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“Many factors go into choosing the right set-up: price, turbo size, power goals, and even aesthetics. What turbos are Kiwis running to make the power these days? Rene Vermeer decided to check out a few big-power set-ups at The V 4&Rotary Nationals on January 24 at Auckland’s ASB Showgrounds to see just what turbos are making the numbers …”
First off, we’ll start with Faizal Ramzan’s Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R as it won the Power Output award in the Tough Street category. Faizal’s R34 GT-R makes 638.4kW (856hp) at the wheels thanks to a set of twin HKS GTR turbos and an RB30 block built by R.I.P.S. This just proves you don’t need a large single huffer to make good numbers, but as this is the only twin turbo making good power at the show, I’ll move onto some big singles.
There’s nothing I love more in this world than a high-horsepower, small-capacity engine with copious amounts of boost being the catalyst to ignite such fury. CA18DET-powered vehicles aren’t most peoples choice for big numbers nowadays, but Bronson Reardon wanted to be different with his 180SX ‘DRFTA’, so decided to stick with it. Bronson is running a hybrid T66 turbo with four-inch inlet built by Steve Murch. The turbo will pump out around 26–27psi on the final tune, which will see the CA18DET scream to over 300kW at the wheels. Plenty for a 1800cc motor.
If you want to go big, Holset has the answer with their Pro55 turbo, featured here in Aaron Keach’s 20B-powered Mazda RX-3. We can’t wait to see what numbers it puts out once it’s tuned. Aaron ran this engine in his ‘SLAM IT’ FC RX-7 with a large BorgWarner turbo and made an impressive 530kW (712hp) at the wheels on 12psi of boost, so we’re certain — with the new turbo — 700–800kW at the wheels could easily be achieved.
Back in 2010, Dave Stock had his dream Mitsubishi built by Andre Simon and the team at STM, and it was soon named ‘DS9’. The car was built with the sole intention of being the fastest late-model Evo in the world. To help it get there, sure a lot of suspension, driveline, and bodywork had to be completed, but what really helped the Evo break the record was the 747kW (1001hp) at the wheels power output. How do you make a 4G63 make that much power? The key ingredient is the dinner-plate-sized Garrett GT45 turbocharger with TiAL Sport V-band turbine housing. Stray animals, children, and the like, steer clear of this turbo, as you may lose a limb or two.