Looking for anyone that could do a turbo upgrade like what is available for the 335i from Rob Beck turbos. I heard he is backordered so I hit up Vargas Turbos, which recently put out a turbo upgrade arguably better than the RBs. Here was his response:

"For the RDX, we would be interested in upgraded your turbos. What we need is a set of turbos to take a look at so we can upgrade them for you. If you want to send us yours, that will get the ball rolling. Tony"


I am guessing the cost is around $2,750.00 to $3k for the upgrade (w/o labor). On the 335i setup there are guys going from running 10-16+psi with JB4 to 20-22psi with upgraded turbos upgrade.

 

swapping out turbo, or rebuilding???

 

Texas area? You might have better luck in the regional forums. Up here in Oregon it is ETS FTW.

 

pretty sure taking stockers and re-working to handle hire psi. Here is a link to what the RB turbos on a close to stock 335i did, went from about 300rwhp (bout 280 stock) to 480rwhp.


Get the RDX to 400rwhp?

 

Do they make a turbo upgrade for the RDX?

 

you meant awhp ? or did I miss something?

 

no one has ever put anything together to my knowledge.

 

http://www.blouchturbo.com/

if I can show this shop that enough are interested they might be willing to do something. my RDX is available for the next 9 months as I'm in Afghanistan at the moment. they are about 35 minuets from my house and I could have the vehicle dropped of whenever it is convenient. seems like a no brainer to me...

 

Curious how much impact the variable flow on the stocker would affect a rebuild/upgrade, or replacement and deletion of that feature would complicate tuning.

 

I would be cautious about throwing 3K into something like this.... the company wants you to send them your turbos so they don't even know that the RDX is not a twin turbo setup. All the port matching/polishing and "upgrading" in the world is not going to do much if there is not much headroom with the stock turbo to begin with. I would ask if they are swapping out compressor wheels etc... Probably better off doing a custom twin scroll gt32 setup or something for less money

 

No, however they would have the skills. There must be someone in your area who has experience with blown engines that could make this happen.

 

You can modify the rdx turbo to fit the 18T compressor wheel. It takes a turbo rebuild shop to do but it's really not that much work. Many people with Volvos have upgraded 15T to 18T. I have pics of mine if need be. I also had the turbine wheel clipped. Could net maybe an additional 40 hp. It moves about 40-60 more cfm than the 15t compressor. Or so I've read.

 

So the RDX turbo has a 15t compressor wheel in stock form??? I have been searching for stats on the stock RDX turbo but have not come up with much at all.... other than it seems to be a one off turbo built for Honda.

 

all thanks to the variable flow

 

Yup. TD04HL-15T with the variable A/R turbine side. It's a mission to get information. MHI gave me some basic info about the turbo, but no compressor maps or anything like that. Yeah they only made it for the RDX and I was hoping they would give more since the new models don't have one, but no dice.

 

So this is a Mitsubishi turbo? I believe my old WRX had a TD04L-13T and I managed 20 pounds of boost but was at the ragged edge of tuning the stock turbo (short of methanol injection etc). A compressor map would be great but sounds like a no go.... thanks a ton for your input!!

 

I was going to suggest them as well. But until Flashpro is released theres no point in trying to upgrade. Im interested to see the limits on the stocker once you can fully tune it.

 

upgrading the turbo is purely a mechanical process. that being said yes of course we need to be able to tune for the extra volume of air going through the motor. which will come in the form of the much heralded flash-pro. and the heavens parted and hondata said let there be tuning for the Acura RDX. im not convinced that the factory turbo has much headroom built in to it. if the aftermarket would step up and come up with a new compressor side for it, housing and wheel. I could see factory ish response and way more top end. but maybe that's asking a bit to much.

 

my intent was since they will need a test vehicle for fitment and mockup while we are waiting on flash-pro to arrive they could be hard at work giving us an aftermarket turbo or an upgraded factory turbo.

 

You could potentially run a 19T Compressor housing and wheel just need to figure out how to mount the VFT actuator. But I think a solid 300+ hp could be achieved with an 18T

 

I am interested in getting my turbo modified for more output. TD04HL-15T with the variable A/R turbine side. MHI gave me some basic info about the turbo, but no compressor maps or anything like that. before I go buy a good used core for you to modify is it possible for you to work on this frame size or am I out of luck?

this is what I sent them lets see what they say.

 

would be nice to have an upgraded turbo.. specially for the top end.. ill subscribe to the thread see how this pans out