR review I've read ... I always thought of them in a very positive light (possibly based on the quality appearance of their product and the high end price point). Although the issues weren't that big, i'm surprised stuff light this hasn't been resolved. It's not like it's a new kit and I imagine that they sell quite a few of them.

Maybe you should give them some feedback so they can improve their product offering for future customers (and possibly make it right for you)

black E

iTrader: (77)

Yeah....FR did shime in on the other forum and said they changed the manfold slightly to adjust the turbo and fix the turbo inlet coupler from rubbing on the shifter cables. They also don't think the couplers is a issue.
But they never offered to do or fix anything for me, I didn't ask for anything and honestly I don't think vendors want to help you when you put the bad truth out there.

So if they really wanted to fix the issues they would have to give me a new "redesigned" manifold, some new couplers and clamps.....they obviously don't want to do that.

There is a lot of good things about the kit and it def produces the results I expected so really 90% is good.

Nagua

iTrader: (1)

Nice write up.

bluke

Nice write up bro.

FR was one of the kits I myself was looking at so I'm glad to have this info available.

reaper_21

YEA im definitely going to pick this up as my next mod for my car. Thanks for the valuable info.

awhit17

iTrader: (6)

Great write up! I am not sure what you have tried as far as the IWG actuator goes, but I just came over to the Evo world after having a Honda with Full-Race's IWG EFR 7670 kit (FYI my opinion of the air filter was the same lol). I experimented with the forge actuator as well and found that it either overshot target boost or gave pretty lazy spool. What ended up working best for me was using the Borg high boost actuator, and tuning preload to suit. Using the appropriate Borg actuator seems to be the best IWG option at this point, at least in my experience. Once set up well these EFRs are very special though

Edit: I re-read your post and see I overlooked that you're on the high boost actuator now. Glad to see it's working well!

black E

iTrader: (77)

I now have the TurboSmart WG and its the best EFR WG out there. I can now hold 32psi flat to 9k rpm.

awhit17

iTrader: (6)

Oooooh that's awesome! Geoff was telling me about those but I kinda got off the mod train with my Honda before those really started heading out to the public. With 7mm preload + the high canister I was making like 16psi @ 40% wgdc. The best thing about these Evos is you don't need to run 3 psi in first for traction

555R

iTrader: (5)

I've been running a FR kit on my evo 9MR since 2009. I've never had an issue with the couplers since then. I've only changed the turbo outlet since then because as you stated the waste gate pipes have to be made once your kit is installed. The waste gate pipe was really close to the turbo outlet coupler and after years of it being really close I suppose the heat broke it down this past year. That's about 5 years now. I understand why they must be gabbed because every setup is different. I have to customize the lower IC pipe to fit as high up under the car as it can. It was no big deal as every car is truly different in some way. Different intakes. Ic pipe. Turbo outlets etc
Otherwise it's a completely kickass kit. And it really had required minimal maintainance since 2009. Enjoy that EFR.

awhit17

iTrader: (6)

^ were you one of the lucky few to get an EFR with an investment cast turbine housing? Those were baller and I wish they didn't have the production difficulties they did

555R

iTrader: (5)

Nm