EFR!.... the best thing yet....

Ahh... Can I say ahhhh what the heck happened the past two weeks!
The other day I was thinking and thinking about 2010... What have I accomplished in 2010, hmmmmm.

Exactly- Nothing! There's nothing that stands out to me when I think about last year. This year however is another story and even the past two weeks; WOW!

My memory is not the greatest but I will try to describe the past two weeks and the progress we have made.

Today is Friday April 22nd; the deadline I have been given to resubmit my taxes because they were rejected on Monday April 18th; the official tax day. This is the first year that I have procrastinated till the very last minute regarding taxes, but with so much on my mind you can see why.

Since the beginning of the year we have been working diligently on preparing the "track car" to finally hit the street. We're talking about paint, suspension, brakes, wiring, heart transplant, etc. you name it. Not to mention building two cars at the same time. That is two motor swaps, two sets of coil overs, two suspension packages, wire tucks, custom turbo kits, Cusco 2way diffs, custom exhaust, gauges, -AN fittings, you name it.

Now I have seen a few cars come together over night, however being crunch for time... All the time as a full-time father, full-time student, full-time employee, etc. balancing multiple hobbies and interest including auto motives, wrestling, long distance running, the gym, and spirituality; time is a very value asset I rarely see.

Finally allowing additional hands in the pot reaching out to longtime friends for assistance the building process has been much smoother.

Going back two weeks ago...

Track car is at Boost Junkyz and were considering plans of building the "right" turbo kit for the use of the car. Plan is the occasional drift events both local and neighboring states and they styling of driving I'm eager to engage in; time-attack. So with careful consideration and after reading many write ups and watching all the production videos we decided on the new BorgWarner Engineered For Racing (EFR) turbo. With plenty research and Full-Race's backing all lights were Go!

Once the decision was made the turbo arrived in less than a week, perfect timing. With the turbo in his has Daniel jump right on top and at that point assumed position as crew chief. Within less than one full week Daniel fabricated the manifold and down pipe.

With the hardest part completed the pressure grew, knowing this is "my" building meaning I am in charge of the funding I sat down to review what is needed to get this car on the road to show gratitude for those who helped with the progress.

Crunching numbers and parts needed... In my mind there was no way we could get the track car on the street and presentable within the time requested.

Up to-date; we are now at Wednesday April 13th about 8pm I arrive at the shop to check the progress of the master piece. Subconsciously knowing we’re currently underfunded and short on time to have the track car on the streets within the month; I presented the idea to bolt the kit to the street car.

Idea accepted... all is Go

Thursday night Daniel and I meet at the shop removing the 3076 top mount turbo kit less than one hour and a day ahead of schedule we leave the shop feeling accomplished. Now that the new EFR turbo kit is tested and sitting pretty on the street car we reconvene Friday after work to complete the final bolt, test, and tune.

Before meeting Friday evening I called Efrian at Suspicious Garage Friday afternoon with a last minute request to purchase the brake line relocation kit just in case the turbo sat too close to the master cylinder. Not only did he come through with the last minute request he also made a custom oil line and has no idea how much he helped out. See the standard Garrett turbos use a -3 oil feed line while the new EFR turbo' use -4 and after searching around all day Daniel was unable to find and adapter to make the previous top mount oil line work with the new kit. Thank you Suspicious Garage!

So kit is complete and all lines made fit like a dream. It is Friday night and now time to drive!

At start up car sounds fine, it maintains idle at 1000 rpm, no coolant leaks, no smoke, all signs point toward Go!

We hit the street at about 10pm; the first thing that comes to my mind is damn! That's a quick spool. Going from a t3 traditional ram horn style top mount feeding the 30R monster to now a t2 housing 67/58 there is a considerable difference in both spool and response.

First pull down the street the main difference noticed is the EFR never loses spool/boost. Now when you're driving and slightly accelerating but not truly accelerating for speed the turbo will spool and recirculate unused vacuum. Its trip at first was we are used to hearing the blow off valve between shifting gears or as we back off the accelerator. This internal bov or better known as the recirculating valve works 100% on its own. Talk about turbo efficiency!

On to the freeway pull I can definitely see a difference in power band compared to the 30r.

The EFR's power-band would be more comparable to a 2871 a smooth incline compared to the hit like a ton of bricks feeling generally larger turbo produce. IF we were forced to compare the BorgWarner to the Garrett series turbo I definitely recommend the BorgWarner EFR. This scenario of swapping turbo on the street car could not have played out more perfectly if it were a movie script. Previously I research the options of running a 2871 top mount turbo because I've always desired the spool/response since the departure with the coupe, but strayed away for a few reasons:

- The turbo inlet housing (clock) location caused and issue and though it had been done before it was a custom setup.
- The 2871 is rated up to 400hp and I definitely plan for more than 400 horse power.
- The 5 bolt exhaust housing...

The next option was purchasing a 3071 with is rated to up to 460hp. Therefore, I sacrificed turbo response for the best option at the time which allowed room to grow and a sufficient potential horse power rating of 500hp; GT3076.

Now driving the BorgWarner EFR 67/58 the street car has instant response about 3000 rpm or slightly sooner depending on acceleration. With the power-band of the comparable to the 2871 but the horsepower rating comparable to the 30R and a level of efficiency all alone I believe we made the best choice.

Not only is the turbo efficient in design but in cost as well. I recall purchasing my 30r for $1300, the 90 degree inlet extension $50-$100, purchasing the Tial blow off valve $260, and purchasing the Tial 44mm MVR wastegate $350. The cost quickly increases before you know it.

The BorgWarner is equipped with the internal wastegate and re-circulatory valve. Saving cost on an external gate and blow off valve the EFR series are already v-band turbos which come equipped with the boost solenoid which again saves money.

I'm excited to see the power band and actual horse power numbers on my street car hopefully next week. This has been an exciting journey with much more to come!

Stay tuned and we'll see shortly!