Master Power Turbos Any Good

[leeroy_25]

Hi Guy's my previous post on OBX confirmed my thoughts although the seller was trying to disagree!

Now has anyone got any opinions on Master Power turbo's I have been looking at lots of 'unconventional' options for my 'budget' build!

These units seem to have a pretty god rep in the US and a few people have been trying to ush them over here. Seem to make good power on very moderately sized units.. i.e supposed to be very efficient.

Any thoughts please?

Thank you

Lee

[R31Nismoid]

Same as your OBX thread

Turbos just dont come cheap unfortunately... the 'best' of the cheap turbos would be the KKR ones (plenty of threads on those)... but IMO they are fairly dreadful.

I'd rather pay the extra 600 and reap the big benefits of a decent turbo to be honest.

[NYTSKY]

Your cheapest option will be Garrett turbos. Anything under that i wouldnt bother.

[rev210]

wait a minute though guys.

These are the "Masters of Power".

Seriously. Do you want a 'good turbo' or one thats just going to make a number?

If you have the money widen your choices to better gear. Certainly weigh up good value options but, remember aspects like turbos totally dictate the cars characteristics.

[FLY12N]

I'd stick with Garrett as a minimum.

[VB-]

i always get these mixed up, but im pretty sure masterpower are ok, they dont fall apart like most ebay ones, although they wont make the same power/spool as early as a garrett. XS power are the ones to avoid, and will self destruct quicker than you can say "ahhh f*ck not again....."

look on US ebay, like this joint goldfarbinc

theres a thread on here somewhere recently bout holset turbos, shipped to your door off ebay for under $500

[PM-R33]

You can pick garrett turbo's up pretty cheap second hand these days, just try to find one. Don't f**k around with cheap crap that you going to one day regret buying.

[Kaido_RR]

does anyone have some 1st hand experience?

or is it all just my brother, uncle best mates cousin had one?

[leeroy_25]

I second Mike on that.. If I ask around on US forums Master Power seem to have quite a good track record? I found dome guy in NZ that uild track cars and pretty much all he uses is MP. I am loathed to buy a garret just because every one else has one and is too scared to try anything else. You pay for the name just as much as the quality.. I think I would sooner go Holset Or Borg Warner be a bit more unconventional and better value I feel?

[bubba]

My GT358R cost me $1600 brand spankers.. in the scheme of things I didn't find that outrageous and feel better knowing that it is a tried and true item.

[SimonR32]

a while ago a few guys in perth were using master power turbos...

they seemed to work fine and were reliable, but they are plain bearing and oil cooled

they also didnt have very good response

as people have said, go the good ol' garrett

[Bliksem]

Isnt every turbo oil cooled? Plain bearing doesnt necessarily mean poor response.

If you want something different and cheap that won't end in tears how about a Turbonetics GTK series turbo?

Edited December 8, 2008 by MintR33

[rev210]

If you want to just 'make a number' then bolt on a second hand diesel turbo.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

I am loathed to buy a garret just because every one else has one and is too scared to try anything else. You pay for the name just as much as the quality.. I think I would sooner go Holset Or Borg Warner be a bit more unconventional and better value I feel?

so you'd rather NOT buy a well researched and trusted item, and prefer to risk your car on being "unconventional?"

more like "cheap"

[old mate]

well he did say budget. go kkr they have a bit more of a track record in aus. i know of a few drifters who have had theirs for a year with no worries, although much more than that and ur probably pushing it. but hey u can buy 2 and still save money unless when it breaks it breaks more than itself.

[Cjmartz2k]

If you want to just 'make a number' then bolt on a second hand diesel turbo.

Man, I love how a lot of people (not all) here regurgitate info that they have read with no actual experience, or even regurgitate other peoples opinions which are not based on any experience.

My second hand Holset HX40 "diesel turbo" outspools and out flows a GT35r. What's your experience with diesel turbos?

Oh, and masterpower is a well repsected name brand in the states.

[jay1]

cheap turbo=cheap performance stick with Garrett

[Cjmartz2k]

Seriously. Do you want a 'good turbo' or one thats just going to make a number?

Well, I guess having a turbo that outspools, outflows, and has terrific quality must not be a "good" turbo. Please inform me what does make a turbo "good"

I'd stick with Garrett as a minimum.

Not even going to attempt to back that up with any information, first hand or otherwise, are we?

a while ago a few guys in perth were using master power turbos...

they seemed to work fine and were reliable, but they are plain bearing and oil cooled

they also didnt have very good response

What kind of MP turbo were they running? Was it a big honkin' 600rwhp turbo? I wouldn't expect great spool from one either if it was, but please, more specifics to help answer this guys question. You seem to have some actual first hand knowledge on these.

Isnt every turbo oil cooled? Plain bearing doesnt necessarily mean poor response.

Completly agree, although when considering the bearing alone, BB is better. Many people think BB is the most important or even the only factor in spool time.

so you'd rather NOT buy a well researched and trusted item, and prefer to risk your car on being "unconventional?"

more like "cheap"

Yes, don't stray to far from the flock. We wouldn't want anybody trying anything new/better/cheaper/different.

cheap turbo=cheap performance stick with Garrett

So what's your setup jay? Have you ever run or seen anything run with an other than garret turbo? Do you have a GT series garrett on your car so you can at least indeed confirm first hand how good they are?

As I have said before, I'm not trying to say my personal choice of turbo is the best out there. It has it's pluses and minuses. I am however saying people shouldn't blindly repeat what they have heard over and over again with no actual knowledge. Garrett is not the end all be all of turbos.

[SDEWY5]

lol u have alot to say...so what are your experiences then? (not trying to be rude or argumentative btw)..

[paulr33]

hello

this is a hot topic, over the past year so. every week some guy comes along and finds a cheap turbocharger for sale.

its typically one of the following

1) an ebay item cheap

2) a friends turbo cheap

3) a "good deal" and its cheap

4) some unknown brand

typically these fall under common junk brands such as Monsta, KKR, Super T70, Super T60, and so on

then there are the well known us brands, that we in australia dont know a lot about

borg worner, holset, turbonetics, master power, ihi and so on...

with the junk branders they are a cheaply built, cheaply made unit and sell for cheap

the reason they are cheap, is cos they are junk, likely to fail, risk your engine, wont fit without a complete hoast of custom parts

poor performance, poor reliability and so on...

then theres the us brands, we dont know a lot about, probably need custom work to make them fit and mate up

a lot of guess work has to be done as we dont know jack all about the specifics (at least the standard GTST guy who just brought a 33).

the us brand style turbochargers are probably fine and cheap, but its a fair bit of unknowns and guesswork to "see" if it will fit

ie: not suitable for the common majority of plain jane GTST guys wanting cheap stuff to fit and run without any hard work

most GTST guys want everything done for them, that is, all the hard work, the research, the fitting, the specs, the housing, and so on

they cant be bothered shoppign for housing trims, matching the dump flanges and wondering if it will fit up etc

its much more attractive to get a bolt on kit that will guarantee fit their skyline and go from the time they bolt it on

if your like discopotato you can go for a holset XYZ housing and mate it up an ABC compressor cover and match it to Blitz's compressor trims

and it will come out fanastic, but for most, thats too hard, too much work and too much technical etc

so if you want a simple bolt on kit that works, has no issues, and you want a local warranty

-> garrett, local distro is GCG in Sydney, ring them and order what you like to suit your RB25 setup (or whatever engine)

if you want a complex solution, involving ordering from overseas, matching specifics and gettting very technical

-> go for a US brand. its probably cheaper from US i would agree, given the $ and cheap US turbochagers

is it worth it? depends on what you want and if you cant be bothered

so in summary, if you are the plane jane GTST guy wanting quick solution and it works

then its going to cost $ - cos youll need an off the shelf kit, so a brand with local support is suitable

budget around $1500 ish and you should be fine - expecting this from a $400 ebay turbo is unreasonable

far too often we see kids wanting 500/600 HP turbochargers for $500

and expeting them to spool normal, have no fitting issues, mate up, match correctly and perform really well

it wont happen