How many turbo combo's to get it right.
 

Just curious how many different turbo combinations it took some of you before you were happy with your cars. Seems like it would take at least 2 or 3 tries to find the right combo.

yep i would say so, its fun to mess around with stuff, but there are great recipe's out there already

First time for me. If you plan your combo right and know what you need, than once. . Just sayin there's enough people running boosted ls motors in so many varieties that you should be able to find results no matter the combo/setup... now how many combos I considerd before I found what I got now is a dif story.

It seems its taken me 6 cars, and 8 different turbo setups to get somewhere i feel happy lol, finishing up number 6 now since spring of 2010.

Im sure i would've been happy before if i actually drove any of them any appreciable amount of time or distance lmao! I gotta imagine, since i started "building" different combos in early 2010, i've probably only driven the project cars a total of 100 miles, and that is probably on the high side.

Sounds like it's probably best to just put something on, get a frame of reference, and then make a more educated purchase based on the behavior of the first set.

In my opinion, it is best to do your research the first time and put together a combo that can meet and/or exceed your goals. There is a lot of information available right here on ls1tech, tons of different working combos/recipes for success. The available information can help you make an educated purchase the first time if you just search and do the research. Of course that doesn't mean that you wont get bitten by the "more power" bug and want more power down the road, but I think that is better than pissing in the wind and seeing what happens :jest:

What are your goals? Whats your roller setup like? If its a car you plan on keeping, why not do the research and at least attempt to do it right the first time? Maybe it wont spool up like you had planned or maybe it wont make all the power you need but at least you tried, then you can analyze the outcome and switch it up from there if needed.

Just my 2 cents. BTW I am on the 5th turbo setup now, and I was happy with each setup I put together, they all performed just as I had planned/researched, I just kept getting bit by that "more power" bug I mentioned earlier :burn:

I'm pretty happy with my setup. Tried a tc78 and then jumped to a pt7675 and feel my setup is as optimized for a street car as I could get. Spool is quick and makes good steam. If I wanted more I'd be switching over completely to a t6 setup on a 370ci. If this setup stays together then I see no need to change it though.

I've done a lot of research on the subject and have experimented with turbos on a diesel a little bit(around 22 different turbochargers), but this is my first LS type engine and first performance oriented gasoline engine. The builder makes claims, the internet makes claims, but until I see what this combination of parts will do, I don't know. If it makes 650 and runs in the low 9's, I'll be happy. If it makes 900 and runs in the 8's I'll still be happy, but it will probably require a different set of turbos to be optimal. I'm just glad to be able to try something new.

The "right combo" today is another story tomorrow. :) I seem to be always modifying or changing stuff and building an entire new setup every other year. Keeping the same thing gets boring. Was actually just thinking of ditching my PT76gts setup on my TA and going a different route. Then again I suffer from AADD (Automotive attention deficit disorder) HAHA. I have 3 projects always going on at the same time and constantly changing stuff jumping from one to the other.. lol. :cheers:

Mine was dictated by my budget. I built one setup while in college, it was super low key build, everything was used and/or stock and it made 600wheel. It was fun. As i saved more, i upgraded the the turbo and some other things to take it to 700wheel. Even more fun. Graduated, making much more money now and im going much harder on this step of the build. Building a pretty nice motor and gathering suspension parts for next year and had the trans built this summer. If I'm good with my money, I'll be looking to really go for it in the turbo department.

Some people like doing a full build at once. I liked driving my car through its various stages and enjoying it, even if it wasnt for very long before i tore it down again. You can make a good amount of money back selling your used stuff to fund upgrades. Much easier on the wallet and less likely to get burned out when things dont go your way.

In the end, it'll be my 3rd combo. Goal is to squeeze the new combo for everything its got and sell it to get into a Z06, where I'll be starting all over again lol

I did that with the diesel. Started at 140rwhp and worked it up from there. After 10 years I sold it and bought a car that was set up fairly well and had an LQ4/mp112 combo. It ran 10.2 @ 130 w/470rwhp. I sold the complete engine and supercharger out of it and decided to go ahead and have a good solid long block assembly and transmission built up so I can just play with air and fuel to find the happy medium between nice pleasant street car and completely overboard.

turbo setup first shot....driveline setup,..maybe 6 or 7 lol.

Went ahead and ordered a pair of turbochargers today. One less thing to worry about.

Describe what "right" means.

Mine has far exceeded my goals, and will continue to do so as I learn how to get it down the track.
Right now I have a low nine second car but am racing on a 12 second dragstrip.

Certainly there are improvements to be made. But it drives sweet, and the power is way out of control on the street.

FWIW, I had no prev experience with turbos, but had good knowledge of the LS and tuning.

Ron

You and Adam both have nice running Nova's. Too bad you are so far from Napa. The track there seems to yield some nice times.

I am on my 2nd setup. I think that I will hold out until I can buy every single item I want to do my 3rd setup. But granted, I sold my first setup for $3500, and built the 2nd setup for around $1800. haha

Thanks. Our track in Woodburn is excellent. I was just too stubborn to drive the car down there.
Now it's too late.

It's frustrating that our track just doesn't care anymore.

Good luck with your project. Lots of sharp folks here to get you headed in the right direction for sure,