Hey guys, figured I'd document my build here. 08' Evo X GSR with factory long block. Car has been babied by one of my good friends who bought it brand new.

Long story short, the stock turbo is toast. Instead of finding a stocker, I came across a killer deal through RallySport Direct on their last Cavalli Stage 1 BB turbo for far less than I would've paid for an MHI 18k. It's described as "540HP Rating
53mm inducer/ 56mm exducer" but I know some have seen some mixed results with it, claims to flow somewhere around 56 lbs/min. I thought I'd document my findings in this thread about what kind of power it makes and how reliable it is. Chet Rickerman is doing the tuning and we will be using E85. Here's to hoping there will be enough fuel to hit 450whp!



Supporting mods are as follows:

ETS o2 dump, 3" exhaust & catless testpipe
Grimmspeed 3port
ETS 4" FMIC & piping
3" Intake
ID1000 & DW65C

Here's the car in all it's 08' glory:

 

Those turbos are junk. they make sh*tty power and have terrible spool. you would've been better off buying a turbo that is designed by FP and manufactured by MHI (the MHI 18k).

 

Not to mention Cavalli doesn't use OEM turbine housings. Their turbine housings are the chinese counterparts. they will eventually suffer from a warped wastegate flapper. it is not a matter of if it will happen, but when it will happen.

 

I appreciate your enthusiasm to quickly shoot down my thread. From what I can tell, there aren't any documented cars on the forums aside from Rev Work's car, so we will see how it does. Like I mentioned, paid far less for this turbo than an MHI 18k.

 

Not shooting it down, I've been in the Evo game long enough to know what is good and what is not, what works and what doesn't. I take it you're an adult and can make your own decisions. And you may have paid far less than an 18k, but you're results will also be far less as well. Do a search if RSD's shop Evo X that they put a cavalli on. It was atrocious. Their stage 2 turbo on E85 made less power then my old stock Turbo E85 setup did and they made about 80wtq less than my setup. Like I said you can do what ever you want but I can assure you you will be disappointed.

 

Not discounting your knowledge at all! I will happily eat my words if I don't make 450 on a regular dynojet. I'm not trying to set records, just have a decent car that'll trap 115+ down the track.

I'm very familiar with their shop car and the numbers it made. I spoke with them on the phone about it before placing the order. It made 409/345. Their dyno is a heartbreaker, high elevation in the colorado mountains, not to mention the car only made 293/289 on the stock turbo full bolt on. Take that as you'd like it.

 

I'm glad the OP is willing to take a chance to offer up some more data on a rather unused turbo. If I would have trusted the internet I would have never gone with the Tomei 8280, but am more than happy with the results.


Forums have a way of picking out the "favorite" brands and hating on anything else. Let us know how it works out.


-ash

 

There's no real favorite brands. There are parts/brands that work, and parts/brands that don't work. My philosophy is do it right the first time. IMO the 18k is the best turbo for a X street car. Stock spool, tons of power, broad powerband, oem fitment, designed by the best, manufactured by an oem. Oh and a plethora of results to back it up

 

I don't know **** about that turbo, I just wanted to comment and mention that the car looks good.

 

Thanks for the encouragement man! There's no way that this will make less power than a factory turbo, that's ridiculous. Some people are just born to argue.

Appreciate it man! Car is extremely clean for an 08'.

 

It's not going to be as efficient and last as long as some of the top tier stuff - but chances are that it'll work well for your purpose and probably hold up for a while as long as you keep the oil clean.


Are you running stock cams?
-asher

 

I'm with e_kobz

Junk turbo. Had some locals try them, I tuned them all of them. All spooled horribly for the power output, really bad wheel matching, and one had the compressor wheel fail on two units until he had enough and switched to a GTX3076R. Another had the exhaust housing crack because they are cheap metal.

There is a reason you don't hear much about them and they cost what they do.

Perhaps you will have better luck but I wouldn't expect much.

 

That compressor nut is silly enough to make me not buy it.

 

I've been changing every 5k with Amsoil Signature, but I'll probably knock that back to 3k since I'll be on E85. Yes factory cams!

 

I know what to expect as far as performance goes. As for reliability, every turbo manufacturer has failures (precision, Garrett, turbonetics, comp, etc).

Here's a compressor chart for anyone interested. Looks like it's capable of moving some air for how small it is.