I have failed to come across a proper answer. But it seems that thereare low and high mounted bt's for the 1.8. Atp created the Eliminator series where the turbo is in the stock location, but there are other setups out there like (jeffs old setup) where the turbo is even witht the coil packs. Why??

 

probably better cooling and/or to meet up to custom intake or custom exhaust manifold. hey by the way... have you ever dyno'd your car or ran a quarter?

 

its easier to mount and replace a top mount turbo. Also, most equal length manifolds are mounted this way due to space constraints.

 

Is there a kit for the top mount? Ive only seen the eliminator series, and the revo kit also uses the eliminator setup. I would much rather have the turbo up top, way cooler, and after doing the ko4 down in that hole i think it would be ideal to have it mounted high.
No i havent dynoed, i might get around to it before i get rid of the car, if i do, ill post it for sure.

 

For a top mount you have 2 options 034motorsports = $900 for the manifold alone and you have to custom fab the downpipe



And the FullRace Manifold = $1300 for just the manifold



And dp at $250

 

Now you can see top mounts are very costly. The reason is because they need to be hand made and they are equal length. The length of the manifold increases lag but will give HUGE top end power over a typical cast manifold. Also with any welded manifold, they are more prone to break, far greater than cast.

You also have another option and that is a atp style cast log manifold where the turbo flange is horizontal and not up/down. These manifolds are much cheaper and will spool faster than a welded manifold above. Plus they will last far longer since the tendency to crack is far less than a welded peice. You can use anything from a true atp or one of the many clones that are on the market. I prefer the pagparts one myself and tuner-stop even sells on that is exactly the same for under $200. Sean1.8t has the atp setup on his car if you want to see how it looks in the engine.

You final option is to have some make you a custom top mount, but that is always a risk you will take since you dont know it they did everything possible to make it as strong as possible

Now to the keeping the turbo cool comment. The turbo needs heat to function. You really want the exhaust as hot as possible and the same for the turbine side of the turbo. The best thing to do is to have both the turbo and manifold jetcoated so it will not only trap in more of the heat, it will also lower under hood temps. Having these peices coated has shown to improve spool by around 200rpms. Then if you want on top of that you can then get a turbo cover the trap in more heat in the turbo and wrap the dp.

If i was you i would stick with cast manifold and with short runners since you dont plan on running a 400hp car and i assume drive in pretty much daily.

 

Cincy jesus, you know everything. The heat part was somethign ive never heard before, and to be honest i meant that having the turbo way up by the engine(more visual) that it would look more badass. In the end i learned something new so awesome. Ive been looking at the atp setup manifold, since its the most common on the market. Arif seemed to dislike the eliminator one because everything had to be perfectly aligned and it was just a pita. Would the top mount be better?? Besides more space? Also iassume that since the turbo is mounted higher that you need a special downpipe as well for the atp setup regardless. Is there anyone that provides one or you just have to go custom?

 

Eliminators suck because they dont fit right and the lag and low power outputs are just sad. Im guessing you didnt see i posted 2x, there are some top mounts and more info up there. I would go with a atp hardware kit and unitronic 630cc file and you should be good to go.

 

if you can weld tig, whats the problem with welding the proper flange to meet the turbo... on the manifold and cat or test pipe? some people pay sooo much cash to simply match their part to their turbo, when you could weld it yourself or pay someone a fraction of the cost to do a "side job"... before buying most of my tools, i just kicked a couple bucks to some friends to do this kind of work... this is completely off topic, but before i was decent with MAP gas, i had a friend semi-aneel my wheel lips and then bang them back to shape with a mallet so i could retain bent/un-true wheels. now i can do that stuff myself and save PLENTY of cash... its very easy to replace flanges if you have basic welding skills or access to a shop with employees who are minimally knowledgable. What is wrong with modifying performance parts on your own??? They are simple if you have very, very minimal skills... Changing a flange, or adding a little piping is much easier than paying crazy amounts of money to buy brand name items...

 

Absolutely agree with you as long as you fit the criteria you mentioned - namely, that you're good at doing that type of work. If so, there's absolutely no problem with doing that. Get a kick-*** tubular manifold for your custom setup and adapt it with the proper flange for a turbo you want to run? Nothing wrong with that as long as you have the skills to do it reliably.