For what it's worth.. I like the silicon tubes for much of the IC charge piping. It allows more flexibility, cuts down on cost, and offers the same functionality. The only part I would prefer to have in aluminum would be the visible parts on the top of the engine bay. In this case, however, with the turbo being mounted on the bottom of the engine bay these pipes would be mostly invisible. It would be nice if the top portion of the cold pipe was aluminum from midway up the engine to the TB. It would also be nice if the intake pipe was aluminum as well for the portion that is visible from the top of the engine.
From a piping standpoint, I like the idea of having the turbo in front of the motor.. makes things cleaner and easier. The difference is that you require a new exhaust manifold to make it work. But once you've done that, it sure cleans up the system.. nice short runs from intake to turbo, turbo to IC, and IC to TB. Clean and easy!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by AVOturboworld
Reliable, of course, is a relative term. For some people, if the engine holds together for 20-30k miles, that's reliable enough. The Outback 2.5i here at the shop that we fitted the turbo kit to, two years ago, has 199,000 miles on the odometer. That's what we aim for with our kits.
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In my old life (Nissan 240's) I would have been perfectly happy with 30k from a motor because you could get a replacement used short block for $500 any day of the week.. plus you could do a full motor swap in a matter of a few hours with a buddy in the garage.
Now.. I'm all about long term reliability. These motors probably be more like $5k each... so i'd rather not have to replace them. I'll take 250whp for 100k miles over 300whp for 10k miles.