So I've been on the edge back in forth between going turbo and buying new coilovers. I already have a built engine, mishimoto rad, and a walbro and was just wondering how much money im looking at here for a t25 FMIC setup to be running. Meaning all the little odds and ends too. Anybody have a rough idea of what price range im looking at?

Thanks in advance

1,000-1,200 if you look for deals

But a t25 is kind of a waste, especially on built engine. Save money and do it correctly.

under 500 buying used good parts. get an fmu (7:1 ratio),good turbo name brand here,ebay or used manifold/bov/ic/pipe should get you 220whp. retard timing and dont go over 8psi


biggie is right. even if your motor is built... a t2 is too small and you will be out of its range around 10psi. A cheap t3 setup will be less likely to destroy your engine. Even forgies blow ring lands with detonation..

neverlift wrote:under 500 buying used good parts. get an fmu (7:1 ratio),good turbo name brand here,ebay or used manifold/bov/ic/pipe should get you 220whp. retard timing and dont go over 8psi


biggie is right. even if your motor is built... a t2 is too small and you will be out of its range around 10psi. A cheap t3 setup will be less likely to destroy your engine. Even forgies blow ring lands with detonation..

I don't understand how a t3 would be safer for my engine. Wouldn't a bigger turbo be worse? And the reason I'm doing this is because I have limited money to spend on my car before I need to start putting money away for my first year of college and I didn't want to start something I couldn't finish. I'd be fine with 220whp since this is an auto x car. I dont need a lot of power yet but that extra ummph would be good. I'll upgrade to the 2871r or a t3 for sure though.

T3 would be more efficient and a T25 will be struggling, the T2 just restricts airflow on a KA (until you are getting into 2871, etc).

My life advice is if you are needing to save for college then I wouldn't be doing any of this.

Haha nah I don't need to save money to pay for college. Scholarships have that taken care of mostly, I hope. I meant just for food and some occasional crack/cocaine...

Just saying that I spent money on a 240 during college and wished I hadn't. Enough debt without doing that.

Caveit77777 wrote:I don't understand how a t3 would be safer for my engine. Wouldn't a bigger turbo be worse? And the reason I'm doing this is because I have limited money to spend on my car before I need to start putting money away for my first year of college and I didn't want to start something I couldn't finish. I'd be fine with 220whp since this is an auto x car. I dont need a lot of power yet but that extra ummph would be good. I'll upgrade to the 2871r or a t3 for sure though.

For a given level of power, a T3 will be more efficient. This means less backpressure on the motor since the turbine won't need as much of a pressure differential to compress the air and the air will be cooler so you get more density from a given pressure. These translate to less stress on the motor for the most part. More power does inherently mean there will be some additional stress on the mechanicals, but at the power levels you are mentioning, it is negligible (assuming a motor that is in decent shape).

As for upgrading later, I'd avoid that and just do it right the first time. There is going to be less expense in the long run by not having to buy another turbo, and if modifications to any of the plumbing is needed in the upgrade, that's additional cost as well. Of course, you may do it "right" and end up wanting to upgrade again later anyways, but if you know where you want to be for now, reach for that goal as directly as possible. Regardless of how you do it, I would recommend saving the money and then buying parts once you have enough money to complete the system. If you start piecing it together as money comes along and then an emergency comes up or plans change, you won't be able to change gears so easy as you'll have parts you'll need to get rid of.

Thanks for the advice from all.
To biggie, I wasn't trying to argue that a t2 would be safer for my engine but I was actually confused. I'll take into consideration on how much I spend on the 240 in college for sure.
To C-Kwik, Thanks for setting everything straight. I'm going to do my best to save my money rather than buying piece by piece because even though I have the pieces, if I don't have all of them it wont matter anyways.