Mitharan

I'm looking to get the typical Greddy Turbo soon and trying to price out everything I need. The forums have been great on general description and the principles but don't have much on specific types/brands. BHR has a HKS BOV for $255 and I can get a Greddy Type RS for 40 dollars. What exactly is the difference in performance and why is one better than the other? Lucky me, being married means I've got the wife watching the budget for this project like a hawk. I'm not going for racing perfection, I just want a decent HP boost and enough add-ons to make the kit run smoothly and safely on the engine. My plan is to buy the kit, a BOV, a boost gage and the Cobb AP or take it somewhere to get professionally tuned (I've never messed with ECUs so a little hesitant to try anything myself). Then next spring after I've saved a bit more, get the AEM intake and a bigger radiator. Suggestions on brands or models or anything in general would be appreciated.

This ad is not displayed to registered and logged-in members. Register your free account today and become a member on RX8Club.com!

gregs

get the HKS and stay far away from the greddy type rs..are you planning on recirculating the bov?

Mitharan

I was planning on it. This is my DD too so it sounded like too many people having issues with it going to atmo. The Type-RS I just mentioned because I saw a post with someone saying they were installed it so I price checked it. Just wasn't sure why the giant price gap between them all

gregs

both should work fine recirc. the hks is a quality unit compared to the greddy type rs.

RotaryMachineRx

I vent my HKS to atmosphere.... although there are benefits to recirc. I would also invest in a midpipe, it's only a matter of time before you roast the stock cat.... Also I would invest in a good AFR gauge.

On top of the Greddy kit here is what I would consider the bare essentials:

-GReddy Fix #2
-BOV, recommend HKS or Synapse (need to get a bov flange weled to charge pipe, and recirce fitting if you decide to go the recirc route)
-GReddy Oil Filter Sandwich adapter (made oil supply line installation 1000x's easier because of block heater)
-Boost Gauge
-AFR Gauge
-Cobb AP + MM tunes
-Midpipe
-Optional: Oil catch can, I don't really see anything but conensation getting trapped in my catch can though


Things to keep an eye on..... Coolant temp, Fuel pump/pressure (my fuel pump was unable to hold 60psi very good, although it never got to the point where it affected my AFR's before I swapped a Walbro in; $100 only)


I'll update if someone feels like I'm missing something...

Cattywampus

I have an AEM digital afr wideband gauge and a GReddy electronic boost gauge for sale in the for sale section if your interested. Also have a GREddy catch can for sale too in the same thread.

IronTanuki

I know you're on a tight budget but other things to consider:
- MM tune for the AP. Some random shop will never do a better job plus you can work out kinks over the 6 month period as you solidify your tune, plus it's very cheap if you are buying a new AP anyways
- AFR gauge as mentioned
- Turbo timer (my HKS one fits in the ashtray)
- BHR Ignition
- GReddy oil pan
- GReddy E-01 or APEX'i AVC-R boost controller

IronTanuki

Also, according to MM, a large amount of HKS BOVs on the market are knockoffs so be sure you are getting the genuine article

RotaryMachineRx

^+1 got mine from BHR, pretty sure it is authentic but again, it's very hard to tell the fakes.

+1 on the ignition, although not essential; a very worthwhile upgrade....
I question a turbo timer though, again, not essential when you can just leave the car on for a while after you park..... I plan to mount my EBC in the ashtray though haha

Brettus

apart from what has already been mentioned :
AEM intake or similar to replace the crap greddy one.
Wider tyres to handle the extra power and stiiffer shocks to combat wheelhop.

Mitharan

I do have the BHR ignition. A stock coil **** itself last winter so I upgraded instead of just replacing.

And thanks for all the advice. I think for the most part I know what I can get away with using at first and then slowly adding the other fixes before it gets to the height of summer next year. I'd love to do all those fixes at once but if I wait that long to get the money in one shot I'm sure something else will pop up first to drain the account.

My only hesitation on doing the AP and tuning myself was knowing how much tweaking I'd need to do, but reading those threads a bit more I'm more comfortable with it.

My plan right now is: the kit, AFR & boost gages, Cobb AP and a BOV.

AEM intake next, followed by new oil pan, and then radiator as money allows. Exhaust changes to round it off with a clutch/flywheel rebuild whenever the stock one burns out.

Gturbo8

Dont mean to rain on ur parade but last thing i would do to a dd rx8 is put a greddy turbo kit on it especialy if ur balling on a budget. I predict a blown motor in ur future. Prove me wrong but I bet all these people posting in this tread have blown there motors from the greddy kit. Just looking out...Ill sell u my greddy kit cheap if ud like.

Mitharan

That's where I'm crossing my fingers. After years of tweaking this kit and our engines that I can baby it and not blow it out immediately. I'm well aware that this will shorten the motor's life and need a rebuild sooner than later. My goal is to make that far enough away from when I buy all this stuff that I can afford the rebuild. Personally, even with no power adds on this car, I love it to death and I'd rather be rebuilding the engine than getting a replacement anyway.

Gturbo8

touché hope its not a $8k mistake for you like it was for me

WingleBeast

I disagree, the Greddy with AP is the closest plug and play kit on the market. It is also probably the safest AS LONG AS YOU have a good AP tune, and the other 2 MM fixes. People blow this kit doing one of two things- trying to crank up the boost or running on a tune other than the AP. In addition, making sure your coils are working is a must.

as long as those 3 things are met it is the safest FI out there for the RX8

I will list it out for you one more time:

1. AP with a GOOD tune (reccomend MM, doing it yourself will be disaterous and cost you more than the tunes he does)
2. Do not try to turn up the boost (you can to a degree but only if your tuner is in the knowhow and 10-12 is the max on the Greddy, at that point you may need bigger injectors, better cooling. people get in trouble by ignoreing these things and trying to turn up boost on the cheep like turning off the wategate)
3. complete the MM fixes on the turbo, they include: a)plumbing the wastegate to the compression side of the system, b)oil restrictor, c) ensure you have working coils, preferably with BHR unpgrade

I dont know how Gturbo8 has his setup but ill gaurentee he didnt have those three things covered when his engine blew, or it was already weak. I ran a greddy for 30K miles and still have great compression.

Brettus

Good points - except the wastgate thing Does not matter how you turn up the boost , it's always going to be more risky than running at low boost .

9krpmrx8

I agree. Most start with a motor they are unsure of and do a half *** job in their research, planning, and execution. But that is not specific to the Greddy Turbo kit, I have seen it across the board with different kits here and it was the same back in my Honda/Acura days.

But everyone has different budgets, etc. and anyway you look at it, turbocharging a car is very risky unless the car was designed with turbocharging in mind from the factory. So everyone has to do it they way they see fit and hope for the best

But some of the builds I have followed that have resulted in bad experiences were doomed from the beginning and most could have seen it coming. If you do not educate yourself you are bound to fail unless you pay a reputable shop (needle in a hay stack) to do it. Look at Stroudism's Mazsport turbo build for instance, his build was a clusterfuck from the get go and he never followed anyone's advice and now he selling his not running car for nothing.

ShellDude

bah... two years with a GReddy @ 48k miles (turbo on for 16k) daily driver with MM tune. Do the fixes have Jeff tune conservatively and you'll be fine.

MUST HAVES
Fix #2
AFR Gauge
Boost Gauge
Recirculate the BOV
AEM type CAI
Hi Flow CAT or Race pipe

CLOSE SECOND
Fuel Pressure Gauge
Oil Pressure Gauge
Oil Temperature Gauge
BNR Water/Bearings/Wheel Upgrade
BHR Ignition
3" exhaust

WingleBeast

while i dont necessarily disagree with you brettus on the wastegate thing, I think it is especially dangerous on this turbo. the greddy is already on the verge of surge with such a high flow engine, and the wastegate is already so small that restricting it not only turns up the boost, but makes the surges very unpredictable and fluctuate. Not only this but since it is just an oil cooled turbo you run the risk of cokeing the oil or blowing the bearing.

Brettus

Think you are meaning on the verge of 'choke' .
Essentially I agree that the stock Greddy is too small and can go into choke very easily on our engines.
Not sure where you are getting that other info about surging etc . There can be other causes for that BTW . The main one being the way the BC is plumbed up , but that is for another thread.

RotaryMachineRx

Ya once I get the EBC hooked up I'll be backing off with the WG arm and letting the BC handle it.... need the stock GReddy to last me at least another year until I can get a larger BB upgrade

WingleBeast

my bad, yes choke, not surge

\\Konig\\

heres my greddy turbo build thread if it helps

KONIG's Turbo Thread

ive been turbo'd for 25k miles with MM tune and very few problems...only thing now is turbo is wearing out but thats normal (if anyone has a spare turbo let me know!)

good luck and go with the HKS bov! =D