NA/T XS Power products 5 years on and new Manifold

Hi all,

Long time since I posted last but this could be useful to people going NA/T as choice seems to be quite restricted and this is my experiences with these XS products.

overall I have seen and heard mixed reviews about XS but mainly the poor reviews are from people who haven't actually used their products

my car has been converted from NA to Turbo for around 5 years now and i've had the following experience..

Turbo T61

Turbo was the T61 made good power 450BHP and 500lbft with probably a bit more to give but with a W58 gearbox attached to it 500lb ft was brave enough..

first turbo I had from them failed within a year and started to blow slightly (quite possibly down to a stupidly aggressive map it started life with and or bad luck)

..but after contacting their customer support they replaced it without much question and the replacement has been around europe twice and round the nurburgring with no issue on top of normal driving i've probably done around about 18k on this turbo without issue and is still serviceable now. I wouldnt say it spools like a more expensive turbo but certainly reliability and power in my case seems to have been pretty decent for a turbo that cost so little... Ive chosen to go for a 6266 now as it suits my more ambitious power goals but really bang for buck I really cannot fault this turbo at all. its been a scream and it costs around 285 quid delivered to the UK.. only over 800 cheaper than my new precision unit

Downpipe

This was one part of the kit that I did unfortunately have to mess around with.. granted this was 5 years ago so possible that they have made adjustments to it but the top needed to be clocked probably 20deg off where it was. Got a local exhaust shop to do this for me and the results were still a good fitting downpipe that overall cost alot less than getting it made from scratch.. granted it took a bit of messing about with that bit but its been heat wrapped and given death and shows no signs of failing and I will be continuing to use it!

Manifold 1.9mm

This is one of the first revisions of the XS manifold, i'm aware that some had issues with premature cracking in their earlier products prior to adding better bracing and materials

this manifold though has certainly seen a fair amount of heat cycles and again for the money you can't really fault it.

I have opted however to change this out with the 6266 for their newer revision and the 3mm thick one.. The 6266 is heavier than the T61 and probably more suited to the thicker manifold. the old manifold after 5 years of abuse was looking tired but overall with the milage i'm happy to retire it

(plus i'm a bit of a tart and I wanted something that looks a bit more fresh to sit the new turbo on.)

3mm XS Manifold

Placed the order for one of these today... so I will keep this thread updated with my thoughts, delivery, what it comes with etc and if I think the quality is worth the outlay and the differences between my old manifold and this one. I will be chopping the 4 bolt flange off and replacing it with a Vband but other than that will be making no modifications to it at all.

in the mean time here is a pic of what i've ordered.. certainly looks more stocky than the old unit!

Il be uploading some more pics of the parts as they come off also if that would be useful

Love the updates. While the manifold is off. I would brace the T4 flange. I actually spun my wastegate outlet 180 and welded a vband to it as well. Makes it easier to fuss around with the wastegate.

Also looks cool in the engine bay!

You changed your transmission. Or stuck with the w58?

Good posts man, good to hear reviews like this. Personally I believe you get what you pay for in terms of quality and results, but horses for courses

Good posts man, good to hear reviews like this. Personally I believe you get what you pay for in terms of quality and results, but horses for courses

I think you're right. I bought a T61 years ago. It's ran fine but since taken it off its clearly leaking and hasn't stood the test of time.

I think the worry is catastrophic failure. I wish we could do a side by side comparisons to the 62mm cheap and expensive turbos. I expect spool to be a major difference.

I’m running a marlin crawler uprated R154 now so should be able to take a bit more

Good posts man, good to hear reviews like this. Personally I believe you get what you pay for in terms of quality and results, but horses for courses

Yeah I would agree, my build to start off with was very much budget.. XS with GReddy emanage and 5 years down the line I’m swapping for precision and AEM V2 among various other changes mainly to allow me to run more power but also for a safer build.. I think for a ~400bhp build you can get away with a lot. I’m glad though I went for the TiAL wastegate though as I didn’t want to risk an issue in that area

But overall having covered 18k miles with two European road trips including the ring bang for buck is actually really good for a reasonably priced solution

Like you say noz I’m sure spool is going to be better on the 6266 but it is 4x the price [emoji23][emoji23] mine shows no evidence of leaking though would be interesting to tear it apart properly and see how it looks inside

That’s not the worst suggestion bracing it but I actually kind of want to leave it as it is and see if it needs it in the name of science haha!!