tips for rebuilding s1 rb25 turbo for my rb20

[blues14]

I have decided to go ahead and use the rb25 turbo i already own for my rb20. but i do want to put some money into it as far as rebuilding it and changing out the ceramic blades to steel. Does anybody have suggestions for how to go about doing this?? where to source parts or maybe a send out service?

[nizmo zilvia]

why not just sell the RB25 turbo and get another one? Looks like you want to upgrade so why not spent a bit more money?

[blues14]

I just like the fact that it will bolt right up using what i already have. plus most of my driving is city, so i dont want a big, laggy turbo. My overall power goal is around 270-300 whp, which I think this turbo will be capable of.

[RB20DETodd]

rb25 turbo on a 20 is a turd upgrade not worth the time

[armysweitzer]

this has been discussed many times and there have been many dyno sheets around 240whp, all stock with a rb25 turbo.

in my opinion its a great upgrade, I forget what my spool was like before but id say i havnt noticed a difference in lag times. Go for it.

as far as rebuilding, its not worth putting money into it. If your gona to spend money on rebuilding it buy a new turbo.

say you got it for 200 (i paid that for mine)even the cheapest rebuild will be half of a new turbo. SO if you sell your rb25 turbo you could already be at half or 3/4 of a new turbo.

my .02

[RB20DETodd]

this has been discussed many times and there have been many dyno sheets around 240whp, all stock with a rb25 turbo.

in my opinion its a great upgrade, I forget what my spool was like before but id say i havnt noticed a difference in lag times. Go for it.

as far as rebuilding, its not worth putting money into it. If your gona to spend money on rebuilding it buy a new turbo.

say you got it for 200 (i paid that for mine)even the cheapest rebuild will be half of a new turbo. SO if you sell your rb25 turbo you could already be at half or 3/4 of a new turbo.

my .02

I think the rb25 gets the extra power from the .5 displacement, and 240hp on a stock rb20 with a rb25 turbo? at what 14 psi lol

[armysweitzer]

i believe that last dyno sheet i saw was at 12

[Eikon]

There are a couple companies in Australia that rebuild 25 turbos with upgraded internals. They call them "HiFlow". GCC is one company.

Basically they beef them up to hold high boost levels. I read something about using Garrett GT30 internals.

Might be pretty expensive though?

I don't know if there is anything you can do yourself to upgrade inexpensively.

If your going to spend the dough... I'd just get a new turbo.

[Eikon]

I think the rb25 gets the extra power from the .5 displacement, and 240hp on a stock rb20 with a rb25 turbo? at what 14 psi lol

From what I've read (and hopefully will find out in a couple weeks), the Rb25 turbo is a very good upgrade for the Rb20 on a budget.

240hp has been verified with supporting mods. What's so great about that you might ask... It pretty much maxes out the stock injectors.

I've been starting to think of RB20 mods in terms of stages. Here's my basic outline.

Stage 1 = Fuel pump + Breathing (Pod filter, catback exhaust, test pipe or straight pipe, FMIC, blow off valve, etc.) Then install the Rb25 turbo. This should get you to 240whp with proper timing. Stock internals, stock fuel system (other than pump), and stock ECU.

Anything more than 240hp and the 270cc injectors are a little iffy. This is a great goal for a budget since the next stage of mods get a lot more expensive.

Stage 2 = Upgrade fuel, airflow, and engine management. To get over 240hp, you will need more fuel.. Recommended upgrade level would be 440cc GTR injectors or Supra injectors or even some 550cc aftermarket injectors. You will need to upgrade your MAF at this point as well. The common mods are Z32 or Q45 to help read enough airflow. You will need to run some sort of engine management now as well. From the basic SAFC2 to chips to emanage to full standalone, etc... you will need to be able to control air/fuel maps for the car to run properly with more fuel. Now that you got those, you can install a bigger better turbo. GT30's, t3/t04e, etc... There are a lot of options. Another upgrade to help would be better cams. You should be able to get at least 350hp and perhaps up to 400hp. Still on stock internals. You might even consider alchohal injection. One RB20 in the states hit 495 whp with alcy. and stock internals.

Stage 3 = Internals and others... To explore the higher bounds of the RB20, it is recommended to rebuild the engine with forged internals. You may choose to increase the displacement to 2.2, 2.3, or 2.4 liters. You may upgrade cams now as well.