turbonetics or zpi
05-01-2007, 06:57 PM
#1
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turbonetics or zpi
Im looking to boost my tc this summer and cant decide whether to go with turbonetics or zpi stage 1. I want something that will be reliable on the engine with stock internals for a long time. It will be a while till I get the money to upgrade that also. Lets here your opinion on these two kits or other suggestions.
05-01-2007, 07:01 PM
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Most people who have turbonetics kits love them as well as ZPI kits. Read the specs on each kit and go with what you want. Both kits are designed to run safely on a stock motor.
05-01-2007, 07:03 PM
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Well Turbonetics comes with the 1 year no questions asked warranty I believe. But the ZPI is a tad cheaper for some serious performance. Tough choice. F it, go with Turbonetics for the warranty.
05-01-2007, 07:15 PM
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here's my 2 cents...
ZPI is a great company and lives and breathes the tC...so they're a very reputable company that knows the tC in and out
Turbonetics has been making turbos for decades and is also a wonderful company that does come with a 1 year no hassle warranty!
another company you might wanna look into is DEZOD...wonderful products and a turbo kit that you can customize from top to bottom...wether you want to keep stock internals or not...still a good turbo kit
ZPI is a great company and lives and breathes the tC...so they're a very reputable company that knows the tC in and out
Turbonetics has been making turbos for decades and is also a wonderful company that does come with a 1 year no hassle warranty!
another company you might wanna look into is DEZOD...wonderful products and a turbo kit that you can customize from top to bottom...wether you want to keep stock internals or not...still a good turbo kit
05-01-2007, 07:25 PM
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Ive seen plenty of buildups with the zpi kit and many zpi cars running very good numbers on the tracks. I know a lot of people are the turbonetics kits, but the numbers at the track dont seem to compare. My goal is to have a car with about 300whp and the zpi kit seems to make just under that right out of the box. Im kind of leaning that way. The stage 1 doesnt come with HKS blow off valve whitch kind of dissapoints me, but it is still cheaper than the turbonetics.
05-01-2007, 07:31 PM
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Originally Posted by tlonas
Ive seen plenty of buildups with the zpi kit and many zpi cars running very good numbers on the tracks. I know a lot of people are the turbonetics kits, but the numbers at the track dont seem to compare. My goal is to have a car with about 300whp and the zpi kit seems to make just under that right out of the box. Im kind of leaning that way. The stage 1 doesnt come with HKS blow off valve whitch kind of dissapoints me, but it is still cheaper than the turbonetics.
The BOV is not listed because ZPI gives you the option to pick and choose. The price reflects this. So, you can get an HKS BOV no problem.
PS...what kind of track times are you seeing out of the Turbonetics kit? I have not seen to many people with that kit even go to the track. I don't know what it is, but I just don't see them racing it.
05-01-2007, 07:49 PM
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Originally Posted by 318_tC
Dezod and ZPI are making similar numbers and times.
The only Dezod powered car I know of that has been to the track has been Joe Dezod and You.
You have a built motor, Joe Dezod does not.
We need a larger pool of people to judge from than just two cars.
05-01-2007, 08:17 PM
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somebody buy me and turbo and i'll head straight to the track and post my numbers! come on, anybody?
anyway, there are other factors that have effected my choices between turbo kits.
one is you can get a dezod kit, or a turbonetics kit from dezod with a cat'ed downpipe so you can stay emissions legal and not have a cel which is very important in states with regular inspections.
two, the zpi kit requires that you remove the front factory crash bar to fit the front mount intercooler while neither the dezod or turbonetics kit do. i know it is a low speed crash bar, but i want my car as safe as possible. also, it might be a voilation to remove safety equipment from your car.
i also really like benefits of ceramic ball bearing turbos being virtually lagless, which is a huge plus. i know smoke will say that the zpi kits spools super duper fast with no lag, and also it costs more to rebuild a ball bearing turbo than a conventional one, but i just really want to say my car has ballz.
one important factor is what piggyback ecu they use. zpi and dezod use emanage, and you can add in other stuff like the greddy pressure sensor, and dezod black box for more complete tuning, while turbonetics uses unichip which means you need to find a place that can specifically tune that kind of piggyback ecu.
to quote p-tuning, all these kits are capable of producing more power than the stock engine can even handle, so it is really just a preference and application. you can probably make 300 whp on all these kits, it is just a matter of how aggressive your tune is.
also, 1/4 mile times are all well and good, but is that all you are looking for? high horsepower and low track times? if this is a daily driver that you are just spicing up, then those factors shouldn't be as important, and you should stick to turbo kits with reliability, warranty and drivability.
don't get sucked into this "this kit makes more hp and i laid down a 12 second 1/4 mile time" because no matter what, there will always be somebody with a faster tc than yours unless you have a rediculous amount of time and money at your disposal. there are several folks on here with 500 whp tc builds.
anyway, also consider the turbo toyotas kit, and the new kit from intense scion that garage1217 has on his car. don't limit yourself to just zpi and turbonetics, one of the best parts of having a tc are the numerous choices you can make for them.
anyway, there are other factors that have effected my choices between turbo kits.
one is you can get a dezod kit, or a turbonetics kit from dezod with a cat'ed downpipe so you can stay emissions legal and not have a cel which is very important in states with regular inspections.
two, the zpi kit requires that you remove the front factory crash bar to fit the front mount intercooler while neither the dezod or turbonetics kit do. i know it is a low speed crash bar, but i want my car as safe as possible. also, it might be a voilation to remove safety equipment from your car.
i also really like benefits of ceramic ball bearing turbos being virtually lagless, which is a huge plus. i know smoke will say that the zpi kits spools super duper fast with no lag, and also it costs more to rebuild a ball bearing turbo than a conventional one, but i just really want to say my car has ballz.
one important factor is what piggyback ecu they use. zpi and dezod use emanage, and you can add in other stuff like the greddy pressure sensor, and dezod black box for more complete tuning, while turbonetics uses unichip which means you need to find a place that can specifically tune that kind of piggyback ecu.
to quote p-tuning, all these kits are capable of producing more power than the stock engine can even handle, so it is really just a preference and application. you can probably make 300 whp on all these kits, it is just a matter of how aggressive your tune is.
also, 1/4 mile times are all well and good, but is that all you are looking for? high horsepower and low track times? if this is a daily driver that you are just spicing up, then those factors shouldn't be as important, and you should stick to turbo kits with reliability, warranty and drivability.
don't get sucked into this "this kit makes more hp and i laid down a 12 second 1/4 mile time" because no matter what, there will always be somebody with a faster tc than yours unless you have a rediculous amount of time and money at your disposal. there are several folks on here with 500 whp tc builds.
anyway, also consider the turbo toyotas kit, and the new kit from intense scion that garage1217 has on his car. don't limit yourself to just zpi and turbonetics, one of the best parts of having a tc are the numerous choices you can make for them.
05-01-2007, 08:35 PM
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Originally Posted by draxcaliber
i also really like benefits of ceramic ball bearing turbos being virtually lagless, which is a huge plus. i know smoke will say that the zpi kits spools super duper fast with no lag, and also it costs more to rebuild a ball bearing turbo than a conventional one, but i just really want to say my car has ballz.
05-01-2007, 08:55 PM
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First Im pretty sure you dont have to cut the bumper for the zpi kit to work. I have narrowed my choices to these two. I know there are tons of choices and Ive been looking at them over and over. They both seem to be reliable kits, but lets be honest if one is putting up better numbers than the other and has a rep for making some great tc's you'll probably choose that one. Zpi is known for their tc kits and turbonetics has been making turbo kits for years. I think they are both great choices. I just want to know which you guys recomend and why. Name some pros and cons of each.
05-01-2007, 09:09 PM
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i didn't say you have to cut the bumper, i said you have to remove the factory crash bar. it is a big metal bar across the front of your car under the plastic bumper cover. it used to say it with all their kits, but now it is only mentioned on their stage 0 intercooler upgrade page. but trust me, you have to remove it. or ask anybody who has a zpi kit with a zpi intercooler.
now then, zpi does have great kits and strong reputation, but part of that reputation is that they also have notorious horrible shipping and handling. i'm actually still waiting for an s-pipe i ordered on march 10th that hasn't shown up yet.
anyway, here are some of the pros and cons i'll list for you
zpi
pros
great rep, great kits, lots of street and track proven results
cons
some people has posted about poor quality and fitment issues, you'll get a cel, no option for a cat. removes factory crash bar to fit fmic. and hit or miss customer service, people either rave about it or complain about it.
turbonetics
pros: great reputation, great kit, ball bearing turbo, no cel, don't have to remove factory crash bar to accomadate fmic. also i've heard it is fairly quiet. has a 1 year no fault, no hassle even if you race warranty, and great track record of customer service for tech support and replacment parts. you can order it with a cat'ed downpipe from dezod.
cons: more expensive, uses a unichip piggy back ecu which there are fewer tuners for, ball bearing turbos are more expensive to rebuild.
is that more what your looking for?
now then, zpi does have great kits and strong reputation, but part of that reputation is that they also have notorious horrible shipping and handling. i'm actually still waiting for an s-pipe i ordered on march 10th that hasn't shown up yet.
anyway, here are some of the pros and cons i'll list for you
zpi
pros
great rep, great kits, lots of street and track proven results
cons
some people has posted about poor quality and fitment issues, you'll get a cel, no option for a cat. removes factory crash bar to fit fmic. and hit or miss customer service, people either rave about it or complain about it.
turbonetics
pros: great reputation, great kit, ball bearing turbo, no cel, don't have to remove factory crash bar to accomadate fmic. also i've heard it is fairly quiet. has a 1 year no fault, no hassle even if you race warranty, and great track record of customer service for tech support and replacment parts. you can order it with a cat'ed downpipe from dezod.
cons: more expensive, uses a unichip piggy back ecu which there are fewer tuners for, ball bearing turbos are more expensive to rebuild.
is that more what your looking for?
05-01-2007, 09:30 PM
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Yea Drax thats more what Im looking for. Thanx. I thought you ment removing or cutting the plastic crash bar because Ive seen kits where you must cut it for the fmic to fit. Its hard to spend that much money on the turbonetics kit if I cant find anybody to tune it in the future. From what Ive heard there are many more tuners who prefer the Greddy E-manage system. Im not to worried about having a catless downpipe or not but it would be nice not to have the cel.
05-01-2007, 09:32 PM
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The turbonetics kit is quiet. Not all that impressed with the power but they make a great fitting kit. I'm running a stock exhaust with an un-tuned Dezod base map on my Innovative f2 54 and I can walk slightly on my friends turbonetics kit in 3rd gear. He's also running straight 2.5" piping all the way back with to mufflers or cats.