Simon C

A couple of old photos, both out of date as the car has had it's spoiler fitted since.

I'll disagree with you there. If you want to compare response, then compare flow at given RPMs rather than boost. We should be talking CFM or m3/s, not PSI. PSI-PSI comparison only applies to very similarly sized turbos - hardly a useful tool when we're talking about "a significant upgrade".

Don't know why people compare the boost of one turbo to another. It's apples and oranges. 16psi on a TD04 can't be compared to 16psi on a GT3071R. And just because a turbo can hold boost to redline doesn't mean it's not just blowing hot air. Best comparison is compressor map overlays.

Get a set of Race Comp Engineering (RCE) Yellow springs used off NASIOC. They pop up all the time. The spring rate is developed to match the dampers in GDB STis, and they offer some drop, but not enough to push your rear suspension arms into positive camber on corners. RCE are one of the top local brand names in the US for aftermarket STi suspension. http://racecompengineering.com/osc/product_info.php?cPath=21_27_33_60&products_id=33

Factory suspension is over-damped, so yes it will be a firm ride, even harder if aftermarket springs are fitted (assuming they're rated to match the factory dampers). This is why I have plush German coilovers on mine.

Time to start servicing the wife rather than servicing the car?

Been there, track is fun but definately on the small side. They only let you drive the Mercedes there with another driver along side you, and always with the speed artificially limited and traction control on

AVO is the best, as it's one piece all the way to the MAF (less joins = less turbulence), and it's Kevlar reinforced so it won't collapse under high boost. But you'll pay through the nose for one, if you can even find one. Mine cost me $380 new, only one shop in all of Sydney had one (I was in Aussie at the time, I bet they're even harder to get in NZ).

What about Scoobydoo's Spec C?

Get a cheap but fun handling daily driver, like an old Peugeot 106GTi or something. Cheap to buy, really cheap to run, big fun, no-one will steal it. Spend the rest on a Lotus 7 replica for a track car if you feel the need for a track car.

Mine was $900USD + shipping, fresh rebuild from the GReddy factory.

Some magazine (I think it was Super Street) did a test on boost controllers a long long time ago. I forget which. But they installed them on an SR20DET and measured the boost profile, how quickly boost ramped up, how well it was held, and any spiking. The best performing was the Blitz dual solenoid unit, from memory.

No worries, very happy with my GReddy T518Z thanks.

Ooooo.... Blouch make some nice stuff. I was tempted by their Dominator 2.5 XTR, it seems like a nice piece of kit.

Considering that a turbo's internals rotate at up to 100,000RPM, it's easy to see how anything less than perfect build quality will lunch its bearings in a short space of time.

Power band is a bad name for your torque curve.

TD05-20G is a much bigger turbo than a VF22. I have compressor maps for both of them. Flow from a VF22 is more in line with a TD05-16G.

My old one (owned 2003 - 2004). Lots of sentimental value, first car I ever owned.

From Megameet.

Who's this guy with unlimited money you're talking about? I'd like to meet him. The only Simon C I know has a big mortgage to pay and needs to sneak all the car mods past his wife.

I got my AVO full length kevlar-silicon intake for $350, which goes all the way from the airbox to the turbo. Seems to be much better value than buying a new Zerosports intake pipe and a silicon turbo intake separately.

Easiest way to figure out what you want is to plot your engine against the compressor maps for the turbos you're looking at. That's how I decided on my turbo. I have a multi-layered Photoshop file in which I've scaled all the compressor maps the same, plotted my engine's airflow in 500RPM intervals, and chosen the smallest turbo that will blow air efficiently up to redline. Found that a VF22 would spool a little faster and give me great mid range, but would run out of puff by 7000RPM. PM me if you want a copy of the file, but you'll have to do some recalculating to make it relevant to your engine.

So we're talking about Singapore Domestic Market version, rather than that horrible "Singapore Spec" WRX which that clueless seller was trying to flog off as an STi a few years ago? http://www.clubsub.org.nz/forum/index.php/topic,7250.0.html

I had a VF34, and upgraded to a TD05-18G. Enough said.

I have a TD05-18G, and I have 1.6bar by 3500RPM. But I'm running equal length headers, EBC, exhaust and intake on a V7 STi AVCS engine, so I have a lot of support mods to make it spool fast.