is that the official story to the insurance company?

 

Any idea what happened to the turbo? Do you have the new high pressure oil line set-up they offer?

 

No idea. Yes, I have always used the HP oil feed line from the filter housing. A few months ago when I went to the 84mm port over the stock 64mm I noticed a weird noise during spool up. It was very faint, and only happened right when spool up started (just over 2300rpm). I checked for shaft play and there was none, no in and out, and very minor vertical. Called FP just to check in and see what they thought, the operator had me measure the clearance of the induction turbine to wall, and it was well within spec. So he just chalked it up to me not usually hearing that much turbo noise and said you're fine.

Well, I was just going through the Liberty tunnels at half throttle 4th gear. I was MAYBE pushing 15-18 psi at that point and it just sounded like an M-80 went off under the hood. Immediately I thought it was a rod or something terrible (I expect the worst from this car) but it drove just fine, only no boost at all. I was relieved and limped it up the hill to my friends house in Brookline. I left it and didn't let it ruin my night, and guessed it was most likely an intercooler pipe. The next day I came back and checked everything. No intercooler pipe was loose or anything, but when I went to check for turbine movement it was really obvious. 4 of the 7 blades were bent or cracked, you couldn't move the turbine blades at all, and the nut holding the shaft and blade together was missing. I guess it likely got ingested somewhere in the turbine and then seized the whole thing up.

Who knows. All I know is that I am happy I am within the 1 year warranty, and look forward to getting her back on the road.

I can't help but think about switching turbo's though, since it would be the ideal time, but I love the spool up characteristics of this turbo. Its so fun to have 35psi before 4500rpm and when just cruising, boost as soon as you put your foot on the pedal.

Any other turbo suggestions that I should look at?

 

Probably would be your best time to swap to a red or black for a few hundred out of pocket.

 

with your build why not a red or black?

 

I really like the spool of the Green. Switching to the red wouldn't make much difference. You would lose a couple hundred RPMs in spool only to flow a couple lbs more air. To me thats just not worth it.

I still think the black would be too laggy for my taste. If I could find a turbo that spools really early still, but would have a little better top end, I would be okay with that. Too bad that is like the holy grail of the turbine world and doesn't exist. F.

 

Depends on what you want it primarily for. If you want it for drag racing, get the black especially if your running E85. If you want it for Street/AutoX the green probably is your best bet.

 

Mine is just for daily use. Maybe someday, when I can keep the car on the road for longer than a month at a time, I will finally get out to the track. It seems like it always dies right before a meet, or large event at the track. I have yet to meet most of you because of these damn gremlins and it is starting to **** me off.

 

I don't see to notice much lag in mine to be honest even though it's certainly there. With a 2.1 it should spool up faster.

 

I guess I'll think about it. Let me see what they are going to have to do, either salvage some of it and repair or just a total replacement. Not sure yet. I would like to see it up close and personal here when Mike gets it out. See how bad the damage really is...

Wonder what ever happened to that nut that held the turbine blade on....

 

I just swapped from a Red to a Green yesterday and couldn't be happier, much meatier power band, uses about the same amount of fuel at 27psi, car actually feels faster.

 

Jeepers I sure hope not. But, I gotta ask.

Eric,

How do you break your front bumper to the point of needing a new one while going backwards?

 

Yeah, it just feels like such a great turbo, that I hate to try something else and actually downgrade. It is just so fun to have that punch in the gut feeling when your going WOT and boosting that low in the RPM band.

Glad to hear you like the choice. Did you get any track or dyno numbers for your setup yet, or are you relying on the ever-complex butt dyno.

 

Ill give it a go on Buschurs dyno again soon, it did 466whp at 27psi on E85 in May.
If it's close to that but with more bottom end Ill be happy, I don't want a drag car, just a quick DD.

 

That is very good power especially for 27psi, was it on the stock motor or is it built? I have wanted to get the car up to Buschur for a while since the build has been done. Just to see how it pulls on his dyno and Dave told me he wanted to see it when it was all put together and see how that combination worked out.

Just haven't had the time, both with my work schedule and with the car constantly crapping out....