Learn Me - Subaru turbos on other vehicles

Seems like there are a lot of used td04-13t (WRX) turbos for very little money. One man's trash, another man's treasure?

I want to build a low-boost turbo setup for my '99 Tacoma 2rz. The compressor map for the 13t looks pretty good for this motor and the boost/power levels I'm looking at (if I'm reading the map correctly). Seems like a used Mitsubishi turbo is a better bet than a new eBay churbo, right? What am I missing?

The big commitment would be building a manifold to accommodate a scooby turbo as most 2rz manifolds have T3 flanges. What about flange adapters? Bad idea?

What's a frugal guy's best bet for getting some boost on a 2.4L 4-cyl?

Curious to heaa people's thoughts on this as well. The older toyota 22R's come to mind as a buddy has an affinity for first gen 4 runners and wants a bit more punch.

I would stick with the mitsubishi or maybe look for garrett turbos. Mitsubishi turbo seems like manifold should be made for it but I bet a garrett manifold is available.

I would definitely go with a used OEM turbo over a cheap ebay turbo. I would build a manifold, personally.

Tb03. Here's a list. http://www.motorgeek.com/viewtopic.php?t=1955

5 banger volvos came with td04-13ts as well. s60r/v70rs came with 15ts.

FWIW, my 1.9l has a TD04-12t. It doesn't make much power. I tried turning the boost up mechanically (Volvo thoughtfully put a threaded wastegate on) and boost did technically go up but the car didn't feel any faster at 7psi vs. 4psi so I turned it back down again.

I was going to recomend a volvo mitsu turbo as well but mainly for its ingenious packaging of integrated wastegate. Redblocks (2.3 4cyl) got a tdo4 13g where the whiteblock 5cyls got anything from a 13t to a 19t. Any of the td04 will be instaboost and loose steam later in the band but I dont see that as much a problem with a truck. Id suggest a td04 16t or maybe a td05 14b or 16g from a mitsubishi car like gst/gsx or evo for more flow. That said im sure a subie turbo would be fine but volvo units can be found in junkyards easily

Spark notes id say a 13t wrx unit too small and a volvo unit from 15g and up to be a better match

sesto elemento wrote: 5 banger volvos came with td04-13ts as well. s60r/v70rs came with 15ts.

Only certain ones...and S60/V70Rs run a KKK K24 that kinda just barely outflows the 19T.

13G: 97 Volvo 850 GLT, 98 S/V70 GLT, 98 V70 XC

15G: 94-97 Volvo 850 Turbo, 850 R

13T: 99-00 S/V70 GLT, V70 XC, 99-04 C70 LPT

16T: 98-00 S/V70 T5, 98-04 C70 HPT, 98 V70 R

18T: 99 V70 R

19T: 00 V70 R

^ this, only thing I see is only the 94 and 95 850r came with 15g later models came 16t. Also there the interesting bits about which exhaust housing came on which but the "flat flange" is best universal exh side, weld on a 3in v band to the discharge and its pretty universal.

Thanks guys, good info. It looks like there's potential with the Mitsu turbos. There are a lot of TD04s out there for cheap and if I need to go bigger it looks like there are options there as well.

I still have a lot of homework to do, but this looks promising for my low-dollar turbo build.

A few more questions. There are a few local CL ads for WRX td04 turbos, stock wrx injectors, and a stock wrx tmic. Just trying to figure out if any of these pieces could fit in my puzzle.

Would a WRX top-mount-inter-cooler (tmic) be of any value to me? I'm not interested in cutting a hood scoop and not sure I have hood clearance, but could the same ic be configured as a fmic or is that a fool's errand?

Still need to learn more on the injectors as well. It looks like the wrx are high impedance top feed injectors (same as my Tacoma) and have good flow for my goals, but I believe the injector bodies are shorter. Miata guys have apparently used them with machined spacers to get the right fit. Any knowledge on this front?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUKgKtMXec8#

It would be pretty difficult to set up a WRX intercooler as a front mount, the Y-pipe on the back that feeds them takes up a lot of space and then you'll have piping exiting through the top or bottom instead of the sides. I've had one sitting on a shelf for a few years now and the whole assembly is about 6" thick, you would need a LOT of space up front and some really bizarre plumbing.

Also, one advantage of the Volvo turbos over the Subaru is that the flanges are significantly less goofy and would make upgrading much easier down the line.