Having Trouble with Deciding on Which Turbo Kit to Get
In my humble opinion, it's a brand thing. When you get to the top 3 or 4 companies, with the fastest cars week in and week out it comes down to name recognition and what that company's name represents to the consumer. For example, my ideas of the 4 in the heat of battle here are this...
AMS = " Performance with bling " Lots of pretty logos on everything.
BR = " Blue Collar performance " More go than show.
ETS = I like their FMIC's, but I'm still unsure of the rest of their stuff.
Shearer = Great quality, just not as widley known around the country, like AMS or BR but still great stuff.
I think it just comes down to the image people want their cars to represent.
AMS = " Performance with bling " Lots of pretty logos on everything.
BR = " Blue Collar performance " More go than show.
ETS = I like their FMIC's, but I'm still unsure of the rest of their stuff.
Shearer = Great quality, just not as widley known around the country, like AMS or BR but still great stuff.
I think it just comes down to the image people want their cars to represent.
Last edited by ImprezvSE; Aug 29, 2007 at 07:52 AM.
keep up the good work all 3 of you guy's!!!In my humble opinion, it's a brand thing. When you get to the top 3 or 4 companies, with the fastest cars week in and week out it comes down to name recognition and what that company's name represents to the consumer. For example, my ideas of the 4 in the heat of battle here are this...
AMS = " Performance with bling " Lots of pretty logos on everything.
BR = " Blue Collar performance " More go than show.
ETS = I like their FMIC's, but I'm still unsure of the rest of their stuff.
Shearer = Great quality, just not as widley known around the country, like AMS or BR but still great stuff.
I think it just comes down to the image people want their cars to represent.
AMS = " Performance with bling " Lots of pretty logos on everything.
BR = " Blue Collar performance " More go than show.
ETS = I like their FMIC's, but I'm still unsure of the rest of their stuff.
Shearer = Great quality, just not as widley known around the country, like AMS or BR but still great stuff.
I think it just comes down to the image people want their cars to represent.
Not to stir the pot anymore, but there are alot of other kits out there. You can't argue with Buschur's long standing reputation for exellence. But if you really like the tubular manifold style, but don't want to spend that much, AZ-FI(Arizona Forced Induction) makes a kit about $3200 with everything. I run this kit and really like it. You will see a faster spool with the Buschur cast manifold however. Plus, it looks stock; gotta love that.
the fact of the matter is, U CANT GO WRONG WITH ANY 4 OF THE KITS!!!!!! AMS, Buschur, ETS, or Shearer, they are all top notch.
just dont get a RNR or SBR and u will be ok.
btw David, where were u with that price last feb?? damn u.
just dont get a RNR or SBR and u will be ok.
btw David, where were u with that price last feb?? damn u.
Wow, quite a claim from AMS...............good thing we get along well or I'd be all over it
Our kits are complete, you don't need to go to a hardware store to get anything and they also come assembled to go onto the car...........must be speaking of someone else's kits....
As for the wastegates. We do NOT use the 38 mm gate. I never had much luck with the smaller gates and chose to use the top of the line 44 mm gate. We also INCLUDE THE LEADED RACE GAS SEAT IN EVERYONE OF OUR wastegates too. Not including that would be rather stupid since anyone running a turbo kit of these sizes would obviously want to run race gas sooner or later.
Our manifolds are warranteed for life, hell they are cast, not much chance of one ever breaking. The headers are also warranteed.
As for the recirculated wastegates...........we don't do it/won't do it.
AMS makes a fine turbo kit, I've tuned many and they have made great power.
The difference between their's and ours in power..............I'd say using the same turbo, it would depend on other factors who's would come out on top. If the exhaust was at all restrictive ours would simply from free'ing up the exhaust flow from not recirculating the wastegate. Other than that, no difference in power in my opinion.
Iv'e only tuned 3 ETS turbo kits to date.
Our kits are complete, you don't need to go to a hardware store to get anything and they also come assembled to go onto the car...........must be speaking of someone else's kits....
As for the wastegates. We do NOT use the 38 mm gate. I never had much luck with the smaller gates and chose to use the top of the line 44 mm gate. We also INCLUDE THE LEADED RACE GAS SEAT IN EVERYONE OF OUR wastegates too. Not including that would be rather stupid since anyone running a turbo kit of these sizes would obviously want to run race gas sooner or later.
Our manifolds are warranteed for life, hell they are cast, not much chance of one ever breaking. The headers are also warranteed.
As for the recirculated wastegates...........we don't do it/won't do it.
AMS makes a fine turbo kit, I've tuned many and they have made great power.
The difference between their's and ours in power..............I'd say using the same turbo, it would depend on other factors who's would come out on top. If the exhaust was at all restrictive ours would simply from free'ing up the exhaust flow from not recirculating the wastegate. Other than that, no difference in power in my opinion.
Iv'e only tuned 3 ETS turbo kits to date.
I completely agree Dave and I was not knocking your kit just stating the positive points on our kit.
No harm intended.
Eric
OK what exactly are the advantages of going with a Tublar Manifold as opposed to the Cast Manifold??? If the Cast Manifold spools faster ... then why would I want to spend an extra $800 on the Tubes?? Is it just for looks??
persionally i like a kit that would use a t3 off the shelf turbo. so you are free to swap out what ever turbo you want. or if the turbo blows you can just but another standard garrett turbo of your chosing.
i dont like buschur because they use a mitsu flanged turbo and manifold. that really sucks. who the hell used the stupid old school mitsu flanges. i also dont like buschur because the wg is not on the manifold but the tial 44mm is on the turbo housing!!! this just makes it impossible to really swap out turbos because buschur used a custom turbo housing by fp. i also dont like buscur because the 44mm wg is too close to the radiator and you must run the stock radiator. you cant run a thicker aluminum radiator. just a bad design i think
i also dont like ams because the tial 44mm is not on the manifold but its on the 02 housing. so again its not standard. again you cant use off the shelf turbos because they use a 5 bolt turbo internal gate style turbo housing. not cool
so your left with full-race (off course they are the best) ets, turbo trix.
i like all of them because they use standard off the shelp garrett turbos. so your free to choose any t3/t4 turbo you want which can be bough off the shelf any where.
of course full race now has a twill scrool t3 or t4 setup which you really sweet. its just cost a **** load.
btw i have a buschur kit
i dont like buschur because they use a mitsu flanged turbo and manifold. that really sucks. who the hell used the stupid old school mitsu flanges. i also dont like buschur because the wg is not on the manifold but the tial 44mm is on the turbo housing!!! this just makes it impossible to really swap out turbos because buschur used a custom turbo housing by fp. i also dont like buscur because the 44mm wg is too close to the radiator and you must run the stock radiator. you cant run a thicker aluminum radiator. just a bad design i think
i also dont like ams because the tial 44mm is not on the manifold but its on the 02 housing. so again its not standard. again you cant use off the shelf turbos because they use a 5 bolt turbo internal gate style turbo housing. not cool
so your left with full-race (off course they are the best) ets, turbo trix.
i like all of them because they use standard off the shelp garrett turbos. so your free to choose any t3/t4 turbo you want which can be bough off the shelf any where.
of course full race now has a twill scrool t3 or t4 setup which you really sweet. its just cost a **** load.
btw i have a buschur kit
Last edited by riceball777; Sep 8, 2007 at 04:11 AM.
Couple things. Our turbo kit DOES use a standard off the shelf Garrett turbo the turbine housing is the only part changed. We used the FP for spool up, ease of making the cast manifold and because it does have the port right on the turbine housing. The wastegate port on the turbine housing is one of the best places to locate it. The exception is if you have a well enough built collector with enough length to place it on the header.
AMS doesn't use a 44mm wastegate, they use a 38 mm, just to clear that up too.
I think making an issue out of needing a "custom turbine housing from FP" is silly as all you have to do is call and order it. The turbine housing is a part that shouldn't fail so there is no reason to "swap it out". You could only possibly need two anyway, a GT30 housing and a GT35r housing..........
The cast manifold does spool the turbo the fastest, part of that is also credited to the FP turbine housing.
The reason you would upgrade to the header for $800 more--->>>if you want more top end power then the header/turbine housing can provide that, the look with the header is also a reason many guys go with it.
Remember, our standard GT35R kit on my car did run 9.97 at 142.23 mph, so that cast manifold/FP turbine can certainly make the power.
AMS doesn't use a 44mm wastegate, they use a 38 mm, just to clear that up too.
I think making an issue out of needing a "custom turbine housing from FP" is silly as all you have to do is call and order it. The turbine housing is a part that shouldn't fail so there is no reason to "swap it out". You could only possibly need two anyway, a GT30 housing and a GT35r housing..........
The cast manifold does spool the turbo the fastest, part of that is also credited to the FP turbine housing.
The reason you would upgrade to the header for $800 more--->>>if you want more top end power then the header/turbine housing can provide that, the look with the header is also a reason many guys go with it.
Remember, our standard GT35R kit on my car did run 9.97 at 142.23 mph, so that cast manifold/FP turbine can certainly make the power.
I think any one fo these 3 kits would be a good choice if that's what you want. For bang for buck, BR is probably the way to go, personally I like the ETS kit's looks and completeness. If ever I get free from the headaches of home ownership, the wife hydrolocking our STI, and the things that come up every week or so I'll be looking into a smaller kit for my car.
To the person who posted about the 4200rpm spool, it doesnt sound like you want a 35r at all. First of all you mention that a 4200 full spool rpm is WAY too high. A 35r fully spools around 5K rpm. Not only that... you need to look at the 35r's performance on pump gas and I think you'll end up looking at smaller turbo kits. I personally have decided that I want either a 30r or a 50trim since my car is a daily driver and not just something to drag race or do freeway pulls with. The 35r is a race gas turbo and needs to run at higher boost levels to achieve power output. You can do this with meth too..
To the person who posted about the 4200rpm spool, it doesnt sound like you want a 35r at all. First of all you mention that a 4200 full spool rpm is WAY too high. A 35r fully spools around 5K rpm. Not only that... you need to look at the 35r's performance on pump gas and I think you'll end up looking at smaller turbo kits. I personally have decided that I want either a 30r or a 50trim since my car is a daily driver and not just something to drag race or do freeway pulls with. The 35r is a race gas turbo and needs to run at higher boost levels to achieve power output. You can do this with meth too..
Last edited by Mr. Evo IX; Sep 9, 2007 at 08:09 AM.