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Hi all. Whilst my engine's been out for some other upgrades I took a punt on an ebay TD05 20g turbo. Paid £179 for it with a fitting kit. Long and short, I'm pretty impressed so far. The fitting kit was terrible as it didn't fit any which way, but the turbo unit itself looks pretty good. I bought a Kinugawa fitting kit and properly sized oil feed hose, then it all fitted fine.
Car spec: 2.5 forged build, 2.5" through decat exist, ported stock headers, ported turbine housing, stock intake with K&N panel filter and Samco intake hose, using a dawes type MBC for control. The car pulls really smoothly and the turbo spools ace, you can see it's hitting 23psi by 3188rpm , though I'm not running it that high due to other limitations. I think the boost tailing off is probably due to restrictions in the intake and exhaust.
Some notes on fitting for anyone thinking about it
- easier with the engine out (that probably applies to any turbo though!)
- the turbine housing needed the nut flanges machining flat, instead of the cast surfaces. I used an angle grinder and hand file.
- make sure to use jubilee clips on the coolant feed and return hoses and ensure they are accessible with ring spanners to tighten them with the engine in the car. I had major coolant leaks to contend with when I put the engine back in!
hope it goes well for you buddy, seems strange tho to spend money on a forged build etc and then bolt on a chinese 180 quid turbo and a dawes device to control it ? dont get me wrong modifying these cars aint cheap (which is why is still dont have that turbo i promised myself yet lol) but that sounds like a recipe for disaster. what power did it end up making? it is interesting to see if these turbos can last and perform in the real world and would be good if you posted back in 6- months to say all is well.
It's been forged for a while running the stock turbo, been rebuilt a few times, and to be honest I'm considering starting a fresh with a 2.1 high power build.
Thought I would take a punt as I'm curious. I have to say looking at the turbo itself it would not surprise me if the parts/castings etc were made in the same factories as the 'branded' ones, i.e. all made in China anyway. Just with a few machining process skipped out, as mentioned.
As you say there is not many real world reports on these turbos. No idea on the power, I tune it myself on the road, but I'm holding it back as I need some larger injectors. It pulls nicely at ~15psi and I'm running pretty much the stock map currently until I get some time to tweak it for a bit more power (MBC means boost control doesn't need tuning).
I'm still having problems with leaking coolant hoses so that's definitely something to watch out for.
Ive read on various forums of people running 'chinese' turbos on cars from mini's to skylines with no problems. I remember one person saying there car took a few hundred extra rpm to spool up fully over the factory turbo but no horror stories.
Last edited by TheAngryFerret; 21 October 2017 at 07:00 PM.
Looping back on this as some have requested. 5 months and 5k miles later this turbo is punching it's weight. Probably running just shy of 400hp and spooling pretty much as well as the VF43 that was fitted, it's only being held back by my headers and exhaust. No problems to report other than the initial needing a Kinugawa fitting kit and some problems of (old) leaking coolant hoses.
21 October 2017 | 11:28 AM
Ebay TD05 20g - Some Data & Fitting Tips
, though I'm not running it that high due to other limitations. I think the boost tailing off is probably due to restrictions in the intake and exhaust. 
