[CKomonosky]

I've owned a 2005 STi for close to 2 years now and although I'm still absolutely in love with it, I'd like to make a little more power. The car has only been daily driven but I would like to make it to some track days really soon. I don't want a crazy amount of power and I don't want to spend an insane amount of cash on additional mods. I've heard and read about so many different opinions on what turbos to get that I thought I might as well make a thread of my own. I currently have a catless exhaust, COBB intake, and a tune for them. Thanks in advance for any help. :tup:

 

[mheyman]

Search, learn, and think about what you want. The stock turbo is fine with a few basic mods. An 05 gets a nice bump with just a DP and tune.

Any significantly bigger turbo will requires significant additional mods.

 

[The Purple STi]

It really depends on what you want. Minimal upgraded turbos are20g and 1.5xtr. You cannot go wrong with either, but if you would like more power but more investment, a rotated 30 or 35 are a great choice. Biggest questions, how much do plan on spending and how far down the rabbit hole are you willing to go?

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[WhatWarranty?]

As mheyman said, going much bigger than a stock sized turbo will require additional mods like new fuel pump and bigger injectors. Then depending on the size of your upgraded turbo, if you are tracking it, it may require a better radiator and better intercooler to keep temps down. So it could be a can of worms when it comes to keeping costs down.

If you aren't chasing horsepower numbers and you want to keep costs down as much as possible, if your exhaust is just a catback, it'd be a good idea to get a dp. I had a 2004 wrx back in the day, and I remember the downpipe made a big difference in the way it felt and drove.

 

[CKomonosky]

Well, I didn't want to spend a whole lot but I've been doing a lot of reading and I think I might have convinced myself spend some more money. I still don't want to go crazy with it as it'll still be my daily, but I am okay with upgrading the fuel pump, injectors and such. I've read about a rotated 30 or 35 and they seem like great options. However, I'd like to avoid an upgraded intercooler and from what I've read at least, it seems like that's what people are doing.

 

[WhatWarranty?]

I don't know much about rotated setups. I think people typically go FMIC with those, but even if you didn't, I'd think you'd have to get an upgraded ic either way.

 

[The Purple STi]

By the sounds of it, stay with current mods and get flex fuel if available. If you are looking to avoid the cooler, you should not upgrade your turbo.

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[CKomonosky]

Seems like I need to take the time to really consider, and workout the price/time for every option. Then decide what, if any, setup will work for me. Thanks for all the input everybody, it helped out a lot.

 

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I'm a huge fan of the Blouch xtr 1.5 with an equal length header.. that requires supporting mods but it works excellent on the street-Rob

 

[TimM]

How much do you want to spend...past Stage II...costs turn into, I could of bought a Corvette or Camaro or 5.0 Mustang. Reliability will wane as well.

Your car's value takes a nose dive as well except for a niche buyer.

I can say that because we just surpassed 200,000 miles on mine.

 

[z34david]

Why not DP pump a tad more boost... it'll be a whole new car add injectors and e85 and you got the perfect daily.


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[waylouderthanyou]

Blouch 1.5xtr is a bad a** stock location turbo. You won't regret it at all.

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[mheyman]

Do the DP and tune. Assuming you go AP, you'll be at $1500-$2000 - but you'll gain something you can feel. As mentioned above E85/flex fuel if available and you can make it work would add as much too.

I realize that this thread was about power mods, but from experience, I'd put suspension and then brakes right up there with Stage 2, and certainly before spending more significant money on power. ( I think only that guy who runs dino oil would disagree with this - well see )

GD Suspension: to eliminate terminal under steer for under $2000
* 25mm hollow bars and upgraded end links
* You can spend a lot of money on suspension, but the low end will be RCE Yellows, and (and I haven't owned a pair) of the new Feal struts.
* camber plates

Do brakes when replacing anyway.

Then mounts, and gauges and clutch at or by the time or at the time of a build.

 

[Jay11STI]

Your at a good spot right now. You are at a basic stage 2 and looking for a bit more power. If I were you I would look into upgrading the suspension. I know if I could do it all over again, sway bars would be my first mod! I think you should go for some sway bars and end links and even consider getting the car pro tuned just to squeeze out a little more out of your current set up. I don't think you should upgrade the turbo unless your ready to add all the other supporting mods needed. Keep in mind that usually upgrading the turbo leads to upgrading the engine sooner than never if you catch my drift.

 

[CKomonosky]

Yeah, I think that for right now I'm just going to stick with what I have. It's not like the car has no power, but I'm just kind of used to it now and want a little more out of it. I'll probably just do a lot more digging into what would work best for me and start saving some money for if I ever actually upgrade the turbo. But I definitely want to do suspension as soon as possible.

 

[yebokmj]

I would have to say Killer B holly header or possibly some other equal length. It made the biggest difference for me power and driveablity wise. I have a 2600 lb EJ255 swapped MY95 GF wagon with a 16G hybrid turbo and supporting mods and factory headers and my MY08 STI with a protune stage II alway felt really slow compared to it and i really felt the 7-800 extra pounds of the STI. Once I added the Holy Header the differance seemed a lot smaller. The power band is so much better in every way.

 

[nate newson]

Turbo upgrade for 06 sti

Hey my turbo is going bad in my 06 sti and i wanted to know what is the best easy turbo for my car to make 325-350 whp. I have a rebuilt engine, it has a iag short block, forged manley pistons, forged manley rods, And acl race bearings. I want a turbo that will be comfortable at 325-350 whp, a quick response and easy to install to the stock location. It will help me a huge amount, thanks. And i didnt know how to start a new thread sorry.

 

[mofoSTI]

The HTA68 is nice and inexpensive without having to build your block.

 

[mheyman]

Re: Turbo upgrade for 06 sti

Hey my turbo is going bad in my 06 sti and i wanted to know what is the best easy turbo for my car to make 325-350 whp. I have a rebuilt engine, it has a iag short block, forged manley pistons, forged manley rods, And acl race bearings. I want a turbo that will be comfortable at 325-350 whp, a quick response and easy to install to the stock location. It will help me a huge amount, thanks. And i didnt know how to start a new thread sorry.

20G and 1.5xt are surely the most popular.

 

[nate newson]

Re: Turbo upgrade for 06 sti

20G and 1.5xt are surely the most popular.

Thanks this was helpful