What's the consensus these days...my LM450 plus FMIC has lots of top end but I would trade that back for the immediate punch and responsiveness I used to get with my VF37.

Thinking possibly of going to a smaller turbo. Maybe back to top mount as well.

 

I'm on litchfield lm450 exhaust housing a garret compressor housing and billet wheel etc fettled by Owens it hits like a sledgehammer at 3500rpm
No need for a smaller turbo imo

 

Mine kicks hard at similar revs but I really miss the instant punch of the VF37 and top mount which makes all the difference on the road. I was reminded yesterday when doing a 40 mph third-gear pull against my old car (now owned by a mate) on a private road. He pulled two car lengths on me and I didn't reel him in until we were into three figures.

 

Guess he didn't want to go for it in 2nd ?

I know what you mean tho as I find my single scroll SC42 which has been tinkered with by Owens to be a little laggy in same kinda situation,

 

Was just gonna say the same thing you should of been in 2nd lol
I definatley notice lag in mine compared to the standard set up
But I'd rather go 2.1 and dial out 500 rpm of lag
Than go back to standard
Good luck in whatever U decide to do matey

 

You guys running avcs?
My sc42 ts hits full boost around 3800rpm now on my old classic 2.0 non avcs.
The avcs is supposed to work really well with twin scroll setups but it's only what I've been told.

 

Moaning about a bit of lag imagine how the lads running gt35s feel

 

I'm running twin avcs I have full boost 1.65 at 3500 turbo coming on strong at 3200

 

Very nice
You can run some aggressive timing with the avcs.
Bet your car is fun to drive to say the least!

As said tho,if your feeling lag then your in the wrong gear

 

Its all about when you make usuable torque,

I've yet to see a 2.0 with over 400bhp make 300ft/lbs @ 3000 rpm,

These modern turbo hatches make great torque almost at idle lol,

My car doesn't put out 300/ftlbs till 4000rpm for comparison,

Id be interested to see what my turbo would be like on a built 2.5

 

Torque is for diesels

 

JDM AVCS heads here. Don't get me wrong, the LM450 is a solid setup (lag no worse than an OEM single-scroll in terms of my bum dyno but goes up to 440/440) but yesterday reminded my how much I loved the power delivery of the OEM JDM car, which feels more like a brawny NA car than a turbo.

 

Sound like a few Honda owners i know lol

 

You need to stop your honking Nancy
Be in the right gear at right time and spank some standard Subaru ***
Half the forum would give there left nut to have a twinscroll lm set up with avcs

 

Bumping this thread as I had a chance to drive my old car yesterday (MY04 JDM with VF37) and it was just as good as I remember, and so much nicer on the road than my LM450 - of course the top end is not as spectacular but the spool/torque from 2.5k RPMs makes all the difference on the road (the LM doesn't get going until 3.5k RPMs).

Don't care about figures - driveability is all that matters, which in my case means low-down spool.

I've been recommended the Tomei ARMS M7760 T/S for a turbo that offers VF37 spool with a slightly higher top end. I'm also talking with Craig at Central Turbos about a VF36 with a billet compressor wheel.

Any experiences or alternative suggestions welcomed!

 

Get a vf36 billet

 

What about a vf37 hybrid maybe done by aet etc , has anyone done this

 

Big numbers are great on the dyno, track and in the pub, but like you say in the real world get up and go is king... big turbo's not much use until you're at 3 figures and if you want to drive everywhere at 5k rpm plus... get a Honda.

There was a well respected tuner (forget who) that said always go for the smallest turbo that will get you close to the numbers you're after as opposed to going bigger.

P.S, isn't there something about the LM range not being 'True' twin scroll, where as the VF37 is.

 

Yes - I'd go further than that and say for a road car numbers are irrelevant as my old VF37 with c. 350/350 is easily quicker A to B than my current LM450 with 440/440. That's not just the bum dyno talking - that's empirical evidence from the two cars running in convoy at pace - the VF37 just destroys the LM450 out of corners and on your average B road where I spend most of my time there aren't many straights where the larger turbo can catch up.

The LM450 is a twin-entry not a true twin-scroll, and the power delivery certainly feels more like a single-scroll. Folks who claim that all you need is to change down - sorry, but anyone who's serious about progress on the road knows that low-down torque in 3rd and 4th is where it's at.

Ironically I bought the hawk on the basis of a detailed thread on this very forum where the previous owner who did the build claimed (documented with extensive numerical and graphical evidence) how the LM450 gave up very little in spool compared with the LM400 that preceded it, which in turn was claimed to be equal to the VF37. After 15k miles in this car I can confirm that this categorically not the case, demonstrating that all the numbers and graphs in the world are no substitute for seat time.

 

i'd rather have a 2.5 over a laggy twin scroll anyday of the week

 

David O'Brien (of old API fame) had a Owens Development-fettled VF36 on his old blue JDM Blob. Made something like 394bhp/397lb.ft IIRC. I drove it - it was groovy lol

 

Never driven an EJ257 but from everything I have read it would be ideal for my needs if built properly. For now I will get my EJ207 optimised, and enjoy the peace of mind of running an 100% OEM block within safe tolerances.

 

Could always run a 2.35 block to spool the lm450 up quicker

 

2bar bay 3400rpm

good luck getting anywhere near that on a 2.0 or 2.1

 

It's puffed out by 6k thou

 

Yeah but as Plenty says about the car with the VF37... it would already be gone mate... and to be fair by 6k you've already reached peak torque in any gear so why rev beyond that... you won't be going any faster... your just thrashing your engine, that's when you want to be changing gear... unless you're in an extremely long bend.

 

Totally agree with all of that... it's usually people that can't drive very well that think it's all about numbers and top end speed... like you say on the roads where these cars shine, it's 2nd, 3rd and 4th up to and around the 100mph mark with the odd touch slightly above... spool and midrange pull, which is why I always loved the TD04 on the WRX with the 5 speed, get that puppy in 3rd gear and you can make some serious progress if the car is set up nicely... was quicker in many situations than my STI Type R with VF34 and 330bhp on the road.

But people don't like to hear stuff like that, they see a car driving away from them and they think they need more power, when what they need is driving lessons.

 

Cheers all for feedback. I am very interested in a built EJ257 or (if I'm feeling flush) a 2.35 for a future car, but for now am enjoying ownership of a nice low mileage JDM hawk and there is something rather satisfying about bringing it back closer to OEM spec and actually improving its driveability at the same time.

 

by that time im already up the road,,,,,

 

I don't find the Owens turbo laggy at all and it's running lm exhaust housing