Thread: Turbo recommendations/reviews

Hi Guys,

So I'm finally installing my turbo kit as the car has been sitting all winter and trying to decide which turbo to use. The kit I got came with the old cartuning Garrett T04-B in unknown condition/needing a rebuild. While I'm sure it would get the job done and would almost certainly be the cheapest, I'd like to at least weigh my other options before committing to the rebuild. I haven't been able to find out much at all about the Garrett turbo.

I started looking for comparisons between the ones that come with the turbo kits for simplicity, the Garrett T04-B, the Precision PT-61, or the 6262, but I'm happy to hear about others as well. I'm trying to find that mythical balance of a fast spool time, but one that doesn't run out of breath if I do decide to take it to the track. If I had to choose though, I'd lean more towards a faster spool, since I rarely go to the track. So what have people used/what has been everyone's experience?

Thanks!

Imo, the T04 is small. The 6262 is a great turbo, but it's not cheap.

For turbo sizing, we need to know how much power you want to make.

I was thinking 400hp, but I'm not exactly set on that. I'm not looking to break any records, just looking to make something fun to drive. I do plan to run a mild turbo cam like an ST1.

when I ran my z7 kit, it came with a turbonetics T-66 and it took a 1-3 seconds to spool full boost at 13psi or above. just food for thought

Assuming that you're talking about whp, the pt61 will work well for 400.

What is the expected hp of the T04-b? Sounds like it would only work for a mild turbo build, but boost would be near instant, similar to a blower. The T66 is a size up from the 6262, correct, so a 6262 would spool faster.

The t04 will max somewhere right around 400whp on our engines.

Imo, the 6262 is better in every way than a t66.

agree with the 6262. the T-66 was overkill for me on a stock motor, but the kick you get when it went above 13psi for full boost felt like vtec kicked in and losing traction anything below 40mph on street tires lmao. fwiw, I dynoed 392whp SAE on around 18-19psi with 19-20* timing

So either the Garrett or the 6262. Would the 6262 bolt up to the old cartuning kit?

No.

Well that makes my decision easier I suppose. Whats different about them?

I would imagine the mounting bolts.

Cartuning kits are built around an on-center housing, vs a tanginal housing that the 6262 uses. It will physically bolt to the flange on your crossover (assuming you have a t4 kit) but nothing else will line up and you will have turbo clearance issues

Ok, so the 6262 is out then , I'm not buying a different kit at this point. The PT-61 must use an on-center housing then? Perhaps this is a stupid question, but it looks like the PT-61 is a generic number for that style/series, does anyone know the actual specs or part number that cartuning uses?

They used a few different versions of the pt61. You are correct, there are multiple versions of the pt61.

It looks like the pt-61 isn't even sold by precision anymore, it doesn't seem to show up anywhere. The one mention of it I did find was that the 6262 was its closest replacement. So what is actually included with the cartuning kits now? Do I have any other options?

Without having to redo your crossover, you can only find a used pt61 or have cartuning make you a new turbo.

And here I was thinking I had all these choices, lol. Thanks for your help, might send them an email to at least get a price on an pt-61, I'm seeing a lot of folks really happy with it.

I have a buddy that just pulled his pt61 and crossover off to upgrade. But he hasn't got on here yet to try and sell them.