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T88 Turbo

lamus04

lamus04

New member
I'm building up yet another stage 4 setup, this time a turbo. Going all out and making it a track only car, forged internals, gutted interior, GMR, slicks, etc. I'm pretty familiar with a blower setup and know the limitations of them, new to turbo's. After a bit of research I'm thinking of going with a GREDDY T88 34D-18CM.2 External Type. Aiming for low 9's with this setup. Can anyone provide some feedback or ideas from experience?
 


T88 is massive.....Most larger turbo builds end up going T72 or T76, not many have ventured beyond that point. Many T67's have been into the 10's and even smaller turbos for that matter. Kalo's Impala was running a T76 into the 9's if I remember correctly.

Do you already have your GMR transmssion parts?
 
I was looking to push the limits with this motor as far as horsepower goes, that's why I'd like to go with a T88. Yeah I've seen the impala, quit impressive. I have a local guy with the GMR chain and a torsen diff, just have to get it at the right price lol.
 
If you plan on pushing the limits of the motor your going to have to go faster then this beast: http://sites.commercecreators.com/folder456/index.cfm?id=65269&fuseaction=browse&pageid=53
You are going to need aluminum heads (good luck) and a lot of money. Also, that car has a stock bottom end, so going forged and whatever internals kinda pointless until you actually break something. If you tune it well and keep the knock down your not going to break stuff in the motor. The trans is a different story. GMR 1in chain, Aramet shafts or just 6sp swap it and save your self a hell of a lot of time. Dave @ Tepp was working on a 4t80 swap maybe you could look into that.
 
There's zero chance a 6spd swap would ever hold up to low 9s.
Good luck... you've got quite the mountain to climb.
 


I still think the T88 is massive.....sure you may push the limits with the hp but you're going to hit peak power and boost at 7000rpm and anything below that will be a dog. It will make power don't get me wrong, but usable power is what's going to put the car into the 9's. Both Intense and ZZP drag cars weren't running a turbo that size. Max boost that people run in the 3800 is sub 30psi......so why pick a turbo that is just starting to get into it's efficency island of the compressor map. Pick a turbo that is going to be in the island majority of the time.
 
Yeah ^^, and the spool would be so slow on that large of a turbo, let alone you would just be touching the edge of the efficiency on the compressor map.
 
Things work differently where DH is from.
In the real world you want to size the turbo appropriately for your application.
An 88 could work if you had an all out build and were turning 7000rpm.
With a billet wheel and ball bearings, maybe a transbrake and some anti-lag tricks... could launch off the line under boost I'm sure.
 


A t88 will NEVER make boost at the line. Youll never get a converter loose enough to hold power in 3rd.

Antilag is impossible on a 3800 pcm so you would need to switch to at least a stand alone spark system.

Billet wheels do not increase spool time. Ball bearing turbos also do not "help" at low rpm, and compared to modern journal bearing turbos they have less efficiency at peak speed.
 
kalo was running 10.0 on a standard stattama t67, im trying a 7275 precision and i know of another running a 7675, your going to want to have 5-6k set aside for a trans to handle the power and keep a couple grand for a yearly refresh, if you want to go into the bottom 9's with a 3800 i would look towards a rwd platform that can be 3800 swapped easy
 
what if the whole point of this is to drive around sounding like a jet and that's about it?

because it would sure do that.
 
yeah but then youd never get that thing to whistle on the street.

putting a huge turbo on a low/mid rpm grunt monster would be a terrible way to drive a jet on the street.

trying to spin these things past 6500rpm is like using a honda indy motor in a mining truck. your not in the sweet spot.

hell i coulda went bigger than a 70 on my WaGN but i want usable power. and i have much better trans options...

an old chevette and a simple ebay turbo 3800 would run yer number
 
The input is very much appreciated. I'm doing a complete forged block again lol; JE pistons, zzp forged rods, intense stage 4 heads and cam, etc. The reason I was curious about a turbo this size was that a friend of mine had his LSX Camaro ass-packed and is selling everything off. I'd get the turbo for under $800 with only 4k on it. His car made 970 hp on pump gas with that turbo. I had the six speed setup from Kuntzie on my stage 4 Gen V setup, not a reliable trans for high hp applications. What to do, what to do?
 


I guess I'm just used to seeing big single 3.0 supras that turn less than 7000rpm running 88s all day.
Not to mention the countless GN guys that run 88s.
And DH says billet wheels and ball bearings don't help spool.

Sure.
 
Why are you doing all forged internals? Why not keep it stock like everyone else on the planet. We all know the motor will take it. This isn't some Honda that snaps rods at 250hp. Save the money and buy a trans set up, or a smaller turbo, t76? t67?
 
I'm going forged simply as a precaution. Both of my other two builds were forged and never had issues. I'm going to shoot for high hp numbers so I don't want to use a stock motor with god knows how many miles on it. The only issue I ever had was a girlfriend that had me part out my cars for rent money, proud to be single again!
 
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