Single Twins

Lets face it, the standard Fd is no ballistic missile, but it can hold its own against other unmodified sports cars. However, its not long after purchase that many owners start longing for more oomph. Few people are ready to spend a huge load of cash and generally progress through a boost up scenario adding inter-cooler, exhaust and computer.

Soon after this, the search for more power bites again and the only option left is a turbo upgrade. So deciding how far you want to take your Fd, should be thought about up front to prevent spending twice on similar components like a header ( dump ) pipe that will be useless in a single turbo setup, like wise, airfilters are throw away items for a single upgrade, but do you need to go single?

The standard twin turbine setup on the Fd is not bad, it definately has advantages in anti-lag spooling and also some drawbacks, like the nest of wires and troublesome control mechanisms, but the major one is a maximum efficient power output of around 350hp. If you dont want to redesign your engine bay for a single, you have a few options when searching for a litle more power in this department. A rebuilt turbine with replacement compressor wheels can be performed. Knight Sports goes a little further with their own design twin turbo replacement good for approx 420hp. This is as much as most single turbo conversions.

What about Single Turbos?!?! With advances in turbo design and knowhow that surrounds them, a 450hp single can provide good power across a wide power band or you can opt for the laggy & peaky, huge power options up to 650hp from your 13b. You'll have to spend up big on ancilliaries like fuel pumps, injectors, wastgate, manifold, filter, exhaust header and a bunch of other items that probably wont match anymore, but the less clutter in the engine bay and the simple design could mean less trouble in the future if you dont go too mad.

So whatever you end up with under the bonnet, do the hard yards first, drive one of each and feel the difference yourself. You may decide a single turbo is indeed over-rated. But for me, Ill have a 1000hp triple HKS GT2835 sequential setup on a 20b. Now that should be enough!!!

Russ.