Saturday, October 14, 2006 - 09:41 pm, by: Ben Daniel(Lexustt)
HKS T3G's will give you 300rwkw, Steel wheels with give you about 250rwkw at 18psi ??? they can boost to 20 but apparently the manifolds become a restriction so if you ported them out then you would be able to run 20.
Some guy on Ebay is selling china steel wheeled turbos for $1200 a pair which is a "steel" (haha, get it ?) but a HKS T3G kit will set you back around $4000 ???
Hope this has helped, altho it may not be entirely accurate.
Sunday, October 15, 2006 - 12:52 am, by: Tom Burgan(Burg)
Steel wheelin the stock CT12a's is a very good way to go and you could get hooked up for under 2K installed. They can be boosted safely to 18psi.
The T3G's are a better way to go but simply because they can produce more power but I dont think 300rwkw is realistic, more like around 280rwkw. Boost wont kick in until about 3500rpm compared to 3000rpm for stock steel wheels. I picked a complete T3G setup for $2500 from this forum, then it was another $650 to get installed and then another $350 for a tune. I'm just boosting mine up to 15psi but with an upgraded fuel delivery system I have known somebody to go up to 21psi.
Sunday, October 15, 2006 - 09:19 am, by: Marc Vipond(04awe)
Steel wheel your twins because compared to stock power they will more than satisfy your need for speed! If you can get T3G's for a good price though nab them, however these kits are becoming harder to find and therefore driving the price up.
Sunday, October 15, 2006 - 05:06 pm, by: Callum Finch(Sigeneat)
You wouldnt notice a difference with only upping it 1psi, Yang.
Probably a better way to make up your mind about what you are after is think about what you are actually after; do you want your car to produce lots of power? Or just enough more than a stock setup so that you can have more fun?
If you want more outright power then you might be better off looking at the project like a number of people have done on here with single turbo setups.
Another thing to remember, as a bonus with the steel wheels, is that they will last a lot longer than any other typical turbo. So you can stuff around with your foot flat all the time for longer without detrimental effects.
Monday, October 16, 2006 - 03:23 pm, by: Braden Murdoch(Ribfeast)
I have the steel wheel china ones in my cressy, slightly more lag than stock, which makes it a dog off the line, but they seem to have a lot more top end. They don't flow any better than the stock turbos. Maybe get them highflowed before putting them in?
I don't notice a huge power increase with 18psi vs 15psi, so I run with 15psi for daily driving, and 18psi for the strip. It will rapidly heat up your cooler piping though, so you would want to bring a bag of ice or something to cool them with if possible.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 - 10:39 pm, by: Yang Luo(Steven)
he told me 1200 for two steel wheels because we got twin turbo.and he have to take out and put it back.all together $3000 start. i won't do that with this price.$3000 you can get a hks T3G
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 08:31 pm, by: Sam Koek(Samkoek)
Yang, i had few friends have manual soarer too, and they use Steel wheel turbo (but not the one from ebay) and they told me they very happy about it, and they run 19psi as a daily drive, no problem. Stock turbo is good, but can only boost to 14.5psi. hope this help you.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 - 08:47 pm, by: Bill Bogiatzis(Boggie23)
Stocks (ceramic turbos) are awesome. Nothing will suit a stock Soarer better than what it came out of factory. If you are planning to run under 16 psi there is not better turbo in my opinion for a 1JZ Soarer. They spool up just off idle and hit full boost in no time at all.
I just had mine rebuilt and I am a little disappointed with the result. Stock when you give it 50 percent throttle off the line it chirps the wheels. With steel wheels it just takes off and you wait and you wait and then bam on they come. I get positive boost at 2500 rpm but not too sure when I hit full boost (haven’t really pushed the car that hard) but I would say about 3750 or so. And I am only running 10psi. Don’t really need anything else. I am not really a boy racer I just enjoy the comfort and styling of a soarer. If I wanted a car to thrash I would have gotten a VL or RB/Vtec engine.
I would have recommended if you can get them rebuilt to stock specs. Unless you are looking at 16+psi then it will not be viable even though rebuilt stockies could handle 18 psi as they won’t have shaft play so they won’t stuff up.
Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 10:46 am, by: Braden Murdoch(Ribfeast)
Just buy the $1200 steel wheel ones as a pair off eBay like I did, $3000 is a ridiculous waste of money for such a small performance increase. I've found a better launch technique so I'm going to try and beat that 2.4 sec 60 foot I got last time with the steel wheels. They seem to have nothing til around 10psi and then they hit hard. Very different to the ceramics which hit hard and peter out early.
Yes they may cost $1450 each, but 20% more Power at the same boost level??? Definately a must.
I think its funnny how many people slag out the ceramics as not being able to perform. I have minimal mods and have ran Numerous 12.9's at 108mph. Dont be scared to keep them and have fun. Lotsa people have used them for years.
If it wasn't for the fact that my ceramics have died (I personally have never boosted it past its stock boost) I would not have changed to steel wheels... I think people go for the reliability factor as well when they choose steel wheel turbos.
Thursday, October 19, 2006 - 08:25 pm, by: Daniel Clarke(Dieseltrain)
For sure. Once they DIE, you would be mad NOT to replace them with Steelies of some sort. BUT, dont throw the stockies away for the sake of it.
Was good last night to be running faster than a couple of Skylines with GT35/40's on them. Mega $$$$ spent under the hoods, and have tracton issues or cant get boost until almost Half track on another car. I know they CAN run 11's when set up or get a perfect pass( But thats just it, it probably wont be consistent), BUT when they are running 13.5's and such with all that money, I cant see the point.