My official China TD04 16T eBay turbos

langsbr

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How much experience do you have with no name chinese turbos outside of the N54 platform? Yes, there is increased level of effort with these, but I'm not sure I see the failure rates in that environment that is presented here. Perhaps it's a PR thing - we run high PRs on small CHRAs and most of the domestics run low PRs on bigger CHRAs, thus keeping overall turbine speed down. That's the only thing I can think of.
 

fmorelli

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How much experience do you have with no name chinese turbos? Yeah. Stupid question.

Do you remember the turbo thread about a year ago, where people were posting how many miles. So tell me ... what was the takeaway from that thread?

We seem to have a hard time getting reliability idea on well-known turbos. Seems like plenty of people have had headaches. But that's the Internet, I suppose.

In this platform I've been dealing with the most basic shit that doesn't work. No interest in saving a buck and investing a ton of hassle to install no-name turbos. Sorry it's not sage advise. As I said, I can see people taking a flyer. But again (read the link) ... $2k turbo from these guys ... just go by RBs or VTTs @ $2k.

Filippo
 

Aaron

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But the RB's are substantially behind in both spool and power from VTT's, and VTT's have a questionable reliability and poor reputation for backing their customers.

I'm all for paying for quality, that's why I bought this car and not a Camaro. But with the current turbo options, we can't.
 
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langsbr

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How much experience do you have with no name chinese turbos? Yeah. Stupid question.

I guess it's a stupid question to you if you don't have experience with no name parts. There is some weird mental thing with the import and euro crowd where a lot of guys are just total brand name loyalists. Most have no experience with any of it whatsoever, but they know a brand name, so that's all they want. These same people are the ones most likely to forego proper tuning of the combo. Hard parts don't mean jack if it isn't tuned properly.

The reason most off brand or no name parts have a bad rep is because the people that usually buy them are those that can't afford anything anyways, so they half ass it all, and shit doesn't work right. They are also the ones most likely to DIY things when they have no comprehension of it, and things don't work right.

Am I saying that a chinese GT45 is going to spool as fast as a Xona or Garret Gen2? No. But will it break into a million pieces in 5,000 miles? No. Plus, it will still flow what a $1,200 Garret does, and it costs $250. Guys do it all the time. Hell some of the off brands have become a brand in themselves - VS, MasterPower, On3, etc. Their price typically goes up as their reputation increases as well.
 

Aaron

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It's funny you mention that Milan.

I've often wondered about the aftermarket offerings of things as simple as gaskets, such as the VCG, OFHG, etc that are cheaper.

However, despite having the opportunity to test them with my engine being apart, and FCP Euro having the warranty, I still went with OEM.
 

Torgus

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It's the bitch of the install that worries me. My buddy needs new turbos I really dont want to help him replace them in a year if they fail. Also, then there is the issue of spending the money twice and labor twice(our sweat and tears). I think this is why people go with tried and true solutions.

There is no reason turbos should cost 4k+ like fully optioned out mmps for instance imo.
 
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fmorelli

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I'm all for paying for quality, that's why I bought this car and not a Camaro.
I hope you are not disappointed in that outcome. For the HP we want, I think a V8 camaro is going to see much more reliability. In fact, that may be true comparing a stock V8 camaro to a stock N54. But I digress!

Filippo
 

Milan

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I hope you are not disappointed in that outcome. For the HP we want, I think a V8 camaro is going to see much more reliability. In fact, that may be true comparing a stock V8 camaro to a stock N54. But I digress!

Filippo

Agreed. As 2015+ Mustangs drop in value that's a car that can make way more power, turn better, and hook better. Not quite a Camaro but same point
 

fmorelli

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God I dont want to own a mustang and have to kill innocent bistandards.
First and only Mustang I ever owned was a 1969 Boss 302 in Calypso Coral. If I end up in another Ford V8-engined car, it will be a Rousch 427IR in a Backdraft Cobra. If you're going to be a bear be a Grizzly.

Filippo
 
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socaln54

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with all these threads and constantly seeing these cars break down, I should have just leased a corvette and "actually" enjoy driving the car instead of having to constantly fix it
 

mariusc

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Wow, lots of posts, lots of shitposts.. :)

OK, so lots of you guys recommend other brands that cost "just a bit more". We're talking $ 900 vs $ 2500 or more (+ core charge and all extras). Oh, and then comes shipping and 25% sales tax. By the way, as I live in Norway, the US warranty is not worth more than the Asian warranty as getting a replacement will be just as much trouble both ways.

Of course I'd like a reliable car, but I'm not sure if the eBay turbos will be less reliable anyway. Maybe I'll try them, maybe not.
 

socaln54

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ideally, if we could get just these turbos and balance them and rebuild the CHRA's, I think we would have a decent turbo
 

Torgus

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I hope more people try and vet these less expensive options.

25% sales tax? Jesus. How can you buy anything? I can only imagine the income tax. Get you coming and going they do.