Posted By: MattM
313bhp 273lb/ft @ 1.05 bar - 02/03/2010 12:03
Some of you may be aware that i have been a touch unfortunate with my cars reliability recently;
About 3/4 months ago my Aux belt snapped and took the cambelt out, destroying the engine. I had a new lump fitted, along with a few other bits.
Approximately a week after it was all done, the turbo became extremely noisy and developed about 5mm of play in the shaft.
I then shelled out £900 for a brand new GT28RS, and a week after fitting, this seized solid!
At this point, the relationship with my car had become very sour. I simply could not justify spending another £1000+ on buying another turbo and fitting costs, without knowing for definite why they were failing.
After a lot of hard decisions i decided to get rid of the car. Having just bought my first home, i simply couldn't justify the thousands i was spending on it. I was either going to break it for parts or sell it whole, and had a potential deal set up.
Until, one day, one of my mates suggested a cheaper alternative.
I managed to pick up a GT28R .86 for £150. However, it is not a Garrett turbo. This is one of the copy turbos which fly around the net.
I knew i could sell the housing from my seized turbo for circa £100, so it worked out at only a £50 gamble.
As this turbo is GT28R .86 it is a journal bearing and subsequently quite a slow spooler. However, it is very smooth and feels fast when on boost. The beauty of the journal bearing is that i don't need to run an oil restrictor (which is what we think may have blocked and destroyed my last turbo). It can also be rebuilt very cheaply if required.
Fast forward a couple of weeks to Yesterday, when i headed down to see Flea.
Leighton spent a few hours with the car, mapping, and then we took it to the dyno.
The results - 313bhp, 273lb/ft @ just 1.05 bar of boost.
The dyno couldn't provide enough load to see anymore boost, on the road it is hitting about 1.28bar max, so realistically it may be around 320bhp on road, but that is purely speculative.
However, the old girl wasn't happy until something else had blown up!
On the way back from the dyno, the Coolant Hose of Death split and emptied my coolant system all over the motorway. Leighton, managed to strip the area down, cut an inch off the hose and re-attach it to the thermostat, whilst being thouroughly watched by the traffic orificers, who decided to stop. Senny Dave also came to the rescue with some water and a tow rope if we had required it.
By the time we got back to Leighton's it was around 5:30pm. We went for a pint to see off the rush hour and I embarked the epic drive home, with my right eye pointed directly at the temperature gauge.
All in all an eventful day. Big thanks to Leighton, excellent service as usual, and breakdown assistance to boot! The mapping has made the car very smooth so i'm happy. Also thanks to Dave for helping us on the motorway, and johnnybravoturbo, who topped me up with coolant and pizza on the way home!
Comments welcomed
About 3/4 months ago my Aux belt snapped and took the cambelt out, destroying the engine. I had a new lump fitted, along with a few other bits.
Approximately a week after it was all done, the turbo became extremely noisy and developed about 5mm of play in the shaft.
I then shelled out £900 for a brand new GT28RS, and a week after fitting, this seized solid!
At this point, the relationship with my car had become very sour. I simply could not justify spending another £1000+ on buying another turbo and fitting costs, without knowing for definite why they were failing.
After a lot of hard decisions i decided to get rid of the car. Having just bought my first home, i simply couldn't justify the thousands i was spending on it. I was either going to break it for parts or sell it whole, and had a potential deal set up.
Until, one day, one of my mates suggested a cheaper alternative.
I managed to pick up a GT28R .86 for £150. However, it is not a Garrett turbo. This is one of the copy turbos which fly around the net.
I knew i could sell the housing from my seized turbo for circa £100, so it worked out at only a £50 gamble.
As this turbo is GT28R .86 it is a journal bearing and subsequently quite a slow spooler. However, it is very smooth and feels fast when on boost. The beauty of the journal bearing is that i don't need to run an oil restrictor (which is what we think may have blocked and destroyed my last turbo). It can also be rebuilt very cheaply if required.
Fast forward a couple of weeks to Yesterday, when i headed down to see Flea.
Leighton spent a few hours with the car, mapping, and then we took it to the dyno.
The results - 313bhp, 273lb/ft @ just 1.05 bar of boost.
The dyno couldn't provide enough load to see anymore boost, on the road it is hitting about 1.28bar max, so realistically it may be around 320bhp on road, but that is purely speculative.
However, the old girl wasn't happy until something else had blown up!
On the way back from the dyno, the Coolant Hose of Death split and emptied my coolant system all over the motorway. Leighton, managed to strip the area down, cut an inch off the hose and re-attach it to the thermostat, whilst being thouroughly watched by the traffic orificers, who decided to stop. Senny Dave also came to the rescue with some water and a tow rope if we had required it.
By the time we got back to Leighton's it was around 5:30pm. We went for a pint to see off the rush hour and I embarked the epic drive home, with my right eye pointed directly at the temperature gauge.
All in all an eventful day. Big thanks to Leighton, excellent service as usual, and breakdown assistance to boot! The mapping has made the car very smooth so i'm happy. Also thanks to Dave for helping us on the motorway, and johnnybravoturbo, who topped me up with coolant and pizza on the way home!
Comments welcomed
You really have been through the wringer with this one 
(and hopefully I've not jinxed you futher with that comment!)
