Alright fellas. I have a good amount of questions here that I'm looking for some insight on, I've been going nuts trying to figure out my best options. I've been e-mailing Dave back and forth to get info/suggestions, but I have a bunch of questions that you guys should be able to help me with and this way I can ease his PM box a little bit

I'll get right to the point. I'm picking up the following from the lovely fellows over at Buschur Racing:

- 2.3 shortblock
- Stg 3 head
- HKS 272 cams
- HKS Adjustable cam gears
- HKS timing belt
- ARP head studs
- oil pan/pump (everything to seal up bottom end)
- Alky injection
- Race FMIC / lower IC pipe / upper IC pipe

Car currently has:
- Invidia 3" TBE w/test pipe
- Hallman MBC
- mail in flash
- Turbo XS intake
- Walbro 255
- And a big fat blown motor

The big question is which turbo should I strap on. I'm torn between a GT30 series and the infamous GT35R. This car is not my daily driver, but its a 2005 with 15,000 miles that I've only driven for 4 months. It will be seeing a good deal of road time and I put on alot of miles per year (generally 45-50k with my DD). I am big into Auto-x, so that needs to be kept in mind with the turbo selection.

Power: I'm looking to be in the range of 500 awhp, and trying to decide if its too much to squeak out of a 30 series on a meth diet, or if that is a decent goal with the 2.3 stroker, built head and a pile of bolt ons? I'm concerned about running a GT35 and not pushing it to its full potential since I wont be on race fuel too often, and if I can get similar performance out of the 30xx on meth and save some spool time in the process? Also with the 35R, for those times I do decide to dump in race fuel, is the drivetrain going to be able to hold up to 600+ awhp, and what other requirements in the fuel system are necessary besides the little Walbro?

Clutch: What clutch would be my best bet for the 30xx turbo, and would that same clutch hold up to a 35R at a later date? Drivability is an issue, and I dont want to spend $2500 on a clutch that will hold 1000 whp if I don't need it. Ya get the point.

Fuel System: Injectors for the 30xx vs the 35R. I'm not sure of my best bet here, I'm leaning toward the 1000cc's and just be done with it. Are guys running 600+ awhp finding they need secondaries? How much HP can the Walbro 255 flow? Is my best bet a A1000 to possibly handle both turbo's if I were to start with a 30 series and maybe swap for a 35 later? Are upgraded fuel rails (..etc) necessary for the 35R, but not the 30xx?

Drivetrain: Who has broken drivetrain components with the 2.3/GT35 combo? Can I avoid those issues by sticking with the 30xx and keeping output around or just below 500 awhp? The car will not be at the drag strip often, and I have no problem with rolling off the line. Again this will primarily be an Auto-x car with a few visits to the track. Alot of general cruising road time will be seen as well.

The Turbo: If I decide to go with the 30 series, which is where I am leaning now, what's the best performing of the bunch with the 2.3L? I've read the 3037 puts out higher power than the 3076? Would a 1.06 A/R hurt here even with a built 2.3L and it being a turbo smaller than the 35R? Anyone run a higher A/R than .82 on a 30 series turbo? .82 runners please chime in as well.

Software/Tune: the software is undecided, dont want to run standalone and lose the ability to pass emissions. I have a good local tuner that raves about ECUTek, I understand that system can handle the power I'm looking to output, but I still need to do more research. I also have the ability (with my location) to have Al or TurboTrix give me a custom tune.

All of the wrench turning is being completed in my garage, by me.

Sorry for the rant, I'm sure alot of the questions can be found in old threads, and I've found a bunch there already, but I've been digging for a few weeks and decided to spill everything into one thread.

Let the discussion begin!

 

Your not going to get 500whp with alcohol on a GT30, however the GT30 would definitely be better suited for the autocrossing. Me, Id go with the GT35R for the raw power and since you have the stroker!

 

I agree even though i made 400HP and 512 tq on a stock turbo GT35R is the best bang for the buck !

 

you can make 470-500whp with a 3076r. It all depend on the tune and boost you run. I would look into getting a gt3076-13 you will see 500whp with no problems. Its a good street turbo. Then if you want all out power you can go with a gt35r.

 

If you're into autoX I wouldn't get bigger than a 30R with .63 a/r hotside.

 

But, I'm going to have 8500 RPM to play with. Won't the .63 run out of steam well before then? Our Auto-x group generally runs 50-90 second courses where 2nd gear can be fully stretched out. I also don't want to eliminate all potential track usage. This car WILL be on the track. Roughly 2-3 track days per year, with 14-15 Auto-x's in between.

 

For what you are looking for here is my opinion:

The GT35R will be the easier of the two to grasp 500whp.


Clutch: Spend the money on a Tilton and you wont look back. Even the cerametallic is reasonable and works very, very well due to its design.

Fuel system. Always bigger is better, a 255 walboro can handle it, injectors 800cc plus for room to spare.

Drivetrain: Be careful...if you can afford it, an LSD and a built tranny from Shep or TRE will be bulletproof

The 3076 and 3037 for the most part are the same. The gt35 is better fit.

EcuTek is a proprietary tuning software....only licensed EcuTek tuners are allowed the software and it reflashes the stock ECU...one shot at a time. It'll handle it, but...

I would say go with an AEM EMS with wideband..versatile...tuneable to the Nth degree.....


Good luck

 

You want to autox with 500whp??? If you are trying to go faster in just autox, then I would be looking at suspension mods, not power mods. You are going to be all over the place, unless you get some phat *** slicks!

But as far as power goes, I say that with the mods you are doing, the gt30r would be able to get you over 500whp on methonal, so would a smaller 50 trim. The gt35r would get you over 650whp, thats way too much for autox.

clutch: exedy twin disc HD (DONT GO ACT SINGLE DISC!! it ****ed up my tranny bad)

tranny: Im not sure on this subject, mine had ALOT of problems lately, so I just ended up sending it off to shep to get built. I say that you would probably have to get one when you start dipping into the 600whp range.

engine management: The ECUtek is a good unit, I like the AEM EMS more, just because of the tunablity of it. If you have the extra money, get the AEM

Fuel: 1000cc injectors and a walboro 255 would be ok, but you might want to just upgrade the whole thing soon after that.

Ignition: Definately upgrade that, stock ignition starts to break up at 30psi on my gt35r.

I hope that helps, its my .02

 

Nope, not looking to get faster in Auto-x with this setup. I ran the last event of the season completely stock, took 1st in A-stock, and was .8 of a second off FTD in a 89 car field. I was beginning to dip into suspension/tires when the engine blew, so now my priorities have changed to getting the engine/turbo set so that I don't have to touch anything to do with power for a while and can get back on the track asap. I don't want to go with a quick spooling small turbo for auto-x only, as I will also be using this car at the track and around town. I want to find the best setup that will not necessarily make me faster around the Auto-x course, but one that won't make me slower and will show large benefits in other areas.

Thanks for the opinions guys, keep em' comin!

 

3076 I would say, the spool is just killer on a 2.3, I make 22 psi by 3700 rpms on the street in 2nd, cant complain with that, I make 2-3psi before 2k hehe.

Scorke

 

wow, you're dropping some major coin on this!

I think any intentions of autoxing (competitively) defer you to a 30xx turbo.

 

Yea tell me about it. Thats why I picked up a 2nd job, to support my Evo habbit ..You can catch me as a Software Engineer by day, Valet attendant by night

The motor blew in March, so now is the time to do it.

I believe you are correct with the 30 series turbo, I'm leaning that way now. Can always go bigger later. But the question is, which 30 series to go with? 3076 with .82 A/R??? hmmm..

 

You're right, the .63 a/r won't make as much power up top as a .82, but the 63 will spool faster and in autoX you probably want a faster spool than a bit more power on top.

I can tell you that my 30R with a .48 a/r hotside lags like hell compared to the stock turbo. I've been through many corners that could have been taken in 2nd gear with the stock turbo and kept in boost, but still staying in boost on my 30R in the same corner requires a downshift to 1st and then back into to 2nd once the revs get back up there.

I'm on the fence now between sticking with the .48 or putting in the .63 I bought. I mostly use my car for canyon carving and hopefully future autoX'es (but definitely NO drag racing.) I think some dyno numbers will help me make my ultimate decision on which hotside to stick with so I can see where it hits full boost at. But based on my experience with the 30R and the type of driving I do, I think you'll be unhappy with the larger hotside or a bigger turbo. A 30R/.63 on a 2.3L is still going to be a monster of a car.

Just my 2cents.

 

very informative thread stew! let us know how everything works out and also how much are your estimate spendings on this going to be?

 

I'll be keeping everyone posted.. Already started the pic/update threads here:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=200094

I'm trying to get everything done right, while keeping total spending under $12k, but that might get bumped up to 14k or so