Let's say I wanted to do a custom turbo setup, aside from the actual turbos and manifold and piping, what else would I need to make it work properly?

 

wastegates, blow off valves (if boosting over ~8 psi, but some people think the sound worth the cost regardless), engine management, fuel upgrades (if boosting 8+ psi), bigger injectors, intercooler, upgraded cooling (possibly), etc, etc

 

aside from the rest of that stuff, you will need lots of $$$ PM Skidazzle or one of the other guys with custom turbos.

 

Hm anyone know if it would be possible to incorporate the 300zx turbos (T25 garrett units I believe) into the 350Z? A a whole new custom manifold would be required right?

 

Why bother with a custom turbo setup that will cost tons of $$$$$ if you are going to use old tech turbos.

Why not use Garret GT series BB Turbos?

 

GT28's work well...

 

alright gt28 turbos. where would I get a custom exhaust manifold for these and where would I get custom piping done at? Hey skidazzle any estimates on cost aside from the turbos?

 

well i have a couple of sets of 300zx turbos and I wanted to put them to use. Oh well.

 

There are two going on three really good turbo kits out there. I thought about getting a custom kit make myself, at a place that makes there own Honda Kits, really good shop. But after you add everything up maybe you'll save $700-$1300, but my car would have been out of commission for like 2-3 weeks. Wouldn't be worth it. Also, I don't care who makes the kit, if you are the first one you will 100% of the time, have some kind of problems.

The Greddy kit can be had for about $5600 and all you have to buy is the BOV for like $150-$250. Install is like $1000-$1500.

 

sorry I didnt know your motivation for the custom turbo setup.

It look like you want to save money vs whats out on the market right now. Now i have no idea if its possible to do that however using the t-25 turbos you allready own would be a start depending on what kind of t-25 turbos you have they should support 400 whp or so on the vq35de. as they flow like 100-150 cfm les per turbo than the greddy td05-18g's do you might be able to get away with running a little more boost than the greddy guys do.

but then you have engine management, intercooler, custom manifolds, wastegates, custom plumbing, install labor...

It looks hard to beat the cost of the existing setups however ive never tried so i woundnt really know...

 

cost isn't the only factor to think about.

personally, I think the GReddy kit's FMIC is rediculous. That thing could support well over twice the power the kit actually makes. It poses huge potential cooling problems, and requires removal of the front bumper support. That alone is a huge reason to think about a custom setup. Even the guys looking for big power (500+ RWHP) don't need an FMIC quite that big.

 

Cant argue with that you're 100% right. Have you checked out the aps turbo system yet?

http://www.************************/350z/350z.htm

There is a huge thread about it in the F/I system.

The problem with the greddy kit is to save $$$ they adapted an exsiting intercooler model to the 350z rather than designing one for the specific application. Its funy look at the stillen IC the greddy is like double the size!

 

I think all of the current kits are a terrific and cost effective starting post. Each has its strength and weaknesses, and each could use some extra mods.

The FMIC on the Greddy kit can easily support 600-700whp...so can those turbos! This is a good thing......I want to have room to grow into forged internals and higher boost levels. 450whp is already achievable with fuel upgrades in stock internals...so we are knocking on the door here......

Here is what I would do...if I could do it again.

I like most of the components of the Greddy kit..but i would add on more thing.


Have the FMIC custom modded....dual lower tank on the passenger side. Then you custom fab some new piping to the intercooler...and waaalllllaaaa...you can keep your stock bumper support, and still have a true dual intake on the FMIC. Thickness and width are not the issue....the top endtank and piping blocks the mounting bracket for the bumper brace. I am guessing less than $300 in custom fab and your done....

 

I agree fully. From what I can tell, that FMIC should support a lot more than 600 whp. Similar sized Spearco models show support for CFM rates that would be the equivalent of ~1000 crank HP. The TD05-18Gs should be good for 800 crank HP easily, without pushing the efficiency envelope, so I think the FMIC is a little overkill. My thought is that I'd probably get the GReddy kit without FMIC and have Spearco fab me a custom FMIC with the lower dual tank on the passenger side.

I've also thought a lot about the design for the APS kit. I like the way they did their intercooler.. it reduces the piping required for the twin turbos because they both enter the FMIC tank on the side where the turbo is located. Less piping, and closer to equal-length. I don't know what turbos they're going to go with, though, and that's a huge factor. I'm looking for big power (with a built block), and PE doesn't deliver there. GReddy does. APS.. who knows. Depends on the turbo, but it's promising. (I know I probably offended some PE fans there, but it's true. The PE1420s peak around 500 RWHP on the VG30DETT with decent efficiency.)

Cooling is a huge factor for me, though, since I road race my car. I'm afraid that getting a huge FMIC in behind the bumper brace will force all of the incoming air through the FMIC and no fresh air will hit the radiator. I've been thinking about fabbing some aluminum scoops built into the under engine tray to catch fresh air from underneath the car and direct it up to the radiator. The normal FMIC position for the GReddy kit has no space between the FMIC and radiator at the bottom though, so I'd have to tilt the bottom forward somehow. Since I don't have one on my car, I can't really determine how feasible that really is since it also affects the piping... but I guess I don't have to worry about that until I actually put the cash together.

I'm thinking of doing a detailed model of the whole front end of the Z in 3D Studio or Pro/E so I can actually do a full proposed fitment without actually having the physical parts in hand.

Matt