Going to be purchasing a nicer turbocharger very soon. Narrowed my choice down to the ball-bearing Precision 5857... It'll be able to feed my need for 500whp(rated at 570, IIRC).

My main question is... Is it worth the extra $300-350 to upgrade to a billet compressor wheel??

FYI, setup its going to be going onto:
84x89mm block
10:1 CR
P8R non-VTEC head
BC turbo cams
8000rpm rev limit

 

I wonder why the price difference is so much with the bb version. The journal bearing is only a ~70 dollar difference.

 

Yeah... its about 1200 for the cast wheel, and 1500 for billet. I thought the same thing.

 

Even that turbo will be pushed hard to make 500whp, you just may get close to that. At this point you could go with either the billet or standard inconel cast wheel.

 

I hope you dont take this wrong way, but are you speaking from experience or making an educated guess.

 

Its hard to insult me, really. So far from other test units on a few other platforms that I've worked with, yes, about 480whp was about as usable as it got. The 5857 was very similar to a GT3076R standard. I do like the turbine wheel configuration that Precision uses. Its much more efficient than the standard stage 3 wheels by far. I'm sure if its pushed even more, it could make 500whp, but I guess my question is, what's the point if its not efficient? Get something slightly larger? Not 6262, but something in between perhaps.

 

id get the billet wheel, personally. it's just so much more efficient than the cast wheel

 

possibly based upon wheel design, not material alone.

 

just get a 6265 and be done since thats all the power you want. and it will be more efficient and if needed more power its their

 

I dont need anything that big... considering a 6262 possibly. Will need to do a bit more searching. Thanks for all the input so far!

 

So what is the advantage of a billet wheel?

Terrible idea. Why do people on HT alwaaays recommend turbo's too large for a given HP goal??

To the OP, you're facing the same decision I was. I wanted about 500whp so I went with the gt3076r. I make 490whp @ 28psi. The 5857 is a great option, I've heard people claim to make 550whp but I trust what theShodan says. Remember every dyno is different... Im sure theShodan is referring to actual true WHP

 

I've give the quick notes to this answer

1) (depending upon grade of billet) much more durable than the Cast Inconel wheels

2) Ability to change wheel aerodynamics without being ISO 9001 OEM compliant to make better opportunities to become more efficient at higher boost pressures and higher rotational speeds that the aftermarket industry seems to demand

3) when done in enough volume, opportunity costs will decrease (better for you, the consumer) as more are created, (economically speaking, of course)

4) For aftermarket companies outside of Garrett, Holset, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, IHI & Borg-warner, no need to have OEM/IHTSA guidelines in order to make and sell it. Precision/Turbonetics/Comp/Forced Performance/STC/ Forced Inductions/ all are designed for off-road use only so there's no need to concern with satisfying OEM/IHTSA/ISO9001 standards for them to be sold.

 

So you're saying that an 'average' customer purchasing an aftermarket turbo for their car really shouldn't care about ISO9001's regulation of quality management? And really what's relevant to a customer is that it's more durable and more aerodynamic? And by being more aerodynamic will an end user see better 'spool'?

 

I have used the 5758 billet unit on quite a few applications ranging from mr2's, evo's, honda's. They are great units. I think what you need to ask yourself is what power you want at what boost level. The 5857 billet will make your power expectations of 500 but you will need to push it. This turbo has great response ( spool) and works well for most street defile. The mr2 I used this turbo on made 460 @ 18 psi on pump gas. Timing on the engine was at 16 degrees. Spool with the turbo on that car was 4k. I have used the .63 t3 turbine wheel a lot for as street setups that you don't rev past 7500 to 8000 rpm. On the Honda platform I have found that with a built head and capability to rev, I like this turbo in a t4 housing. .81 ar. With Gsr cams boost will hold solid to 10 k with a .81 t4.the 5758 is probably my favorite turbo for a street setup by far. Hope this helps.

 

The average aftermarket industry customer is not going to worry about the ISO9001 standard, no. (It's like a manufacturing version of a C.A.R.B legal sticker on a product).

Face it, many end users in the aftermarket platforms beat the living **** out of their turbochargers, even when its not necessary to do so, so having this standard isn't crucial because they are intended for off road use only.. That's just the way it is.

 

Thank you very much for your opinion and experiences.