SBD Turbo - 400x vs 500x
 

Hi everyone,

I am looking to turbo my FRS at some point and was looking at the Speed By Design kits. I have been trying to find accounts of people who have tried both the 400x and 500x kits but have not had any luck. Can anyone who is familiar with either (preferably both) of these kits speak to them at all, or point me somewhere where this is documented?

Based on horsepower alone, the 500x appears to be worth the extra money. Is there a significant increase in turbo lag? Are there any other considerations I'm not thinking of?

Not much more turbo lag if at all because the 500x has a ball bearing. The increase in power probably wont be worth it unless you plan on building your motor.

Check out the SBD facebook group too. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SBDF...itOwnersGroup/

Hey thanks for the info. I'm still learning - what makes you say the increase in power won't be worth it unless I plan on building my motor?

Ball bearing turbos are superior in every imaginable way. Where they really shine is in the transient response....it won't choke the motor so much under vacuum because they build boost coming off of deceleration and in between shifts much much quicker than journal bearing turbos do. The fact that it is available for just $500 more is pretty incredible, granted I know next to nothing about the turbine. I've heard that it's a GT3076 knock-off...that's about as far as I know about it. People usually make around 300 wheel or a bit more on pump gas with GT30 framed turbos on this car which is well within the safety zone if tuned properly. So I'm not sure where the built motor comment is coming from?

That's really helpful, thanks. Do you know where the safety zone ends for the stock engine in terms of HP? And at what point I should think about installing an oil cooler? I hadn't even considered this since the kit is advertised as plug and play.

Join the FB Group James! THOUSANDS of people in there and over 1500 owners of the turbo kit.

There a wealth of information, not from my mouth, but from actual users of the kit.

Its because with the proper tune you can make about the same with the 400x kit. The 500x has a lot more potential. A lot of people dont recommend buying it unless you are aiming for more power (which requires a built motor) because its essentially wasted potential.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4201/3...707a742e_b.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4179/3...fe2e256c_b.jpg

Damn you!
 

Damn it, I ordered my kit last week and had forgot about it until this post. Now I can't stop thinking about it. I don't wait well lol.

Even if you don't have plans to surpass 300 wheel a ball bearing turbo is a worthy investment, especially at such a low cost. It's not something you can quantify in numbers, you just have to drive a journal bearing and follow it up with a BB. BB turbos blow JBs the fuck out of the water, no contest. They just feel more natural and less robotic, not to mention they last longer. $500 is such a negligible difference in cost when force inducting a car, it's a no brainer in my opinion.

Tough question to answer, how are you going to drive the car and what supporting modifications are going along with? The general consensus seems to be that high 300s is pushing the stock rods to the limit.

The oil cooler question is also dependent on severable variables. I feel that there is a lot of misinformation about there regarding what temperatures are acceptable for how most of these cars are driven. Let's be real...99 percent of the folk on this forum are not building race cars. We just want a quick street car. "ZOMG oil temps hitting 230 jew need an oil cooler ASAP"...I'm not one of those people. It takes quite a lot to break down modern synthetic oils. For a strictly street driven car, I would recommend switching to a 5w30 and running an OEM water to oil cooler unit. Works wonderfully for my application. In no way am I saying that an oil cooler is a bad idea...I'm an absolute sucker for modifications that support the health of my motor. Just don't buy into the boogeyman stuff is all I'm getting at.

There's better kits for the money.

Which one? I wish this kit come with uel header

Name one. They're all better than Taiwanese garbage .

The only other kit for this money is the JDL turbo kit and the ONLY thing different about that kit is the fact that it uses a real turbo. All other piping and whatnot from ive seen is basically the same as what Zage uses.

All other turbos are easily 2-3k more and some arent even as good.

1) made in america
2) UEL rumble
3) long cut option allowing you to retain stock crash bar

I have a JDL kit (not the newer version that has the same cold side components as SBD). All of the hot side components such as the waste-gate, BOV, downpipe, manifold are different and FAR superior quality.

We use a Melett Turbo, British manufactured but located right here in the USA :)

http://www.melett.com/contact-usa-canada/

Bunch of close minded racist in this thread, lol.

We also use a TurboSmart Raceport Valve, manufactured in Australia...

But again apparently that's Taiwanese Junk.

Somebody call the Klan leader and organize a rally.

Any chance for make the header UEL?

We do not...

Oh I Got You. I was just curious. Is the v3 intercooler actually any better than the v2 and v1? I know some people are wondering if its worth the upgrade.

Intercooler has not changed itself, but the Blow-Off Valve is now welded to the driver side of the core.....vs it's previous location on the MAF Pipe in the engine bay.

We did this to insure no unmetered air issues from the BOV affected idle and drivability. Relocating the BOV to the intercooler insures a smooth driving experience.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4179/3...fe2e256c_b.jpg

I am ordering this kit sometime this week, and receiving an ecutek with it do you guys have a perfered tuner for these kits?? @spdbydesignchris will be on 93

James from HRI Tuning. Hands Down. Especially if you're in FL.

He's up here in Orlando local to me, but you still may want to reach out.

Perfect I will try to get in contact thank you!!

@spdbydesignchris hey I don't see that V3 on the website


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I've driven the 400x kit for one whole hour thanks to my best friend having it. I have driven a 2.0t Turbo GC and a 335i coupe and they all had lag. The SBD400x kit had 0 lag. Power felt instantaneous at all times like my car N/A. His car is half the reason I bought the SBD400x and the other reason is the customer service/support of SBD is top notch.

The 400X and 500X hit nearly instantaneous, there is very little lag. :burnrubber:

Updated pic uploaded, sorry about that ;)