what are your views on this single turbo kit? t61 turbo any good?

[imi]

my PHR T61DBB has done 40K miles and the bloody thing is still going strong - I want one of these new blingy turbos

[Gaz6002]

my PHR T61DBB has done 40K miles and the bloody thing is still going strong - I want one of these new blingy turbos

 

Fit an HKS air filter

[j_jza80]

A manifold can be supported and braced which won't cost alot. Buying a cheap manifold, and repairing it and bracing it will still get you 5 cheap manifolds to 1 expensive one.

 

My XS components fitted straight on. Down pipe married up to the whifbitz exhaust system, no manifold problems and the XS power turbo only gets boosted like crazy when the engines running, otherwise it's tucked up in a garage.

 

Thing is, everyone slates components they have never tried. fair enough you will get the odd component that needs fabrication, mitchell had problems with his Do Luck bumper but you dont see anyone slating every component they make.

 

There are plenty of guys runing XS gear. There are so many people slating them just because the crowd says to do it. So many people say XS are rubbish, buy Syvec and get a whifbitz kit its NUTS, half the people haven't bought ANY of those products just copy what other people say. And when theres suddenly a problem with XS components everyone shouts I told you so. Not saying Syvec isnt good, Ive been in a single Syvces its awesome. But people shouldn't chat about companies they have had NO problems with (I know alot of you guys talking about the topic have Im just saying).

 

For long life, reliability then yes higher grade materials and thicker tubing will make a difference. But there isn't a huge amount of difference between 304 and 316 materials. Brace it properly and you won't have any issues.

 

My manifold was second hand, I've done a fair few amount of miles and not had any issues. You wont see people saying they dont have any problems, you will only find people moaning about their problems so how can you compare the XS products they are currently selling to old stories about downpipes requiring to be modified and turbo's lasting 10 minutes.

 

Whiffin did say he didn't expect all my components to fit very easily (if any) and may require modification. When it came to fitment he had no issues with any of them. Rubbish oil lines but that was it.

 

People have Garret turbo's failing and just put it down to over powering them or they wear out. People see an XS turbo fail and just shout I told you so.

 

The best thing IMO to spend your money on is the electronics and the mapping and also sensors, safety devices and upgrades to prolong the conversion (e.g. oil cooler).

 

The XS vs high price products battle will always be going on. And unless someone has bought various XS products and not just had the odd bad product (like we all have at some stage from different companies along the lines of car ownership) I think people should just be open minded to the growing number of people having ok products from their range.

 

One of the great things about this forum is, that because we have such a variety of members, most installs have been covered one way or another. A few years before you joined up, stories of failed XS power manifolds were commonplace, and often accompanied by photographs.

 

These failures are documented far and wide over the Internet, as is their inferior customer service, and thus XS power have rightfully earned themselves a poor reputation.

 

So, what you're insinuating we do is recommend to new members that they fit proven inferior products, because they're cheaper and they'll do? Instead, I recommend that prospective turbo kit buyers learn from other peoples very expensive mistakes, and buy a decent one in the first place. If you compare a HKS manifold old to an XS power one, you will clearly see the inference in quality is night and day.

 

While I will submit that XS powers' products look to have improved substantially, it is upto XS power to convince the general public that they have changed, and those that slate them all over the Internet are quite entitled to do so

 

As for this battle you speak of, I don't see it like that. If you install premium products on your car, your car will be far more desireable than one where parts have been fitted to a budget rather than a standard.

Edited April 17, 2012 by j_jza80 (see edit history)

[Nic]

One of the great things about this forum is, that because we have such a variety of members, most installs have been covered one way or another. A few years before you joined up, stories of failed XS power manifolds were commonplace, and often accompanied by photographs.

 

These failures are documented far and wide over the Internet, as is their inferior customer service, and thus XS power have rightfully earned themselves a poor reputation.

 

So, what you're insinuating we do is recommend to new members that they fit proven inferior products, because they're cheaper and they'll do? Instead, I recommend that prospective turbo kit buyers learn from other peoples very expensive mistakes, and buy a decent one in the first place. If you compare a HKS manifold old to an XS power one, you will clearly see the inference in quality is night and day.

 

While I will submit that XS powers' products look to have improved substantially, it is upto XS power to convince the general public that they have changed, and those that slate them all over the Internet are quite entitled to do so

 

As for this battle you speak of, I don't see it like that. If you install premium products on your car, your car will be far more desireable than one where parts have been fitted to a budget rather than a standard.

 

Good post

[mellonman]

I've got a whiffbitz single gate manifold on mine and it's a 1st class bit of kit. These XS-power manifolds are made from 304 grade stainless steel, which is very cheap and thin, although extremely light but subject to cracking because of this.

The whiffbitz manifolds are made from 316 grade stainless steel IIRC, the side walls are very thick and robust and very heavy. There's no way 1 of these bad boys will crack. IMO you get what you pay for with manifolds.

 

i have just been looking at the xspower manifolds and they have upped there game abit by the look of it they now are made of us321 grade http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/93-98-SUPRA-2JZGTE-2JZ-T4-STAINLESS-TURBO-MANIFOLD-/230698076201?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35b6ad4829

[welshbuddy]

Dont alot of drifiters use Xspower ?

[Noz]

One of the great things about this forum is, that because we have such a variety of members, most installs have been covered one way or another. A few years before you joined up, stories of failed XS power manifolds were commonplace, and often accompanied by photographs.

 

These failures are documented far and wide over the Internet, as is their inferior customer service, and thus XS power have rightfully earned themselves a poor reputation.

 

So, what you're insinuating we do is recommend to new members that they fit proven inferior products, because they're cheaper and they'll do? Instead, I recommend that prospective turbo kit buyers learn from other peoples very expensive mistakes, and buy a decent one in the first place. If you compare a HKS manifold old to an XS power one, you will clearly see the inference in quality is night and day.

 

While I will submit that XS powers' products look to have improved substantially, it is upto XS power to convince the general public that they have changed, and those that slate them all over the Internet are quite entitled to do so

 

As for this battle you speak of, I don't see it like that. If you install premium products on your car, your car will be far more desireable than one where parts have been fitted to a budget rather than a standard.

 

Im not saying Xs power have not put out bad products. They have. But you can't continue to put the name down when more and more people are having less issues. That was my statement, not that you should ignore past problems. But learn from times that change and not feed opinions of products with past history.

 

You say let them convience the general public they have changed, how can they do this if people only use past history and not use the current products which are proving to be more reliable all the time??

 

Like I said, with the growing number of XS power users we need to be more open minded and let the opinion of the company go on the products they are producing, and not purely on the previous problems. It takes time Im aware of that, and there was a huge amount of issues in the past, but that doesn't hide the fact less bad products are being sold.

 

If they started selling poor products which required countless repairs or modifications to fit then trust me, I'd be the first to throw my toys out the pram and buy elsewhere. Fact is their products are working and at a low price. Not enough people have given examples of long life with their products, so what I'm stating goes purely on the history of their products and the actual products they are selling, not problem products being sold years ago which is what 90% of people refer to.

 

A premium product will ALWAYS be more desired. Most NA owners don't have that pleasure of being able to afford it, so therefore research and reviews on current products being sold on the market have to be considered not just on the history, I was trying to make a sales pitch mate. And thats what I talk about, the whole picture. Im aware its not a rosey story from the start, but people have to open their eyes to the fact this company is improving due to the products being pumped out into the market. I had good dealings with their customer service but I've not enough experience to say they are reliable. I speak only of what I know is fact Im not trying to convince anyone.

 

People dont always give their opinion and if it helps another NA member out on their conversion they why not state what works and what doesnt. They can look into the problem stories themselves but not every XS component fails when you sneeze on it.

Edited April 17, 2012 by Noz (see edit history)

[-Welsh-Stealth-]

Bit of a read there Jay

 

Agree though alot of people are failing to change their opinions on a company who have had alot of bad products etc in the past. I think people need to be aware now that these products are actually improving and aren't causing so many people's toys to go flying outa their prams.

[j_jza80]

If you're willing to take the chance with inferior (by reputation) products, then that's fine. You've done your research, you understand the risks involved and you're obviously prepared to accept issues down the line, should they arise. I applaud you for that, and it's people like you, documenting your experiences, who will change people's perception of XS power, SHOULD it be deserved.

 

However, the majority of people wanting an install won't want to do what you're doing. First and foremost, I would assume the main concern of most people going single will be reliability. The best advice to give this group is to go with proven parts from company's that offer great service and support. We have a great group of Traders and Hobbyists on this forum who can offer these services, and we should be encouraging those seeking a dependable upgrade to go through these channels, at least for the forseable future.

[ashbuster]

what about people that want to go to a single but only looking for 550 max to stay on stock autobox untill it blows then have a built autobox or a r154

would seem silly to pay 10-15k to gain little when you could go bigger for that price.

[j_jza80]

what about people that want to go to a single but only looking for 550 max to stay on stock autobox untill it blows then have a built autobox or a r154

would seem silly to pay 10-15k to gain little when you could go bigger for that price.

 

You could easily buy a clean stock auto for £6k these days, so you're looking at circa £20k for a reliable 550hp car. That's an absoloute bargain IMO.

 

Or buy one already done for £10k.

[Nic]

I wonder how much money this company has made selling parts over the years they've been trading?

 

I wonder how many customers have had issues with their parts over this time and how much this has cost these customers in labour charges, replacement parts, towing services, trashed engines, etc? The oil pipes in their kits are known to be poor quality, imagine if one of their pipes blew at speed dumping engine oil over a hot turbo, over the tyres and causing the engine to seize? I had this happen to me many years ago with a GReddy oil cooler kit and I was extremely lucky not to have been seriously hurt or worse.

 

I do not have an issue with cheap parts, everyone likes a bargain, I do have a problem with a company that has been selling IMO sub-standard parts for years. Judging by the number of problems highlighted on the net and complaints they must have received over the years, they must have known early on that some of the parts they were selling weren't up to the job, yet they continued selling them. They have earned their own bad reputation and the only reason they have survived is because the parts are cheap and people continue to buy them.

[Nic]

what about people that want to go to a single but only looking for 550 max to stay on stock autobox untill it blows then have a built autobox or a r154

would seem silly to pay 10-15k to gain little when you could go bigger for that price.

 

550hp is still a lot of power and needs a lot of supporting parts upgrading to achieve that number reliably.

[ashbuster]

so its not just, turbokit/ piggy back ecu and mapping/ 650 injectors/ high stall tc/ oil lines? if already at bpu

im guessing uk brakes are fine for 550bhp?

[j_jza80]

so its not just, turbokit/ piggy back ecu and mapping/ 650 injectors/ high stall tc/ oil lines? if already at bpu

im guessing uk brakes are fine for 550bhp?

 

Yeah, even stock uk brakes are probably fine, though I'd want braided lines. I'd probably speak to CW regarding disc and pad upgrades though.

[ashbuster]

yeah mate i have braided lines, ill get the other parts first then decide on the turbo kit afterwards.