vg 30 vs hks gt2530

[psi910]

What is the physical size different of these two turbos and what gains should i expect. I have a red top rb20 fmic,Exhaust etc etc

[Guest INASNT]

firstly a vg30 is a old school plain bush bearing turbo and the 2530 a twin ball bearing.

[Cubes]

Not all VG30 turbos are plain bush.

I had 2 VG30 Ball Bearing turbo's. They have a huge exhaust a/r, and a smaller compressor than the RB25 turbo. In turn they are laggy (4000rpm 11psi on a RB20DET)

I had bad luck with the 2 second hand turbo's I got. First one that was sitting in the crate got a little bit of moisture on the bearings and developed a small rust spot that caused the bearings to wirr on idle and when on boost obviously. The second turbo (replacement for the dud) had excessive shaft play that scraped on the housing ever so slightly causing a loud screeching noise when on boost.

So I got my moneyz back.

Don't get a VG30 turbo. Go for a 2530 or a RB25 turbo.

The VG30 turbo is around $500. The 2530 is up over 1.5k.

[bbenny]

if you have the money to get the 2530 - dont waste your time making a decision. just go buy it.

I have a HKS2530 on my RB20 and it is awesome! on a stock ecu it was making 207rwkw at (0.8bar) 12psi. the only thing stopping me from running more boost was maxing out the AFM signal. From what ive heard they are very impressive between 1.2bar to 1.5bar. once my ecu has been tuned ill run 1.2 and let you know, but judging on its performance so far it should be good.

do a search on the forum of both turbos, i found the info very useful when i was making the same decision as you. just remember you will have to get all the oil and water lines to fit the HKS turbo. but well worth it, and most of the ones sold on this forum are comming with lines for RB20/25.

[T0nyGTSt]

About a decade separates the design of these two turbos.

Apparently if you're willing to cut and shut your VG30 and your RB25 turbo, you can get a hybrid that runs ok.

T.

[Cubes]

The extra lag you get from the vg30 exhaust a/r with the rb25 compressor wouldn't be work the extra 10 or so rwkw extra up top end. The car, I think would end up being slower and less responsive, stick to the RB25 turbo or the HKS2530 for a good streetable RB20DET.

Stick with stock sized exhaust a/r until you start getting over 450hp at the motor (250rwkw). Even nudging up towards 300rwkw it is debatable if the larger exhaust a/r improves the cars overall acceleration.

If I had a 2530 i wouldn't think twice about getting it tuned at 1.4bar. Providing it still makes more overall power than the lower 1.2bar. But it comes down to if you can trust your tuner to tune safe enough so that you won't crack ring lands like so many noob and not so noob tuners have done in the past.