IT RUNS!!! - My 500whp build - Element motor and Moore Performance Twin Scroll Kit! by dexterous

7 minute(s) of a 312 minute read

We actually did a compression test on site at element and they were all within 5 psi of each other @ 150 - 155 psi.

7-9-2011

The new restrictor is installed and the smoke has been greatly reduced. I would say its down to 5% of what it was. The turbo vendor told us that it would take a significant amount of driving before the smoke totally cleared up so I guess we have a bit to go before we find out for sure.

In addition, Moore performance has offered to run the car on a local dyno at their expense just to see if it smokes under similar conditions. I let them know that I think thats a great idea and we are planning on doing it a week from Saturday.

No, a leakdown was not performed, only a compression test. The Element motor tech (Steve) told me that a leakdown test was not really necessary if the compression numbers were good. They also said that only a turbo failure could cause the amount of smoke we were seeing (think air show smoke system on an acrobatics plane). I guess we will find out.

7-12-2011

Well, the car is burning oil and smoking still which isn't good. The smoke was somewhat expected since there should theoretically still be oil in the turbo and exhaust but I didn't expect to see the oil level dropping after the correct restrictor was installed. I guess its possible that the turbo needs rebuilt after being exposed to so much oil pressure

7-14-2011

Well that didn't last long. The turbo is on its way to being rebuilt at 700 miles and no more than 18psi (wastegate boost). Bummer...

They are supposedly covering the rebuild but I am getting boned for $200 on shipping ($100 each way). Its really frustrating because I first made it very clear that I didn't want a ball bearing turbo but thats what was sent any way. Then I asked the direct question "are we 100% sure that the restrictor setup is correct" and was told that it was absolutely correct and not to worry.

Have you ever seen a turbo that was meant to have a twenty two thousandths restrictor at 80 psi blasted by a 1/4 inch line at 120 psi? I am told that a failure like this is par for the course.


The turbo is 100% proprietary except for the Borg Warner based hot side. I have been politely asked not to release the name of the company because the turbo has not been announced yet. Its none of the names you listed but it is a very well known and respected company from the Western US. They don't do much Subaru business (I think thats why this happened) so they are not well known in our circle.

Thanks. Its almost scary to say but I think this may be the last major bug. If you saw my car last year you would know that nearly every single thing about it changed this winter and in a huge way. Not only did everything change, all the new stuff was custom and a lot of that has never been done on a subaru before (or if it has been done I didn't find it in research).

I have been doing a lot of soul searching over the last several days to the tune of "why am I putting my self through all this crap". My goal was to build what should have been a super car killer STI. On paper a full Ohlins suspension and my engine build should have a pretty good chance of qualifying for that title but so far all I have gotten was a beat down.

Wednesday was kind of a watershed moment for me. Right in the middle of thinking about parting my car out a local friend who recently purchased a new Z06 Vet and offered to let me drive it. I was shocked to discover how much better my STI handled. I was also shocked at how slow the Z06's 505 HP felt in comparison to my STI. I am absolutely 100% positive that my car was significantly faster last year (473whp). All I kept thinking was how interesting it would be to do a little "benchmarking" between the Z06 and the STI.

This was pretty much all the motivation I needed to get my crap in order and get to work. I drove my STI home and tore it apart ASAP to look for issues. Thats how I found the turbo issue which is very obviously the cause of my smoke problems. Even if something else is wrong that turbo is trashed.

Both Phil (from Element) and I are totally flabbergasted that the car has had three major, totally unrelated problems (turbo kit design, fuel injectors and now the new turbo). It pretty much defies the odds of logic and reason if you think about it. I really hope this is it because all this R&D for other companies has totally drained my finances and put me in a really bad situation for many other reasons.

Well, the good news here is at least all the parts of the new prototype kit that Moore Performance actually made work really well. I closely examined all the flanges, gaskets, etc after disassembling the car and there was not a single leak in the entire system. I must say, you guys spared no expense on those flanges, they are as flat, true and perfect as could possibly be. The quality is significantly better than just about every other kit that I have worked with in the last 10 years!

To continue spilling the beans, I am not sure how you feel at the point but as far as I am concerned, I think the actual kit its self can be pretty much declared finished. Its pretty well proven at this point to be of good quality and we already know that it spools turbos like an animal. Hell, it did 407whp on 3cyl (yes, thats correct, 3cyl) and 18psi of boost when we were trying to get the car safe for me to drive home in June. I wish I had a graph but we didnt save any of them but it was pretty fantastic looking.

The fitment and compatibility with other vendors products such as the killerb oil pan, Element breather setup, B-Line oil cooler, etc are all pretty much perfect too. I also love where you put the WBO2 sensor, its perfect! I vote that you don't change the location of anything, not even one degree.

As for this exact turbo, I am not entirely convinced. Its possible that it wont work with my motor due to how much oil pressure it makes but we will see. After all, I could take my pick of about six billion T3 based turbos form 75 different vendors and run just about anything. I guess I could easily go back to the Evo setup too since I only need to swap that small piece at the end of the pipe. That adapter is also a fantastic design by the way. Its possible that my car has more turbo compatibility than any other vehicle on the road. You said T3 flanged turbos, Twin Scroll Subaru (JDM) and Twin Scroll Eve. I also know you said single scroll but why the hell would anybody want to do that?