There have been some that do it for alot less then the kit from sts. I could have left my kit from sts the way I bought it hell I was making 550 570 with a stock motor and supporting bolt ons. stayed that way for a year or so. Then my motor pop and the build up began to what I currently have now. So I went bigger and better there had to be some changes for my HP goals that where surpass big time. Im not pumpin STS kits nor a sales person.

 

^^^^Thats what i was trying to say.

I am using the stock STS kit until my motor cant keep up..

then ill build the motor and then ill do a custom rear mount

 

One more time..local guy in our f body club has sts on his 2000SS. He is a bit afraid to go down roads he don't know.His car is stock height. Had has had zero problems with his sts kit..no oil pump failures..no issues at all. His car runs well.I have helped him tune it. Builds boost quickly and is not slow even at 5psi which is where he keeps it. His tune is conversative but wideband tuned with my wideband. ZERO PROBLEMS! Running for two years or more now. Put away in winter but driven a lot the rest of the year.

Other guy I knew well had sts on his lt1 and it also worked great at 5psi. Both guys set them low for various reasons.mostly to be conservative on the stock block.The lt1 guy blew his ringlands off but that was mistake with his boost controller. Rebuilt to a bit better than stock and it was working fine.

These guys have the basic 60 whatever turbo.It spools up pretty quick would say full was in by about 3000 rpm. One car was auto ,ls1 is 6 speed. The 6 speed guy has no two step might sell him mine so he don't build a lot of boost off the line. The auto does better even with stock stall.

If the sts is running like 13s with the base turbo and not boosting right your most common reason in all turbo cars is boost leaks. You need to make a boost tester or run an automotive smoke machine to find the boost leaks. Very rarely the problem would be screwed turbo. Its not a lag problem the cars I was in have very little lag.
Now the one lt1 had big problem it was running terrible and not boosting worth a crap. The cat converter was horribly clogged. I figured it out for the guy as his exhaust was as quiet as a hyundai. Put on new cat and all the power and boost came back in a huge rush. Must have been down like 300 hp from that cat blocked almost totally.



Tuning is important but not that hard..get the afr 10.5 to 11.0 ish .Keep reasonable timing think around 10 to 14 or so on pump and the sts cars will fly really well.
I know they beat my modded 96z easily. I never tried my 99 with current mods ,the turbos and 408 are not installed yet but guarantee I would lose to the near stock ls1 at even 5psi and lose pretty badly.

Now the oil pump might be not so great...maybe guy can buy a better pump. And the ground clearance wasn't so great..new kit seems to fix that..the air filter was low..that looks better now. So really can't see hating on the kits so much. You can also buy good quality silicone and good t bolt clamps. Too things which really are good ideas with any turbo car. My aps kit wasn't cheap but they supply crappy worm gear clamps.I will be putting on good t bolts for sure sooner likely rather than later.

Smoke machine is the best way to test for leaks. Found a few on my 97 talon in minutes .Automotive smoke machine not rock band smoke machine..LOL
Great little tools.

And as said I would be very careful who you buy a turbo kit from if you go to off brand small company kits. 2000 bucks of my money went to GMR speed,former supposedly rock solid company and sponsor. Bye bye company..supposedly partership war..zero money back ,zero parts. Personally would stick to sts, aps, tti, ati..magnacharger is option now too for our f bodies.. But hey its your nickel..