SBD Turbo - 400x vs 500x

[James Russels]

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?

[austin_ellas]

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/

[James Russels]

Originally Posted by austin_ellas

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?

[Amputechture]

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?

[James Russels]

Originally Posted by Amputechture

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.

[spdbydesignchris]

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.

[Xxyion]

Originally Posted by Amputechture

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?

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.

[spdbydesignchris]

[randomthoughts]

Originally Posted by spdbydesignchris

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.

[Amputechture]

Originally Posted by Xxyion

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.

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.

[Amputechture]

Originally Posted by James Russels

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.

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.

[Dipstik-sportech]

There's better kits for the money.

[Teseo]

Originally Posted by Dipstik-sportech

There's better kits for the money.

Which one? I wish this kit come with uel header

[Dipstik-sportech]

Originally Posted by Teseo

Which one? I wish this kit come with uel header

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