Has anyone here got any experience with IHI turbos? I'd like to replace my old-style Garrett T3 with a nice ball bearing IHI, but have never heard of them till lately. Any help would be appreciated.
they are good turbos, OE on early Ford applications from what I remember.
are ball bearing turbo's newer/better technology than our turbos?
are ball bearing turbo's newer/better technology than our turbos?
The short answer is yes. Ball bearing turbos tend to spool quicker than journal bearing turbos due to reduced friction. They are also probably a bit more durable as far as low oil pressure at start up is concerned. I'm sure others have advantages I'm not thinking of.
I bought an IHI VF14 to use as a replacement for my Roto-Master turbo on my caddy. It's the bigger of the two that came on a JDM Subaru Legacy twin turbo. I think it's about the size of a K14, maybe a little smaller. This I am told boosted the Subie motor to 280 hp. I'm looking for low-mid to upper-mid range torque. I've got a few more bugs to work out before I start the swap. I've got to figure where to hook in the water lines, etc.
I was trying to get someone to get pictures and measurments of a K14 to compare.
http://www.vwdiesel.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=17196