CX Racing - Any opinions?

What with the black Friday sales I'm convincing myself I'm in the market for a single turbo upgrade for the track car.

I noticed a drop in power over about 5k rpm & a marked increase in noise from the stock twins (running about 1.3 bar) at the last track day and I'm half tempted to pull the pin on this kit....

http://www.cxracing.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CXR&Product_Code=TRB-KIT-MF-DP-1JZGTE-WT-GT35-T4-AI&Category_Code=SC300

Bear in mind I'm running a 1JZ so this is the kit I think will be most appropriate.

And €800 for a complete kit is hard to ignore!

AFAIK the stock 1JZ ecu, 440cc TT Supra injectors and upgraded SMIC I have will also be up to the task of running this 450-500bhp (at best) kit.

What I want to know is if anyone has had any type of dealing with this company and if so was it a success or complete disaster when it came to fitting parts to a RHD?

I know most of you are dead set against trying to save money on things like single upgrades but my car sits in the yard, unloved, for about 360 days of the year and is dragged up onto a trailer to be taken to a track and horribly abused for a few hours every once in a while, I really can't justify a top of the range kit for such sporadic use.

Any & all opinions welcome.

I brought the flak jacket.

From what i have seen / Heard on this forum, its generally the turbo which can be unreliable more then the supporting kit. Although i have seen some on here running cheap turbos, and seem to remember them ensuring it had the correct amount of oil flow, they would last a long while. Dont know how much constant abuse they gave them though as most on here are road users and dont track their cars

They are meant to be very good for the money. Dyno Torque use them for some bits.

From what i have seen / Heard on this forum, its generally the turbo which can be unreliable more then the supporting kit. Although i have seen some on here running cheap turbos, and seem to remember them ensuring it had the correct amount of oil flow, they would last a long while. Dont know how much constant abuse they gave them though as most on here are road users and dont track their cars

I'm looking at their MK3 Supra LS1 Twin Turbo kit for My Mk4 (minus the turbos and waste gates) as it looks like just what I need.

I not trying to throw a spanner in and say all cheap kits are rubbish (as some of them are fine) but just bear in mind your car will only ever be as reliable as the cheapest/unreliable part (they usually go hand in hand), I am not saying this one is rubbish it may be great but It may be OK on a road car, but when you are thrashing it about on a circuit (as you know) its an entirely different ballgame.

Would hate to see you throw near a grand at the car only for the turbo to turn itself inside out.

http://www.cxracing.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CXR&Product_Code=TRB-KIT-SUPRA-MK4-IC-DP&Category_Code=Supra-MK4

Thats a very good price, isnt it possible to change the turbo to a decent brand, take it that the manifold is turbo specific?

I not trying to throw a spanner in and say all cheap kits are rubbish (as some of them are fine) but just bear in mind your car will only ever be as reliable as the cheapest/unreliable part (they usually go hand in hand), I am not saying this one is rubbish it may be great but It may be OK on a road car, but when you are thrashing it about on a circuit (as you know) its an entirely different ballgame.

 

Would hate to see you throw near a grand at the car only for the turbo to turn itself inside out.

It's a fair point. Bit of a false economy, to be honest.

From what i have seen / Heard on this forum, its generally the turbo which can be unreliable more then the supporting kit.

They are meant to be very good for the money. Dyno Torque use them for some bits.

So even if the turbo turned out to be chocolate the rest of the kit would be of some use as a basis for a build of dismal proportions?

I not trying to throw a spanner in and say all cheap kits are rubbish (as some of them are fine) but just bear in mind your car will only ever be as reliable as the cheapest/unreliable part (they usually go hand in hand), I am not saying this one is rubbish it may be great but It may be OK on a road car, but when you are thrashing it about on a circuit (as you know) its an entirely different ballgame.

 

Would hate to see you throw near a grand at the car only for the turbo to turn itself inside out.

It's a fair point. Bit of a false economy, to be honest.

I can totally appreciate where you are both coming from lads and I've done what I can to buy decent (albeit used) parts for the project up 'til now, mostly from this club.

The problem is, a good used turbo kit specific to the 1JZ just doesn't come up very often and with the popularity of these engines in drifting there'd be no guarantee that it hadn't been completely thrashed anyway despite looking like a genuine offering.

If the rest of the kit turned out to be of a decent standard you could hardly call it a false economy though, could you. I mean what money does a new "big name" manifold go for?

I'm not looking for/expecting perfection to the Nth degree as I simply cannot commit the type of money required to guarantee that type of attention to detail and the latest research/materials.

I'd love to have a decent project fund to dip into whenever something like this crops up and possibly by the middle of next year I might even be in a position to organise just such a kitty but the time attack series kicks off in March and if I'm in need of a turbo I'm in need of it before then to at least get some kind of set-up done on a rolling road.

I know it sounds like I've already made my mind up and I'm wasting everyone's time but I genuinely haven't seen anything else on offer to meet my needs.

Unless of course I got the stock twins rebuilt but let's face it, that will come to the same type of money and the stockers will never have an long life, running at their limit.

isn't it possible to change the turbo to a decent brand, take it that the manifold is turbo specific?

As far as I know that is the case mate.

So even if the turbo turned out to be chocolate the rest of the kit would be of some use as a basis for a build of dismal proportions?

 

I can totally appreciate where you are both coming from lads and I've done what I can to buy decent (albeit used) parts for the project up 'til now, mostly from this club.

 

The problem is, a good used turbo kit specific to the 1JZ just doesn't come up very often and with the popularity of these engines in drifting there'd be no guarantee that it hadn't been completely thrashed anyway despite looking like a genuine offering.

 

If the rest of the kit turned out to be of a decent standard you could hardly call it a false economy though, could you. I mean what money does a new "big name" manifold go for?

 

I'm not looking for/expecting perfection to the Nth degree as I simply cannot commit the type of money required to guarantee that type of attention to detail and the latest research/materials.

 

I'd love to have a decent project fund to dip into whenever something like this crops up and possibly by the middle of next year I might even be in a position to organise just such a kitty but the time attack series kicks off in March and if I'm in need of a turbo I'm in need of it before then to at least get some kind of set-up done on a rolling road.

 

I know it sounds like I've already made my mind up and I'm wasting everyone's time but I genuinely haven't seen anything else on offer to meet my needs.

 

Unless of course I got the stock twins rebuilt but let's face it, that will come to the same type of money and the stockers will never have an long life, running at their limit.

 

As far as I know that is the case mate.

I know where you are coming from dude and it is a good price for a turbo kit, it also seems they are known within the 1JZ community.

Perhaps mention to them you are running TA next season, who knows they may even sponsor you, there is no better marketing for a company then people seeing the kit actually working on a car on the track.

If they don't offer any sponsorship deals or show any interest in helping you then perhaps thats the answer to the question "are they any good" because if the product is unreliable then they wont be willing to ruin the rep they have by seeing the kit failing in front of all the other guys on track, and lets be honest thats where the likes of the big "branded" goods started... on the track.

I do know where you are coming from though, its difficult to do things like this on a budget. However tracking and racing a 400+HP car is never going to be cheap (as you well know)

...lots of sense.....

Yeah, I think I might give the whole black Friday, panic-buying scenario a miss and find out a bit more about what's out there or if I'm even on the right track with what's going on with my own.

Spoilsport

Might be worth buying the turbo, manifold, downpipe, intake pipe and piecing the rest together yourself. The hose fittings on these kits tend to be poor, along with the waste gates and general fitment isn't always spot on first time (but they're custom parts so it's fair to expect some fettling). I would give the manifold a shot just check all the flanges are completely flat, the turbo (if anything like my old XS Power one) should be fine with the correct oil restrictor and the downpipe should be usable but may require some slight modification to ensure it's a good fit. Wastegate, hoses etc I would buy some quality items.

Might be worth buying the turbo, manifold, downpipe, intake pipe and piecing the rest together yourself. The hose fittings on these kits tend to be poor, along with the waste gates and general fitment isn't always spot on first time (but they're custom parts so it's fair to expect some fettling). I would give the manifold a shot just check all the flanges are completely flat, the turbo (if anything like my old XS Power one) should be fine with the correct oil restrictor and the downpipe should be usable but may require some slight modification to ensure it's a good fit. Wastegate, hoses etc I would buy some quality items.

Cheers for the advice Rich.

I assume the oil restrictor you mention is fitted to the oil return from the turbo to the sump.

How do you go about sizing the one you need and is it merely an extra fitting with a smaller internal bore than the rest of the return?

Cheers for the advice Rich.

 

I assume the oil restrictor you mention is fitted to the oil return from the turbo to the sump.

 

How do you go about sizing the one you need and is it merely an extra fitting with a smaller internal bore than the rest of the return?

The oil restrictor was in the form of the oil feed flange that bolts on the top of the turbo for my application. I simply bought the oil feed flange and drilled the centre to 3mm with a pillar drill as recommended by others using the same set up. CX racing should be able to advise I would hope.

As for the oil return, general consensus is the least restriction in flow the better I think.

The oil restrictor was in the form of the oil feed flange that bolts on the top of the turbo for my application. I simply bought the oil feed flange and drilled the centre to 3mm with a pillar drill as recommended by others using the same set up. CX racing should be able to advise I would hope.

 

As for the oil return, general consensus is the least restriction in flow the better I think.

Ah, I see. So there is normally a restrictor incorporated into the oil feed supplied with a kit, but you had to increase the internal bore of the restrictor for yours as there wasn't enough oil flow to the journal?

I was assuming there was no restriction in the feed but I thought the issue might've been insufficient oil pressure in the journal, hence the restrictor in the return.

I know this is all subject to whatever kit you are dealing with at the time and solutions will differ accordingly but I had to re-read your post three times before I got my head around the bit about the restrictor in the feed!

If you use a -3 oil feed, you might not need to use a restrictor. I used a -4 and fitted one at the oil feed inlet on the turbo itself.

If you look up the turbo you're planning to use, you may find the info for restrictor sizing.

I checked borg warner's site, and it stated what size restrictor to use.

I looked a little further into this and the restrictor seems to be there to stop the turbo seals from being overwhelmed due to the size of the drain normally found on small turbos and nothing to do with my simple minded hypotheses of a lack of oil flow or pressure to the turbo at all.

Every day is a school day.