WORKS CARB Stage 2 Installed! Review

[Alltezza]

Originally Posted by DAEMANO

Tell me about your personal experience with the current crop of ESC toys please.

Ironically I spent $2.5k on my Phantom ESC toy and OFT, installed it myself in about 2 hours and it dyno'd 223 WHP/207TQ on e85 at the same Church auto dyno posted by a few other members on the same hot day as 10 other cars. The Phantom ESC has a torque curve that only this Works Turbo Kit has come close to approaching. That toy (the ESC) has been an absolute blast, has run like a clock for over two years now and does everything I need it to do on the street. Headroom needed? Maybe if I was actually competing against someone. What percentage of F.I. upgraded owners are actually in serious competition on this board? Answer, the vast minority. So sure, spending $5-$6.5k for the same (or greater) output would make sense if it fit my needs, but it doesn't. For DD, AutoX, and goofing around at the drag strip, I can't imagine a better toy than an 86 with a Phantom ESC.

Lastly I say big ups to Works for putting out a CARB legal turbo kit that address a niche in the market. In its' current form it's probably both fun as hell and keeps people street legal (where it's obviously intended to be run). It will fill the needs of certain folks just like the Phantom ESC does, the "high end" Cosworth SC does, and other non-CARB certified F.I. kits do. The more variety the better.

Let's get back to talk about Works' kit. So far it looks like an interesting proposition.

I have little to no experience with ESCs, all I see are numbers. And with those number you just posted it up ironically I'd probably pick your ESC over the WORKS Kit assuming they really make 208whp. As the ESC is cheaper and produces very similar power but in your case youre making 223whp.

But there are other options out there, that produce better numbers. I wouldn't spend 2.5K on the ESC kit when I can spend 4K on another kit and be closer to 300whp.

I'm not in a serious competition, I just see it as a better buy. To be fair I had no idea how much the ESC was so 2.5K honestly isn't a bad deal either.
LOL and now the biggest irony of this all is that I might actually look into this kit after I just made fun of it.

Originally Posted by Mr_YUzU_FRS

Just dropped the car off at local dynojet. Will post up #s later.

Thank you I'm very interested into seeing what you're making. Are you on 91 or E85 just out of curiosity?

[StegaDragon]

3 things you have to remember, #1 this was dyno run was right after install with no time for the computer to adjust to the vehicle setup on a general tune! Not a vehicle specific tune. #2 this kit is designed to match up with a stock system and is really easy to install compared to other kits, #3 CARB LEGAL mean yes there's going to be restrictions on the design that drops potential power but way easier to up the power, the down pipe has a big kink where it needs to do an S turn that would limit the exhaust flow, but it's a great kit and if you bad mouth it you need to shut your trap and open your eyes

SC10N driver

[continuecrushing]

woohoo! I'm gonna go buy a phantom ESC!

wait...cant! Year wait lol.

HOWEVER, I used to own a phantom setup(7ish months), and it IS kickass. But the wait time is long (edit, very long) and I personally have concerns with temps the controller hit(never had issues, but that thing would get toasty sometimes)
With that said, it is damn near perfect for daily/autox/canyon stuff. I was very pleased with mine when I had it.

Lastly, its not quite as affordable as everyone says. The ESC is $2k, another $500 for the OFT and $400 for the proceed unit(not required). Over $3k when you add in batteries.

DO NOT LET THIS TURN INTO AN ESC VS. WORKS TURBO KIT THREAD.

[clayrush]

I made 150ish with just a axelback muffler at works, way back when i first had the car.

[EAGLE5]

Originally Posted by clayrush

I made 150ish with just a axelback muffler at works, way back when i first had the car.

Well, clearly their dyno reads incredibly high.

[DAEMANO]

Originally Posted by Shutter

woohoo! I'm gonna go buy a phantom ESC!

wait...cant! Year wait lol.

HOWEVER, I used to own a phantom setup(7ish months), and it IS kickass. But the wait time is long (edit, very long) and I personally have concerns with temps the controller hit(never had issues, but that thing would get toasty sometimes)
With that said, it is damn near perfect for daily/autox/canyon stuff. I was very pleased with mine when I had it.

Lastly, its not quite as affordable as everyone says. The ESC is $2k, another $500 for the OFT and $400 for the proceed unit(not required). Over $3k when you add in batteries.

DO NOT LET THIS TURN INTO AN ESC VS. WORKS TURBO KIT THREAD.

Not to correct, but just to make sure accurate info is out there. Most people tune the Phantom Kit with an OFT because the off-the-shelf tune is pretty well dialed in and many people already own an OFT. However a Romraider tune can be performed without an OFT for next to nothing. Also as Zach mentioned the Phantom kit can be tuned with ECUTek as well.

So the total cost of a completely usable Phantom kit with multiposition footswitch and batteries is about ~$2200 if you self tune on Romraider. An OFT ($500) and PROcede controller ($400) are purely optional as mentioned.

[Mr_YUzU_FRS]

Ok here it is! The dyno is done on a Dynojet at a S&N Motorsports in Elk Grove near me.
Max whp = 202
Max Torque = 188

Also with this dyno shows weather condition per run and max AFR.

Remember what I said in the start of this post, I am just trying to give this kit a fair review and already stated reasons why I went with this kit. I believe there is still a lot of room for a more aggressive tune but that will be for another day.

[Mr_YUzU_FRS]

Dynojet Chart

[EAGLE5]

Tune for e85. It will make a huge difference.

[StegaDragon]

E85 tune a custom down pipe and front pipe and I think this thing will open up nicely. I came from OFT E85 tune and wasn't too impressed, but when shiv gets flex fuel working I'm going to jump right in to E85

SC10N driver

[Mr_YUzU_FRS]

I know the #'s are a bit disappointing but the car is running safe and good for a DD turbo car. Soon flex fuel with custom tune and should be good.

[Mr_YUzU_FRS]

Can anyone knowledgeable explain to me how my AFR map looks? The tech said it looks like a stock turbo AFR map similar to that of wrx, stis, evos and that its more on the safe side.

[StegaDragon]

The lower the number the richer the fuel mix, usually best ratio for a turbo is right around 12:1. as you can see it's around 11:1 wich is a little on the rich side, they do this for safety to make sure you don't run lean and have detonation, most General tunes will be this way since every car varies and they have to keep it safe and dependable.

SC10N driver

[sw20kosh]

This thing needs a better tune... That's all. Many people have made 200-215 whp on ACE header and e85. There is no reason this turbo kit should be making that low of a number on dynojet.