“Rodney, which turbo should I try?”
I get that question frequently, and it’s a tough one to answer. There are a lot of variables on the om60x series, but the most important ones are the intended use and budget.
Here are some considerations that could steer your turbo selection criteria:
Fuel Upgrade: If you don’t increase the fuel input, don’t waste your time with a turbo upgrade. Knowing how much fuel you put in will also help drive the decision on which turbo to go with. Fuel and air go hand in hand.
Intercooler Upgrade: Much of the intercooler decision is dictated by budget and space available. Water-to-air will usually cost more and you’ll have to deal with a lot of plumbing, but they can be more compact. This Mishimoto intercooler article is a good one.
The Flap Valve Craze: I thought about using one of these but was talked out of it. The rationale was to divert all exhaust gas to one side of a twin-scroll turbo to make it spool faster. If you run a quality twin scroll header that matches your turbo then this is not needed. Matched product selection is the key to obtaining great performance.
What brand?: Turbos are expensive! Rather, great turbos are expensive. Holset turbos are what most people I have talked to are running. They’re very popular because people read about them in forums and, frankly, they’re a good value. I run one because I didn’t know what I was doing when I started this journey and I read positive posts about them. Now that I have a little more knowledge (still lacking a lot, haha), I would probably invest in a good quality ball bearing turbo. You can find plenty of great blogs and articles on the net by people who have done dyno comparisons. I don’t have the means to do that (yet), so I’ve learned from my research.
What are some typical models? Again there are quite a few variables but here’s a list of what I hear good things about. I have not run these myself, so it is hearsay. I can’t stress enough how important fueling is.
- Om617: HX30, Garrett GTX28 A/R .63, Borg Warner S200
- Om60x: HX35, HX40, HX40 Super, HE351W Billet #12, GTX3076R A/R .86 divided housing, S300
Here are some links to check out:
- How to read a compressor map
- Garrett Boost Advisor
- Borg Warner Match-Bot
- Perrin BW ERF vs Garrett GTX (blog 2)
I don’t expect my readers to walk away with a solid plan after reading this post. Like the manual transmission blog, it will be a journey.
I have ordered a bunch of om606 headers from F-Tune and would like to work toward putting together power packages with dyno results. That will be a fairly involved effort and will take time to put together. I am also working on getting hooked up with Garrett and Borg Warner. BW EFR series is available to me through my distributor, but I want to work on building relationships directly with the manufacturers to get better pricing for this community.
Stay tuned, and let me know your thoughts…