DarkoStoj

Hey guys.

I have a 1996 Turbo (updated to 1997 ECU) and doing some maintenance on it (valve cover gaskets, exhaust gaskets, hoses, etc)

We pulled the turbo's off and they have seen better days, the drivers side one has the wastegate valve which does not move freely so we need to correct that.

Since I probably need to get the turbo's gone through, looking at seeing what options there are out there for upgrades. Or if I should get stock ones, have the ones I have rebuilt, etc

What should I do?

aj911tt

Talk to Kevin he’s the only guy who knows wtf he’s doing and let him know Blake sent you he will take care of you. Personally it’s easier to keep stock but he has the means to build whatever you want - hell he just rebuild $50k 959 turbos lol

kevin@ultimatemotorwerks.com

Mike J

It's the age old question isn't it ? Remain stock or "upgrade" which sometimes is a downgrade. Are you happy with the car? - enough power, torque delivery, etc. if so, keep it stock. But on these Turbos, that slope to upgrade can be pretty steep - change out the turbos, then you might need a retune (ie chip), then perhaps a better exhaust, then clutch, then oh wait the engine has few too many miles and needs some work or even a top end .... i am just an old conservative engineer so I would leave the turbos stock if the car was fast enough as it was, or keep it as close to stock as you can go. Suspension is another matter though lol.

Cheers

Mike

aj911tt

Agree here it turns into a rabbit hole and by the time you’re done take away from the originality people pay for the car. I would keep stock but that’s me. Suspension is the only thing I think worth upgrading on the cars.

Quadcammer

From what I recall, the new borg warner turbos are not made very well, so rebuilding your stock ones is likely a good plan. You can have kevin or a few other trusted shops do the equivalent of a "stage 1" upgrade, which may include zero clearance, different wheels, and some other minor trickery to give you better response and maybe a bit more power without appearing anything other than stock. This would, in my opinion, retain the value of the car that you'd loose with aftermarket turbos, while giving you a bit of an upgrade over stock.

carmoves

I've been talking to Tim at Protomotive about said "Trickery". I haven't pulled the trigger yet, but I like the OEM+ route. I've heard upgrading the turbos entirely can be very difficult to get right.

aj911tt

you are correct Kevin says he has to rebuild new ones because they are so bad.

ronnie993tt

Market appears to prefer stock but I think Mike's lol means PSS10 and lower it. I chose euro ride height 'cause I don't want to have to worry about scraping and am not really into that slammed look.

eclou

I bought new factory K24's and flashed with GIAC programming. Very pleased with the results. Just a little extra muscle

DarkoStoj

Where did you get the turbos from?
Were they a bolt on for a stock car?

eclou

AWE tuning ordered me new factory K24's from Borg Warner. They were direct bolt on to my stock 97. I was surprised how well the factory exhaust manifold studs held up - was expecting a nightmare. Coupled with cat bypasses, the diminished lag and increased punch was nice. Makes it feel like a larger displacement motor

DarkoStoj

Looks like AWE doesn't do these kits anymore.

Anyone know of a vendor I can buy K24's and the tune from?

Also, anybody have an idea if this is a bolt on deal or if any major modifications have to be done?

eclou

You might reach out directly to Todd (owner) at AWE. They didn't stock this stuff but knew how to get it through channels. The appealing thing to me was the K24 was the factory turbo for the 993GT2 so I figured the upgrade was engineered to be compatible with the platform/chassis

Quadcammer

i'm surprised that you found less lag with k24s. That was always cited as a con to the larger turbos and why things like hybrid turbos became more popular.

eclou

It would have had more lag but I added cat bypass pipes and free flow exhaust