Off shore Turbo reliability
 

I did not want to start this thread but after hundreds of pages I haven't found what I was looking for. I do see a lot of people using the "VS" nexgen 78's & billet 80's but how durable and reliable are they when pushed? I know of a few that exploded and the others seem to be removed and replaced with real BW's not to far after. Need to purchase something extremely soon cant afford to make a mistake or say burn $$$. Any input?

I know its an open ended thread, if no one want to post up a reply in fear of being blasted PM me. I'm looking at a VS billet 80.

I bet I can find more Precision turbos that have exploded than you can find VS turbos that have failed in any way.

You need to understand what “manufacturing tolerances” are. Cheapo offshore companies have very wide open tolerances which means it’s possible they will make something that is quality, but it’s a guarantee they will also make something that’s garbage... That’s why the cheap stuff is hit-or-miss. But that’s the gamble you take when you decide to cheap out on something as precision as a turbo.

High dollar setup? Class racing? Or just average Joe street car? Seems like that would decide if it's worth getting a cheap turbo. And there are multiple levels of cheap. VSR is better than the average fleabay turbo in terms of product support and likely quality too.

I pushed a vs racing billet 80 as hard as I could trying to go 7’s and uh it blew up in spectacular fashion


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...018c06880.jpeg

just wait for the end lol

Humm, pretty smoke bomb there at the end. That sucks. How long were you pushing that 80 for that to have happened?

Not a high dollar set up, just you average 8 sec car deal. Goal is 8.70 only give or take.

At one time I had a excellent deal on a real billet 80 but, that phone call did not go very well so i didn't purchase that day. I was appalled by it TBH so I bought everything at summit minutes later except the turbo.

That was 15-20 passes 7 of them were on full tilt boogie shooting for a 7

it also did some street driving and drag week but it honestly didn’t last very long

i had a real s475 on the car before that made 70-80 passes with it and 20 were on full tilt and I still have it never gave me a problem also went 8.45 with it

And thats the answer I was looking for honest unbiased.
Still cant figure out how you went that fast with the s475 :thumb:.
I was actually debating the s475 as I could get one up here at a very very reasonable price, but don't think it will make the jam to push 3400lbs past 9:20/30. I might just look at a cast BW480 with a cover pay a bit more and hope for the best. By the time I ship and pay for a offshore unit I'm at $1200$, so they are not exactly cheap, that's why I posted.

Glad I could help

Then i wouldn't run an Ebay turbo, but there are obviously examples like ls3fox of running VSR turbos. Could also consider talking to Summit Racing who has a brand of turbos.

Prob not a huge diff in costs, sounds like you prob should go with a gen. BW

The vs racing stuff seems decent but I think the only way to buy “high dollar” stuff is when they have the “Black Friday” sales and “new year” sales. Forced induction did both and you could buy a billet 80 with v1 race cover for $959. That’s a steal in my opinion.

I would have been all over that, never seen it that low. I did check their web site thinking the same but did not see anything unless I just missed it. They were my first option.

Yes the summit are actually s400 BW's s475 but they don't have the 80 or at the time.

Yeah might just take my own advice for a change, just seems some guys get away with less but when I try it bites me hard and never learn. I guess a real BW is still cheaper than filling bottles or replacing F2's every couple passes.

Never had a VS turbo. Seems they are decent on a budget. But I been a customer of Jose’s for over a decade. Never once had a problem so I stay buying from him.

Just got a billet 85mm from him for $1200. I know Capizzi took a SBE 5.3 to 5.1x at 139mph with the same turbo in a fox. May have gone 5.0x @ 14x before he changed his setup I can’t remember.

I don't care who's turbo you buy, if it's billet or not, it has a maximum operational range. The billet option with give you more cushion, but they can only spin so fast before they go.

There are lots of guys on both sides of the fence. To me it's no different than the debate of a junkyard sbe vs a crank/rods/pistons or more. Some guys have great luck, others not so much. It's all about your personal experience.

If you want reliable, why not just buy a genuine Borg ? It removes any doubt.

I don't think its a matter of quality, as the VS stuff is likely made in the same factory as the summit stuff or any other similar S400 Ebay clone turbo. The problem is finding someone to stand behind the product *IF* there's a problem. That's what you pay for from a vendor (middle man) VS seems to take less of a "cut" than most middle man businesses like Summit. They still have a VERY reasonable product and VS stands behind it with great customer service. So paying a bit extra that seems reasonable to me. If you treat it as a disposable unit... it may make sense to gamble with the lesser ebay units and skip the customer service. An 8.7 at 3400+lbs is a lofty goal. But I bet the VS80 could do it. Though you might as well go with the VS S485 with your goals. It's not much more, and id bet it out performs the cast s480. (just a guess, no data on that)

The S400 frame stuff is pretty bullet proof as far as turbos go. You rarely see one fail if not mistreated. If you buy the real cast S480 I'd go for the 1.58 T6 housing for the extra umpth up top. Your talking 1000-1100whp for 8.7x @ 3400lbs. And that's assuming you can 1/8th mile decently.

I'm a fan of your work! lol... that's pretty darn contained if you ask me! I don't think its fair to base a products reliability on someone that is over speeding the unit. Was the gate pinned on those runs? I'm betting that turbo was WAY over it's intended RPM range. The fact that it let loose and the hub didn't explode is pretty amazing IMO.