When does your turbo spool up at?..I know with mine it is at around 4k till it really hits, but daym that's a long time to wait. I remember I had my stage one and boost was on tap and freeway passing speed was in 5th @70mph. It was fun to punch it in any gear and the thing would kick you back even at 5psi!! Ever since the Intercooler the laaaagg has been almost unbearable. I know I have been ragging on this for quite some time and I'm trying everything to reduce the lag. I'm gonna put on a testpipe. I just hate this big ass t3/t4...If I had it to do over again I'd go with a T3 or a 16g cuz the T3/T4 IMO is only good with NO I/C or producing over 400HP. If worse comes to worse I'm gonna ditch the I/C and go back to stage I.
I'll try and rig my I/C piping to go straight shot and post some results. Thanks

Alvin
96 RST


http://www.kaptainmyke.com/tir/gallery/SemperBoost
Star Stage I turbo kit /Starion I/C w/ 2" chrome piping / GReddy Type-S BOV / Splitsec VC1 / Custom APEXi- GReddy 2.5" exhaust / Nology wires / Dual Gaugepod pillar mount / APEXi EL mech boost gauge / Autometer A/F gauge / Southland Dual Friction clutch / B&M short shifter / Energy Suspension shifter bushings / 17" Axxis Wheelsitemesh on 225/45s / Front/ Rear camberkits / Eibach Prokits / Tokico Blues/ Front Upper, Rear Upper/Lower strut bars / Rear GST sway bar
X-drilled rotors / Axxis pads / Stock GS/GST sideskirts /Color-matched center taillight/ door handles/ sideviews
Cleared Headlight turns/PIAA bulbs

I Change my turbine housing to .48, now it spools alot faster. It spools up at 2.5k-4k for full boost at 7psi with my FMIC. That housing cost me $150 install it myself.

I have the star kit, but a spearco fmic and 2.5" piping. I have the standard trim turbo, no E trim or BB option. Also stock exhaust except for a muffler. It starts spooling about the same as it did before the intercooler. I mean, maybe a couple hundred rpm later, but there isn't a ton of lag or anything. At 3K, I can push the gas pedal to the floor and it starts spooling instantly and I hit full boost by about 3.5K or so. Maybe a little sooner than that. I never really look at my tach a whole lot until I need to start thinking about shifting. I made all the piping myself and it is pretty straight. There aren't any real tight bends and it is also 2.5" so maybe that helps. If you do have a lot of bends in your piping, it may be a good idea to make some new ones that are straighter. Maybe go a hair bigger(2.25), too. Justin

Lag is part of having a turbo car... live with it. :-) and converting back to stage 1 would be about the worst thing you could do, its MUCH harder on your engine. it may take a little longer to spool, but you are making MORE power cause the air is much colder. sell your t3/t4 and get a straught T3 before you go to stage 1 again, but be prepared to notice the loss in top end when racing.

I would suggest going w/ a 3" catback and no cat,or a high flow one at least.And if you really wanna go all out,might as well get a 3" downpipe.

do you have a manual boost controller to compensate for the pressure loss your intercooler is giving you? When I installed my starion it was giving me 4psi of boost so I had to get a boost controller and correct it to 5 psi. Or you can try hooking the wastegate signal hose to the intake manifold.

Hehe the lag on my car is really bad cuz my engine is jacked up also 150 130 130 150, have you checked your compression lately?

Well I'm going to do a couple of things to help out with my lag
1)install the straight pipe $30...might be little louder but hey I got a family car already, this is my toy.
2)get the .48 trim from turbonetics $150...junjun said our t3/t4 comes with a .63 so a smaller wheel will help alot.
3) get a joe P MBC $50...right now the line is hooked up to the intake manifold good for bout 7psi but I think the WG opens at around 5 or maybe even 4psi...My cousin's DRAG LS said that the MBC works pretty good.
Hopefully this 'trio' will help me with the spool. Also I was thinking of rerouting my intercooler piping cuz rite now my turbo is clocked up in the 'Stage I' position an the pipe does a hard right then another immediate hard right down. I might hack job it and clock the turbo down..it'll look cleaner also. I haven't done a compression check cuz I'm lazy and I really don't boost alot. Thanks for all the info folks...Thanks for reassuring my faith in my car!!!!!

96 RST


http://www.kaptainmyke.com/tir/gallery/SemperBoost
Star Stage I turbo kit /Starion I/C w/ 2" chrome piping / GReddy Type-S BOV / Splitsec VC1 / Custom APEXi- GReddy 2.5" exhaust / Nology wires / Dual Gaugepod pillar mount / APEXi EL mech boost gauge / Autometer A/F gauge / Southland Dual Friction clutch / B&M short shifter / Energy Suspension shifter bushings / 17" Axxis Wheelsitemesh on 225/45s / Front/ Rear camberkits / Eibach Prokits / Tokico Blues/ Front Upper, Rear Upper/Lower strut bars / Rear GST sway bar
X-drilled rotors / Axxis pads / Stock GS/GST sideskirts /Color-matched center taillight/ door handles/ sideviews
Cleared Headlight turns/PIAA bulbs

Hey, semper its the turbine housing that's big, it's not the wheel. You buy the .48 turbine trim instead of the standard .63 that it came with our t3/t4. It so simple to replace, just swapping the turbine housing with out replacing or doing anything with the wheel. okay...

1) How can you tell if the housing is .63 or .48?
Also is it the same wheel inside?
2)I saw on the website that it's for $208..how'd you get it for $150.
3) Which stage did you get ..the standard...II..III?
I don't know which stage I got cuz I got the kit in the beginning when they didn't have any options. Thanks for info...

ALivn

96 RST


http://www.kaptainmyke.com/tir/gallery/SemperBoost
Star Stage I turbo kit /Starion I/C w/ 2" chrome piping / GReddy Type-S BOV / Splitsec VC1 / Custom APEXi- GReddy 2.5" exhaust / Nology wires / Dual Gaugepod pillar mount / APEXi EL mech boost gauge / Autometer A/F gauge / Southland Dual Friction clutch / B&M short shifter / Energy Suspension shifter bushings / 17" Axxis Wheelsitemesh on 225/45s / Front/ Rear camberkits / Eibach Prokits / Tokico Blues/ Front Upper, Rear Upper/Lower strut bars / Rear GST sway bar
X-drilled rotors / Axxis pads / Stock GS/GST sideskirts /Color-matched center taillight/ door handles/ sideviews
Cleared Headlight turns/PIAA bulbs

Alvin.. you know how huge my FMIC is. You might want to check that Starquest for flow and leaks.. or run gas through it to clean it out. But don't make the mistake of putting in a straight pipe in place of your cat. You're gonna hate it. Throws off your O2 readings and your exhaust starts to smell janky. Come down to Daygo when you're off vacation.. I'll work on your shieet. You know I'll always help you out. I don't know if you're still interested.. but that bumper is still sitting at the shop. John said 80.00 for paint and it's yours. I told him to paint it already.. but I don't know if he finished.

Coo..thanks bro..i knew you could help me out. But I defitntely want the bumper and I'll try to find some time to go down to daygo...I'll contact ya later man

Alvin

96 RST


http://www.kaptainmyke.com/tir/gallery/SemperBoost
Star Stage I turbo kit /Starion I/C w/ 2" chrome piping / GReddy Type-S BOV / Splitsec VC1 / Custom APEXi- GReddy 2.5" exhaust / Nology wires / Dual Gaugepod pillar mount / APEXi EL mech boost gauge / Autometer A/F gauge / Southland Dual Friction clutch / B&M short shifter / Energy Suspension shifter bushings / 17" Axxis Wheelsitemesh on 225/45s / Front/ Rear camberkits / Eibach Prokits / Tokico Blues/ Front Upper, Rear Upper/Lower strut bars / Rear GST sway bar
X-drilled rotors / Axxis pads / Stock GS/GST sideskirts /Color-matched center taillight/ door handles/ sideviews
Cleared Headlight turns/PIAA bulbs

The AR of all the STAR-Turbonetics turbos is .63 unless you specify otherwise.

The only way you can tell is to remove the tirbo from the manifold. the AR is stamped onto the interior of the hotside inlet.

For the record, the T3/T04e that comes with the star kit is a T04e housing with a 40 trim wheel and a .63 AR T3 hotside. I got a chance to look one over before the kit was installed.

What exactly is the A/R...cuz my friend said that if i were to get a different housing then I'd hafta get a different wheel?..thanks
96 RST


http://www.kaptainmyke.com/tir/gallery/SemperBoost
Star Stage I turbo kit /Starion I/C w/ 2" chrome piping / GReddy Type-S BOV / Splitsec VC1 / Custom APEXi- GReddy 2.5" exhaust / Nology wires / Dual Gaugepod pillar mount / APEXi EL mech boost gauge / Autometer A/F gauge / Southland Dual Friction clutch / B&M short shifter / Energy Suspension shifter bushings / 17" Axxis Wheelsitemesh on 225/45s / Front/ Rear camberkits / Eibach Prokits / Tokico Blues/ Front Upper, Rear Upper/Lower strut bars / Rear GST sway bar
X-drilled rotors / Axxis pads / Stock GS/GST sideskirts /Color-matched center taillight/ door handles/ sideviews
Cleared Headlight turns/PIAA bulbs

You don't need a smaller wheel, the housing bolts right in. Call this number (253)475-8319 Turbo tech. ask for Jim, part #20357-2, don't forget to mention my name, Jun.

I have a strait T3 and it starts to spool at 2000 and reaching max boost at around 3200. That tells you how small it is. It is very smooth though. I want to try to push the T3 as fare as I can. After my rebuild I will be turning up the boost to see just how hight the T3 can go. They say it should be good up to 325hp. It is nice to have the power through out the band. I see T3's all over Ebay for $150 to $200. You may just want to pick one up. Keep in mind, if it is used you may need to rebuild it. A rebuild kit runs around $75.

You can also go to the junk yard and pull one off of an old 89 Turbo Audi. Cheaper that way.