Yellow Bullet Forums banner

turbo choices for a LQ4

1 reading
6.9K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  gnx7  
#1 ·
Hi all -

You guys are all likely way more serious than I am but this is probably one of the better resources on the web.

There are a lot of proven combos for a 6.0, 5.3 with a 4l80 etc, but I'm still wanting to run a manual transmission as it's more fun for me, and I'm not going to be living at the track. I've looked at a lot of corvette guys setups (because they have manual transmissions and there seems to be more data) and I think I'm looking for something in the 63 ish size with near a .8X A/R for a twin turbo setup. What do you think? I've been eyeing VS racing 62/62 with a .82 A/R in a T4. My main concern is lag with shifting the T56 magnum (which is why I'm considering twins otherwise it would be a single S475 / S480).

Cam is Bullet: 226 I 230 E LSA 113 lift is .600 for both I and E.
Considering a Magnafuel 750 (anyone use the in tank version? The external is cheaper)
Going to get pistons and rods for this thing (it's a gen 3) Some people run 9 to 1, other 10 to 1. I'm going to run this thing on pump gas in most places as I move a lot, and e85 when I want to have some fun.

Ultimately I'm looking for some guidance on this one and for others to find holes in my plan and make some informed recommendations. It's my first turbo build so I'm open to a lot of suggestions.
 
#5 · (Edited)
My combo is a 5.3, +.020, rods, pistons stock crank, 799 heads, arp head studs, LS9 head gaskets and the old truck intake. 95# injectors, and a cable driven TB from an express van. Twin 450's, but you can get by with a single 525 now. Electric intank pumps last longer and are much much quieter. I run a LJMS (Full Proof Performance now) stg 2 cam. A cast wheel S475 got this combo in my 3400# car into the mid nines. I then switched to the TBSS intake, and added a billet 80mm wheel to the S475 and we got it to run 8.70's. The cam is small and is awesome on the street. Note, the 80 wheel spools noticeably slower than the 75 wheel did, so from a street perspective, the 75 was a lot more fun. I myself would put a 4L80 and a nice lock up converter (built to your combo) in it as I believe your going to struggle with a clutch combo to manage that power, and will get tired of having it apart. What I have learned over the last few years, is your tuning is EVERYTHING. If you have a really smart tuner that knows his shit, you could do what I have done of stock gen 4 rods, and flat top pistons.
 
#6 ·
I have a classic Cadillac that I built to eventually get turbo'd after I learned the right way to do things on this LS. It has the 4l80e and converter. For this though I do want to leave the T56 in there. Was going to run a tilton twin disk in it and call it a day. Maybe later I'll swap to an auto but for now the T56M is here, and I really don't want to buy another transmission for it. I also like pretending I shift well? (lol)

S475, hmm ok. I'll look into this more as well as ideal AR size for reduced lag. more research!
 
#11 ·
I got a ride in a Ford GT (2006) with twin GT35R's and they were pretty much instaspool. You definitely need boost by gear/time to control them or the car will be worthless on the street. I run Mcleod RXT for cars under 1000rwhp and the HD1200 RXT version for cars making over that. Both drive super nice with light pedal pressure. I have the HD1200 RXT in my LS9 turbo FD RX-7 with T56 Magnum F style (3.31 gears out back). While the 3.31 gears are long..... it puts the power down better and you stay in gear longer. Does 175mph+ in 4th gear and I run a stock LS3 intake manifold with ID1650's. Puts down 1060rwhp on 14psi with e85. In 4th it is 17-18psi and then in 5th we run 21-22psi and it pulls HARD.


It had a Precision GTS76 Gen1 (1200hp rating) on it before (T4) and it did spool about 300-400rpms sooner (went 9.3@162mph) but the newer Precision 88mm T4 (1450hp rating) pulls so much harder up top the slower spool is totally worth it. I can't even use any REAL power until 4th gear anyway on a 275/50/15 M/T ET Street DR.
 
#12 ·
Hi GNX7 , thanks for the info! I am deffinatly concerned with traction. Even when this thing had a big block it didn't want to hook up. I'm hoping to use the Holley Terminator X system and the traction control portion as well. I'll have to do some more reading on how boost by MPH will work with the manual transmission. In the video did you have the 3.31's in it? Did you have traction control or anything to assist or just pedal control and suspension?