iON turbo installed!(quick review)
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,780
From: San Diego
Car Info: Boosted Geo Prizm
iON turbo installed!(quick review)
I purchased a modified stock turbo from Jack at iON performance. Basically you can send him your stocker and he'll have it reworked. I believe he can also do core exchanges but since I had a spare I didn't go this route.
But on to the turbo...
Physically the first thing that strikes you and makes you want to hug and caress the turbo, is the coating on it. It seems to be some type of ceramic coating to both the intake and exhaust housings. It really makes the turbo look good and hopefully it will keep some heat in and prevent rust on the exhaust housing. Very sexy I must say.
Closer examination of the iON spec turbo when compared to the stock turbo is that the inlet has been thoroughly reworked. The inlet is much larger and the wheel replaced with a larger compressor. Even the blades got a reworking too as they appear to be knife edged. I ran my fingers over them and they felt pretty sharp. The exhaust inlet was also reworked by enlarging it to match up to your uppipe, it was then thoroughly ground away to make the inlet taper as it goes into the housing thus speeding up the exhaust gas velocity. Very trick if I must say. The exhaust wheel doesn't look like it's been changed at all, and I guess this is to keep the quick spool up properties of the stocker.
Now on to driving it... Keep in mind that this is only about 40 miles and a full day and one evening of driving. Also this is on only 7psi as I am in the process of going easy on it and breaking it in.
To put it simply... The car is amazing now! The turbo spools up so fast now when compared to stock and even the sound of the car changed as it sounds a bit more aggressive and throaty. I'm getting a full 7psi at around 2500RPM where as I couldn't get that before until after 3000. Even at only 7psi the car feels just as strong launching and accelerating when compared to 14psi. Of course after 2nd it's not as quick. But still, simply amazing!
This turbo will compete with anything that IHI has to offer. The VF30 has nothing on it, the VF34 is a bit closer but still the iON turbo will spool quicker and has very bit of topend of a VF3x series. VF23, don’t even try
. I'm sure that a VF22 would have a better top end, but who wants a turbo that is not exactly street able? I think the 22's are for a very small few anyways, namely drag racers.
I highly recommend that if your looking for a turbo that is street able, capable of 12's(already done by mynew02), stock looking (read no warranty issues), and competively (sp?) priced; you should email Jack info@ionperformance.
Also if your looking for a turbo with specific qualities, like Drag, big HP, auto-x, or whatever... Jack can get that too. He has a line up of options and I only just broke the surface with the stock rebuild. IIRC, he even has some Garrett hybrid's
Thank you Jack and iON Performance.
But on to the turbo...
Physically the first thing that strikes you and makes you want to hug and caress the turbo, is the coating on it. It seems to be some type of ceramic coating to both the intake and exhaust housings. It really makes the turbo look good and hopefully it will keep some heat in and prevent rust on the exhaust housing. Very sexy I must say.
Closer examination of the iON spec turbo when compared to the stock turbo is that the inlet has been thoroughly reworked. The inlet is much larger and the wheel replaced with a larger compressor. Even the blades got a reworking too as they appear to be knife edged. I ran my fingers over them and they felt pretty sharp. The exhaust inlet was also reworked by enlarging it to match up to your uppipe, it was then thoroughly ground away to make the inlet taper as it goes into the housing thus speeding up the exhaust gas velocity. Very trick if I must say. The exhaust wheel doesn't look like it's been changed at all, and I guess this is to keep the quick spool up properties of the stocker.
Now on to driving it... Keep in mind that this is only about 40 miles and a full day and one evening of driving. Also this is on only 7psi as I am in the process of going easy on it and breaking it in.
To put it simply... The car is amazing now! The turbo spools up so fast now when compared to stock and even the sound of the car changed as it sounds a bit more aggressive and throaty. I'm getting a full 7psi at around 2500RPM where as I couldn't get that before until after 3000. Even at only 7psi the car feels just as strong launching and accelerating when compared to 14psi. Of course after 2nd it's not as quick. But still, simply amazing!
This turbo will compete with anything that IHI has to offer. The VF30 has nothing on it, the VF34 is a bit closer but still the iON turbo will spool quicker and has very bit of topend of a VF3x series. VF23, don’t even try
. I'm sure that a VF22 would have a better top end, but who wants a turbo that is not exactly street able? I think the 22's are for a very small few anyways, namely drag racers. I highly recommend that if your looking for a turbo that is street able, capable of 12's(already done by mynew02), stock looking (read no warranty issues), and competively (sp?) priced; you should email Jack info@ionperformance.
Also if your looking for a turbo with specific qualities, like Drag, big HP, auto-x, or whatever... Jack can get that too. He has a line up of options and I only just broke the surface with the stock rebuild. IIRC, he even has some Garrett hybrid's
Thank you Jack and iON Performance.
Last edited by teiva-boy; Dec 22, 2002 at 09:27 PM.
Pr0n King
iTrader: (3)
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 26,618
From: The Land of Rocks
Car Info: Turncoat Turbo
Pr0n King
iTrader: (3)
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 26,618
From: The Land of Rocks
Car Info: Turncoat Turbo
I may be sold too. IHI hasn't impressed me yet.
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote
__________________
Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote
Registered User
iTrader: (1)
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 2,504
From: Leg Humper
Car Info: '03 WRX wagon, faster than walkin'
I like my VF-30, not perfect but very reasonable - When I saw the dyno plots of the ION VS VF 30 the top ends were very similar but the ION spooled slower - have they improved the design?
BTW there is almost no difference on the dyno between the VF 30 and VF 34 when plotted on the same paper - maybe 200 rpm spool up difference, maybe.
BTW there is almost no difference on the dyno between the VF 30 and VF 34 when plotted on the same paper - maybe 200 rpm spool up difference, maybe.
Guest
Posts: n/a
teiva-boy - great re-lim review. Just wait till you get your fuel mods and dial in 19psi boost. You'll have a larger grin on your face then
palaban - to maximize power, it's best to get and upgraded fuel system. You can safely boost to ~16psi on the stock fuel system. However, it's always nice to err on the side of caution. At the minimum, we recommend the use of a higher flowing fuel pump. which will affectly push your stock injectors to ~500cc/min output and thus facilitate a larger margin of safety.
iNfEk - unfortunately we don't deal with IHI turbos anymore b/c the performance : $ ratio just isn't there. Anything above our iON Spec OE turbo upgrade, you get into the realm of our hybrid turbos or our full Garrett conversions.
AntiochCali - actually the turbo is intended to have peak power later then the VF30. As you can see from TXS dyno graphs of the VF30, it dies out quicker then our OE turbo upgrade. By having the peak power a tad later then the VF30, it affectively puts you in the sweet spot after the gear change. Those who choose to go with this specific turbo upgrade basically will be using it solely on the street or for auto-x and maybe the occasional 1320 run. The iON Spec turbo that mynew02 has differs only in the fact that his doesn't have the thermal coating process that the rest of them now do.
For more technical info and background ->
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...hreadid=261780
For those who are interested, feel free to contact us-> info@ionperformance.com
palaban - to maximize power, it's best to get and upgraded fuel system. You can safely boost to ~16psi on the stock fuel system. However, it's always nice to err on the side of caution. At the minimum, we recommend the use of a higher flowing fuel pump. which will affectly push your stock injectors to ~500cc/min output and thus facilitate a larger margin of safety.
iNfEk - unfortunately we don't deal with IHI turbos anymore b/c the performance : $ ratio just isn't there. Anything above our iON Spec OE turbo upgrade, you get into the realm of our hybrid turbos or our full Garrett conversions.
AntiochCali - actually the turbo is intended to have peak power later then the VF30. As you can see from TXS dyno graphs of the VF30, it dies out quicker then our OE turbo upgrade. By having the peak power a tad later then the VF30, it affectively puts you in the sweet spot after the gear change. Those who choose to go with this specific turbo upgrade basically will be using it solely on the street or for auto-x and maybe the occasional 1320 run. The iON Spec turbo that mynew02 has differs only in the fact that his doesn't have the thermal coating process that the rest of them now do.
For more technical info and background ->
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/show...hreadid=261780
For those who are interested, feel free to contact us-> info@ionperformance.com
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 221
From: South Carolina
Car Info: 02 WRX
Originally posted by iON Performance
[B At the minimum, we recommend the use of a higher flowing fuel pump. which will affectly push your stock injectors to ~500cc/min output and thus facilitate a larger margin of safety.
[/B]
[B At the minimum, we recommend the use of a higher flowing fuel pump. which will affectly push your stock injectors to ~500cc/min output and thus facilitate a larger margin of safety.
[/B]
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 221
From: South Carolina
Car Info: 02 WRX
That doesn't make sense to me.
I would think that unless the new pump had a volume high enough for the retun line to cause a restiction to increase pressure that the injector flow would stay the same.
Even than I would think that the pressure would go to normal levels when engine speed increases.
Not tring to be an A-hole just don't understand
I would think that unless the new pump had a volume high enough for the retun line to cause a restiction to increase pressure that the injector flow would stay the same.
Even than I would think that the pressure would go to normal levels when engine speed increases.
Not tring to be an A-hole just don't understand
Guest
Posts: n/a
bamfwrx - no probs, basically, if you're trying to flow more through the stock fuel lines with a higher flowing hi-pressure pump, it will introduce more pressure in the system. Since the fuel components are very hard to expand, this presure is carried straight through to the injectors and thus spraying a larger amount of fuel / given second.