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thrust bearing turbos to ball-bearing turbos. Some of the things previously mentioned in the replies are all true. Ease of install, 4-bolt vs 5-bolt downpipes, and cost to name a few. Ball-bearing turbos don't always spool faster, but they do tend to hold RPM for a longer period of time (i.e. between gear shifts on a manual trans). If I could give a piece of advice for anyone considering the choice between these smaller street turbo types - What are your goals and plans for the car for driving style? Street or Track-style oriented? After speaking to a few turbocharger engineers and modification specialists on the issue, it would seem the standard thrust bearing style (oem, sport 500s, gt525, etc) are better for cost and normal street operation, straight line pulls, etc. Whereas ball-bearing turbos are designed to handle g-forces, vibrations, etc better. To put it simply, ball-bearing for track, autocross, harsh mountain road style driving where g-forces and heavy vibrations can be absorbed by the "oil and ball low-friction cushion", and maintain rpm even if oil becomes temporarily starved to the bearing. Thrust bearings tend to get intermittent oil starvation issues during heavy g-force and vibration loads and consequently "run dry" or surface-to-surface contact, which has been known to cause them to fail prematurely, which isn't an issue for straight line acceleration and usage. There are a few Youtube videos floating around as well that talk about this in detail. The extra cost of ball-bearing turbos is essentially you paying for more damage resiliency and maintaining higher avg rpm to return to full boost quicker. Sorry for the lengthy response.
1993 Nissan 300ZX Slicktop (Oxford Gray Metallic)
1992 Nissan Skyline GT-R (Gunmetal Gray)
- Long Live the Z and Godzirra! -
"Love cars. Love people. Love life." - Mr. K. |
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09:14:58 05/16/21
