sts turbo kit, good or bad?
Everytime I see this design two scenarios run through my mind.....
First one....driving to some car meet or shootout or something..wit my sweet sts ride.... Then it starts raining halfway there on an unfamiliar road...and then I drive through a puddle.....****..hydrolock like a bitch....or turbo damage.....
The other one is while I'm at work someone with a pocket full of wrenches lays down on the ground behind my car and steals my turbo in about 10 minutes......
good thing my turbo is under my hood...
I'm really surprised neither of these scenarios isnt more common...given the design...
for those rain scenarios though STS offers a shield that surrounds the filter and a sock that repells any remaining rain.
on the note of someone stealing the turbo...if youve ever installed a turbo before you know how difficult it is to get on...and remove. they would need to have the correct wrenchs, a floor jack, and at least another hand. those bolts are on there tight and laying on the ground with car parked gives no room to wrench. even if they had a battery powered sawzall it would take awhile. an easy fix is to get a heavy duty safety cable (ive considered the light fixture cables i use on movie sets) and bolt it to the turbo or weld if your absolutely paranoid.
i dont think either of those things are an issue with these kits.
STS is good for a completely stock car.. thats what they were designed to be on.. if you need more higher HP.. like say 550+.. look to a front mount turbo.. if you want just the fun of a simple turbo bolt on system.. and have about $5,000 to waste.. then get it.. the $3995 kit is NOT complete.. and you WILL spend more than tha to complete it.. so dont be fooled by the price..
and for $5000.. add another $495 and you can get the Twin Turbo system by APS.. so you think about that...
Everytime I see this design two scenarios run through my mind.....
First one....driving to some car meet or shootout or something..wit my sweet sts ride.... Then it starts raining halfway there on an unfamiliar road...and then I drive through a puddle.....****..hydrolock like a bitch....or turbo damage.....
The other one is while I'm at work someone with a pocket full of wrenches lays down on the ground behind my car and steals my turbo in about 10 minutes......
good thing my turbo is under my hood...
I'm really surprised neither of these scenarios isnt more common...given the design...
come on are you paranoid. if they want it that bad they will take it. the key is to weld the brackets and weld the pipe to the flange just tack weld. its really an easy fix..
oh and your other dillusional theory of rain , it doesnt happen. i live in florida it rains as hard here as anywhere and i have driven in down pours , you just stay out of boost and no puddles over say 12 inches , which i would avoid with any car.
STS is good for a completely stock car.. thats what they were designed to be on.. if you need more higher HP.. like say 550+.. look to a front mount turbo.. if you want just the fun of a simple turbo bolt on system.. and have about $5,000 to waste.. then get it.. the $3995 kit is NOT complete.. and you WILL spend more than tha to complete it.. so dont be fooled by the price..
and for $5000.. add another $495 and you can get the Twin Turbo system by APS.. so you think about that...
so dont paint an incomplete picture. the STS kit is a good kit just have to know how to optimize it. the APS kit is very good also but they each have short comings, and strengths.. it seems every time an STS thread is started you chime in with negative comments, broaden you mind and take a look at what the kit offers.. its not for everyone but that doesnt justify all the negative comments you are always making..
David
as for the rain issue, i never drive my car in the rain. problem solved!! 500hp/tq is useless/dangerous when the road is wet. get a beater car. i realize some people DD their car, but i choose not to, especially in the rain.
plus my car is lowered pretty damn low, which brings me to my next topic: stealing the turbo. when you have about a foot of space between the ground and the bumper, thats not a lot of room to work with, let alone trying to turn a wrench in that space. plus you have to:
-unbolt the turbo from the exhaust inlet and outlet
-remove charge pipe connection, and air filter connection
-disassemble the oil feed, return
i have a boost controller, so that would also need to be disconnected. all done in that little foot of space under the back of the car
and when you have done all that, you have to walk away carrying a turbo! it would be suspicious to me if someone was working away at someone's rear end in a parking lot....
unless you are parked in the middle of nowhere for 3 hours, i would think it would be pretty hard to steal the turbo.
edit: I don't think EPP carries STS gear anymore (maybe im wrong) but there are other sponsors on here that offer "packages" AFAIK
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you would have to know your way around a turbo and wrenches + know that the car has a rear mount. there are only 2 cars in my area with them, and im one of them. half the people around here are more amazed that it's in the rear let alone wanting to steal it...... but i pack a .45 just incase

although i do advertise the fact that i have a turbo with my license plate
1) Rain and dist is not aproblem with STS.... WHEN STS FIRST opened they did not take that into account, but now EACH kit comes with a Water/Dirt Shield and Dry Sock....

2) Paranoia is whats going on when it comes to stealing turbos!!!
3) 3995 is full retail, if you look in the GP section were running a deal right now thats WAY under 3995...
4) The price Gets you a full kit.. You should contact your personal tuner or installer to see what other items are needed for a professional and safe STS experience!
If we can help anyone with a STS problem, question, or purchase, PLEASE feel free to PM us!
Last edited by 2000TurboVert; Aug 15, 2007 at 07:44 PM.
It's not the best kit...that's been established. However, it does work and if you're looking for a fast street car via turbo, this is a way to accomplish it. It's fun to drive and going into boost is a very pleasureable experience!
BTW, if you knew how much the dealers buy the STS kit for and then retail to us, you'd be unpleasantly surprised/pissed off
. PM me if you're curious
. My stage 1 pkg I sell makes me about $200. To compete with others, thats how I have to sell it.
. But stuff like that DOES happen. But you would have to be profiled and targeted by some one who know what they were looking at and doing. One of my buddy's that had the STS kit on his truck, rebuilt it to move the turbo up closer to the motor (it's right at the Y-pipe now) had his truck broken in to. Well his hood actually. The pushed in his grill, cut the hood latch cable, cut the battery wire so the alarm wouldn't go off and proceeded to steal his w/a intercooler and blow off valve, from UNDER HIS HOOD! But you know what? They didn't steal the turbo from under his truck...
Last edited by kbracing96; Aug 16, 2007 at 01:42 PM.
It's like the saying, "You might as well leave your doors unlocked so you don't have to put a new window in your car when a thief steals your stero."His truck was parked at his g/f apartment complex and i don't believe it was a bad area at all. I've had more crap stolen from me in good areas then bad areas cuz crooks know thats where the good stuff is. It's not like he was in the "hood" or anything.




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