Best size turbo for Custom setup
 

Hi guys, ive been wantingto go FI ever since got my frs and i just cant see spending thousands of dollars for the kits availible for these cars, i have a decent amount of fab experience albiet more on the manufacturing/production side then in automotive performance, but its something ive been wanting to do forever im hopefully getting a tig before the year is over and i would like to try my hand at making my own turbo setup, i have an oft already and can hopefully go the e-tune route (seeing as i havent found and tuners nearby that use openflash) anyways back to the main question i have, i know these cars havent been around long enough for many people to have experiance with alot if different turbos on the fa20 but what is the best size turbo? Im looking for something that will be used as a daily driver id love to get 300+ hp but honestly im looking for something that will be relatively reliable and im looking at this as more of a learning experiance than anything, i know next to nothing about turbos as far as sizes and flanges and all that, i want something budget friendly (im am by no means wealthy and itll prob take me the better part of a year to get the money for everything i need for this in the first place) but something that will make decent power with low boost (prob 5-10 at first maybe more if i build motor wayyy later down the line haha) id love to get a gtx30 or something but it would be so much nicer to get a cheap used turbo that may be smaller but uses a common flange so i can upgrade that later when i have more $$ or decided i want more power, i see alot of 18g's and td04 that are very affordable but as i said before i dont know jack about turbo sizes or what will be efficient with my motor etc. So far im just looking at what turbo the kits i like come with but that isnt really telling me a whole lot. So any turbo gurus out there that wanna give me some info would be great!

Do you want some thing thats quick response or something that gives you that big turbo 'surge'?

Im thinking somewhere inbetween id love to have very little lag and lots of cfm for very little $ but obviously thats prob not happening haha but i do suppose the cfm would be more important to me but i dont need anything ridiculous

some affordable turbos

garrett t3/t4 50 trim .63 a/r for faster spool (around 3500) or same turbo in 57 trim for a bigger surge (around 4200)

precision 5554 is a 55 trim turbo if you want a mix of both

bigger the better i always say

Honestly its going to be a hell of a lot of work hahaha. I have a 20g on mine and am pleased with the spool time and output. I would also look at a gtx28xx if you can get one cheap

Yeah i know its gonna be quite a undertaking, ill prob start off just redoing my exhaust to practice my hand at the tig and then maybe move on to mocking up a turbo header/mani once i actually have one i can use to mock it up with, i need a big project in my life again anyways, thats part of the reason i wanna do this. What exactly is does trim mean? Is it a mesurment or a ratio of something? And i kinda understand a/r but is the optimal a/r gonna change with the size of the turbo or for example if a .62 ar is best with a t3 then itll be just as good with a gtx28 or gtx30 or are the bigger turbos gonna be better with different a/r? Sorry for the newbie questions but im just trying ro get a beeter understanding of what is what in the world of turbos haha

I just looked up the precision 5554 and that might be exactly what im lookimg for, the price is def right and iim guessing trim refers to the inducer size? Does anyone anyone have any experience with the 5554? Whats good and or bad about it? Seems like alot of compressor for the money or maybe ive just been looking at higher end stuff, i really like some of the articles i read on the garrett gtx's

Ball bearings turbos, big exhaust and tune will reflect you turbo's spool. Don't take the cheap way out. It'll cost you in the long run....

All the turbos i mentioned are considered old tech. I have a ball bearing precision 5558 on my setup, spools full boost around 3500rpm with a big kick. I think a 55 trim turbo is the best of both worlds. Remember if you get a tiny turbo, your fuel mileage will always suck and also you will die down with power on the top end. Too big of a turbo will be a waste since you cant really spool it until closer to 5000rpm.

Plenty of mild priced Turbos out there, not everything needs to be ball bearings billet do dads.

Garrett T04e serious are tried and true, Borg Warner SXE line maybe a bit big for you but still under a grand with billet wheels.

I have built my own turbo setups for years now and never look back, its a longer way to go about it but much more fun.

Just installed a Garrett GT2871R. Full spool at 3700 rpm, plenty of room for higher numbers as well. Tbh it seems totally perfect. Higher on the price side though.

You should be able to pick up a second hand disco potato relatively cheap considering how many sr20 motors choose these turbos

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