Hey Guys

Ive been fabricating a custom built high performance turbo setup specifically for the EP3 chassis and its getting close to completion so i thought it should have its own thread.

I'm sure all of us familiar with k series turbo setups know how much a pain run of the mill side mounts can be. First off you have to relocate everything and its mother away from the mass of hot pipes now running right behind the valve cover. Then you have to deal with heat issues from the down pipe that's usually running right by the brake master not to mention having a dump tube snake around everything. And last but not least is problems with the actual turbo location. Some companies even decide to angle the turbo past the recommended 15 degrees maximum for the center section. This can lead to excessive smoking out of the down pipe and possibly even lead to premature bearing failure.

I designed this manifold with complete consideration of all these issues and problems. The first one was built off of a TSX with the help of LoCash, however sadly enough his manifold never reached a fully completed stage. Fast forward to now and after tweaking the manifold a bit more and playing with gate locations its almost ready to breathe some k20a3 fire. One issue with TSXs/Ep3's and I'm assuming Rsx's is the room or lack thereof to even install such a large piece of metal from the bottom without unbolting a bunch of stuff and dropping the subframe. I had to get a bit creative....

The CTD K series T3 Top mount was born, dubbed affectionately "The Special K"



Here is a pic of turbo placement on a K24 in a TSX. 35R T3 open, 3" downpipe. This engine bay is quite a bit cleaner than mine so I'll put these pix up first, haha.





57 Trim, nice little 400 hp setup



Not yet ported 100%, flange also needs to be machined











My dirty Ep3




Little more progress on intercooling this beast.

So I like options, that's why I will be designing this kit with both a Water to Air Intercooler and a normal Air to Air front mount. I ordered a nice little 500HP core from Bell Intercoolers and started brainstorming.



After discussing with our in house engineer about end tank design we decided to go a bit more in depth so he CAD modeled the core with tanks and did a complete CFD Analysis. This is the start of the design process to fabricate the best end tanks possible to utilize the core to its fullest potential.



T's are in!!! This little funny shaped pipe is the secret to the best boost control possible without having a wastegate priority manifold.





I hope to have a downpipe tacked together soon, clearance looks to be the same as a TSX chassis, full 3" with room to spare. I have kpro and a walbro ready to be installed.

I am still currently working on the other top mount design. I will say that it is a fully divided long runner manifold designed only to work with a certain OEM true Twinscroll turbo. It is similar to some of the new bigger Borg Warner EFR turbos that are also divided yet internally waste gated. This lets the you have a true twinscroll setup yet not have to worry about the hassles of buying and installing two wastegates and dumptubes.

These manifolds will be dyno'd back to back

Any comments or suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks for reading guys and this is my personal car so i plan on making the very best kit I can. This is also my first full K build so if you have any helpful tips please feel free to share.

 

Looks like a nice quality piece, Id like to see some dyno numbers when its completed...

 

great work

 

Thanks! I'm very excited for some data also. Since this is still the stock k20a3 I'm sure my tuner won't want to push it much past 300whp. After I see what it can do I have a jdm k20a ready to swap in.


Thanks! I have quite a bit of support around here. Also having a company like AFI right in town has been amazing, they have the highest quality cnc'd flanges and fittings around for the best prices!

More progress...

I fit the teardrop wastegate and I am very pleased with the location. Currently I'm using a TurboSmart Comp 40mm gate but a Tial 44 should fit also no probem. The dumptube is very simple, a 7 inch long straight! Less welds, no bends, less cost to the consumer and higher reliability. It also looks like offering a Recir dump tube will be a possibility. The mock up return line also worked out very well and has quite a bit of room to spare around the hot stuff. This will be taken to the local fitting supply store to be made all one piece. I have mocked up the return using a "No weld" banjo fitting but will also have an option for a weld/tap on bung. Who doesn't like options right???




Since my Ep is bone stock and has all the stock lines in place I would like to show you how this setup clears everything. One of my main goals in this project is to minimize relocation of anything.




So....the JDM Fairy showed up last night

I have always wanted an up-pipe car so I threw one together. I happen to have a large sack of pre-cut 3" 15 degree pie cuts left over from my "JDM Bender Bot" sculpture. My hood already had a dent in the front so I thought adding a hole in the top wouldn't be so bad. I do plan on making a regular 3" downpipe soon but you gotta have a little fun sometime right?









I should be starting her up by the end of the week!!!

 

lol love the robot! Nice work on the mani

 

BENDER!!

 

Looks better than the one I have sitting on my welding bench, Vince!

A couple more years and one of us will have a turbocharged EP3 or TSX..

 

He's my buddy!




Whats up Joe! Haha, I'm pretty sure it looks exactly the same, well minus gate location and a couple welds. I'm really satisfied how the primary sizing is working out, can't wait to get some results. I have some questions about measuring exhaust manifold pressure. Can Kpro log something like this if i get a sensor? I would love to be able to compare the pressure differential from open VS divided and at different boost levels.

Shoot...in a couple more years I plan to have a turbo EP3 AND a TSX. Love those cars, I'm jealous.

This particular project is going pretty quick, not too many distractions these days. Just need to pick up some injectors, install my pump, get an air/air core, and melt some pipes. Then for everyone!!!

 

You could theoretically use the ELD input, but I havent tried using it for that purpose, as it was designed for logging data from an external wideband.. On the S300 system, we use the extra inputs for this purpose all the time.

 

Oh, and unless you're going to log both halves of a divided collector, you'll be missing another part of the equation, as I have seen by datalogging both halves on my race car at the same time..

 

Sounds good Joe. I was actually going to ask you about logging both collectors in the divided setup. If you don't mind me asking what kind of differences in pressure were you seeing between the collectors? Also because my EvoX turbo is a true twinscroll turbo with different sized scrolls do you think there will be a tuning benefit to logging them separately? If not can I just "y" the pressure sensor to both collectors?

I also wanted to ask about IAT sensors. Because I intend to run three different types of intercooler setups I would like good IAT data. Ive read the stock k20 sensor is a bit slow reacting and ithen there is the fact that it doesn't have any kind of solid connection to the piping. What do you think about using a T1 sensor, or a modded Honda plastic sensor?

 

Hey guys, thought I would post up some new pix. It runs and drives on a basemap right now, I wanted to get some data on normal cruising IAT's with with and without a cold air intake for the turbo. Still working on it little by little and trying to stay ontop of other peoples projects as well.

The Up-pipe


How the turbo sits in the car. Not much room back there so it looks huge! haha



I took some video just cruising around so you guys can hear how loud the open hood exit is, its really not bad at all. I'm probably going to tune with a regular downpipe to get better data.





Aluminum trim plate finished. Wish I could have found longer rivets, would have given it a bit nicer look.






video soon with sound!

 

Update!!! Air to water IC coming along nicely. Still need to do a couple mods, need to slant the rear of the tank and design some internal dividers. Later on I would still like to use the end tanks modeled in CAD but they might have to be CNC'd or cast due to the complex shape and curves.










Action shots!





Here is a lil pic an artist chica made for me. Pretty sweet if you ask me!!

 

videos or else lol

 

Good stuff can't wait to see more

 

****UPDATE****

Built a couple of these K topmount kits for other customers. One recently was tuned to 380whp on 91 pump and 11psi and the other should hit the dyno soon.




ID1000s
Walbro
Stock rail
GT3582 with a 0.82 hotside and GT-4 bolt
3" downpipe with 2.5" exhaust
11psi max
Crap Arizona 91 octane pump
A3 intake manifold
90 degree dyno room temperature
CTD Topmount
CTD 600hp vertical flow with custom 2.5 hot and 2.75 cold pipes
Turbosmart 45 wg
Tial 50mm BOV

Fuel system is still a stock returnless but with a Walbro added. The tune was around 400 whp but Joe detuned it a bit for safety because the car was going to a much cooler place. The ID1000s are maxed at a safe duty cycle right now.

 

Bone stock K24A2 with full CTD Topmount kit and matching 3" custom exhaust on 93 pump. Turbo is a Precision 6262 ball bearing on 14 psi. Look at this powerband!!!!! 485whp/355wtq

 

nice work, wish i had the funds to turbo my TSX. maybe i should sell the GSR and go turbo Luxury. that above powerband is about all i would want and could need out of a luxury car

 

Thanks! Ah, its been my dream for awhile to have a TSX with one of these kits! With all that area under the curve I'm sure it would be a blast to drive!

The above car is actually getting a rebuild on the engine with pistons and rods as we speak. The customer's goals are 650+ on e85. Now that's a FUN Ep3!!!

 

whats the kit run for a TSX ?

What about EMS ?

 

Pm'd

Hondata shows Kpro for 04-06 TSX but after that I'm not sure.

 

Hondata only offers reflash for tsx no kpro

 

I could have sworn it said Kpro also, sorry. Maybe they discontinued it?? It was a dual ECU harness assembly i think.

 

I believe they discontinued it

 

good looking manifolds