Choosing Turbo for Mitsubishi Evolution X

Here is some information for consumers who are thinking of upgrading Mitsubishi Evolution X turbo for larger turbo to achieve power beyond 400 wheel horsepower. Most consumers will wonder how much more power can I expect? How much turbo lag will I experience? What’s the top end power I can achieve?

Well, how much power consumers can expect depends on other supporting mods that he/she is considering. Upgrading the turbo only without other support mods is not helping much. Remember that the engine is as strong as its weakest link.

In terms of turbo lag, larger turbo will experience slower spool rate compared to factory turbo. But what’s lost in spool time, larger turbo makes up in the top end power. Turbo manufacturers spend great deal of time and investment on compressor & turbine blade profile and materials to improve its spool rate and achieve top end power to withstand higher boost. Some manufacturers rebuild the stock turbo by replacing the cartridge with improved compressor & turbine blade design.

As far as how much power can consumer achieve? Remember, the larger the turbo, it can hit higher power but it needs the right combination of mods and engine tuning to make it happen.

Garrett 3076 Turbo

Blouch Dominator XT 2.0 Turbo

Tomioka Racing Sigma Turbo

Below are dyno graphs of Garrett 3076 Dual Ball Bearing, Blouch Dominator XT 2.0 and Tomioka Racing Sigma Turbo. All of these turbos are non-modified stock turbo. They are installed on similar supporting mods upgraded fuel injectors, exhaust manifold, downpipe, test-pipe, fuel pump, inlet hose with upper & lower intercooler piping. Each of the Evo X GSR is operating at similar level of boost.

Sigma Vs GT3076

Orange line is Garrett 3076 and red line is Sigma turbo. The ball bearing Garrett turbo spools little faster and has power advantage over the area circled in blue around 4000-6000 RPM. In the top end RPM, the Sigma turbo manages to catch-up with the might of the ball bearing turbo. Similar performance is reflected on the torque graph where the ball-bearing turbo holds torque advantage over 4000 – 6000 RPM but levels off over 6000RPM. The main difference is the price tags of the turbo. Garrett 3076 Dual Ball Bearing is priced at $2,073 and the Sigma turbo is at $1,599. For those consumers who have made up their mind with ball bearing set-up, Garrett 3076 is the way to go. For those who are more budget-conscious and still looking to achieve power beyond 400whp, they should give the Sigma turbo a shot. Being larger than the stock turbo, both the Garrett 3076 and Sigma turbo are laggier than stock turbo.

Sigma Vs Blouch XT

Between Blouch Dominator XT 2.0 turbo and Sigma turbo, things are little similar.  The turbo spools at same rate in the 3000 – 3750 RPM but Blouch turbo experiences a surge between 3750 – 4500RPM. Beyond 4500RPM, both turbos are virtually tied but the Sigma turbo manages to hold its power on the top-end over the Blouch Dominator XT 2.0.

These graphs are meant to help consumers out there looking for turbo upgrade. Bear in mind that different manufacturer of dyno reads power differently i.e there will be deviations in the power reading. Even within the same dyno manufacturer, there will also be slight deviations in reading due to various calibration method applied the initial set-up of the dyno.