[Mk2] [Turbo] t04e turbo - opinions please

[Jonny Hizzle]

Hi guys,

My turbo looks like it may be on it's way out and i may be able to get hold of a garrett t04e for a good price but i know little about this turbo,
believe its got an a/r 50. and it has 270 thrust bearings so it shouldn't be too laggy should it?
any one got any experience with this turbo? especially on a 2' {rev3}

thanks

[Jonny Hizzle]

anyone??

[Jim Galbally]

a t4 turbo (a real one) is a 500bhp turbo from the early 1980s touring cars

probably wouldnt be ideal on a standard MR2... lol

[Jonny Hizzle]

yeah but this is pretty much a t4 in a t3 housing?
anyways isn't the t3/t4 bit just the housing size/fitment shape?

[JJ]

Jonny, you talking about a plug and play, or you'll go through all the work to make it fit... ie. manifold fitment, oil / water lines / downpipe etc. ?!!

To make a T3/T4 turbo fit will take quite a bit of fab work and downtime if you're willing to source / sort it out... £££ on the fab work

Be a great setup at the right size, but dont go into it with your eyes closed and think its turbo purchase only.. thats the cheapest bit....

[Jonny Hizzle]

i've found a manifold, downpipe, wastegate etc... i just hadn't heard much about this turbo, spool characteristics, flow and the like.

do you reckon its worth getting for a good price then?

i've got my eye on some 800cc injectors and a link g3 too but they my have to wait for a little while along with the forgies.

quite looking forward to having a screamer pipe

[Jim Galbally]

a t04e is not the same as a t34.

youre looking at turbos that are standard fitment on cosworths here mate, T4 was on the RS500 and T34 (cant remember the full name) was on the big turbo excort cosworth.

on a YB engine you can consider a T34 to be good for about 350 reliably. with a large rear housing you can psh them past the 400 mark but you'd have to consider a turbo a service item as you'd explode them that often. lol. if you're looking at replacing the lot youre best off looking at newer technology TBH,ie the garrett GT series turbo range. the 3071 is an amazing 400bhp internally gated turbo!

[Turbolad]

I had a xs power t04e turbo running at 1.2 bar making 340bhp. To me it didnt feel much different in terms of spool/lag to the standard ct20b

that turbo lasted about 3 miles before the seals went - unsuprisingly, I've now got a gt3571 and i'm making boost earlier now with a bigger turbo.

This is what ive taken from dyno plots
Boost 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500 7000
T04e 0 0 0.1 0.15 0.35 0.75 1.35 1.45 1.35 1.25 1.25
GT3571 0 0 0.1 0.2 0.4 1 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.45 1.45

btw, same mods on car same dyno, same mapper

[Jim Galbally]

xs-power t04e is NOT the same thing as a proper garrett t4. they just stole the name to con people into buying them

those turbos cost pennies and are poo, a proper t4 are closer to 1k

[Jonny Hizzle]

well i've picked up a garrett one dirt cheap hopefully get around to fitting in the next few weeks when i get my manifold etc...

i'll let you all know how i get on.

oh btw Jim, this is just a stop gap whilst i save for my 3071r

[Jim Galbally]

3071Rs are SEXY

fitted one on my mate's cossie with a standard head (just with an exhaust cam) and it made over 400bhp!

that's on a standard spec engine! mental!

if it is a proper T4 then you should be able to run that at 400bhp without even worrying it and flog it for muchos $$$ to a ford owner, theyre still commonly fitted in 500bhp cossie builds even tho the GT series have been about for a while