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Reduce turbo lag on JDM EJ20TT (EJ20H)?


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I've found reference to this in another post, but no solution. :(

 

My '94 JDM Legacy Twin Turbo Wagon (123,000 km) will arrive in port in about 2 weeks and I am concerned about the reported lag between the first turbo and second turbo.

 

Has anyone here owned or currently owns one of these and had success with minimizing the lag? If so, to what lengths did you have to go to do it?

 

The car will be a daily driver for me, but I do like to give it a push now and then and would like the vehicle to run as smoothly as possible without having to drop a bunch of $$ into it.

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Some better dp's will help with a little bit of lag aiding in the spool time of the turbo or a better air inlet for both the turbos as well.

 

That engine was never offered over here in the states but I have a few engine bits from that dual turbo engine. Also you may want to try upping the boost a little on the first turbo and maybe that would help it pull a little harder till the second turbo kicks in?

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you shouldn't feel any lag between turbos because they both produce boost at the same time. you would have inital lag until they spool up.

 

No they are sequential like on any other tt setup. Like in a tt supra or tt rx7 . Until a certain amount of boost is attained in the first turbo it will not let the second tubo see much exhaust gasses at all . That is why it is called sequentail because they are in sequence.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I agree with the post above, and, I want pics of this car when you get it!!

 

I've been doing some reading on a few other Subaru boards and some say the turbo lag is quite bad while others say it's not too bad. It seems there is at least a way to minimize the lag with a good boost controller, so I am looking for an Apexi AVC-R right now. I've got to take it easy on the spending though as I just purchased a Yamaha R1 and the wife isn't too pleased. :D

 

Here's a couple pics of the Subaru in Japan before they shipped it. I've got to put on my wheels and give it a good waxing and I'll post more pics.

post-19651-136027633147_thumb.jpg

post-19651-136027633155_thumb.jpg

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Nice pics, I would be interested into how you got it imported. Anyway, back to your question. The lag will change from driver to driver because of how they drive the car. The twin turbo were developed to provide a broader power range. I say drive the car for awhile and see if you notice a lag. There are ways to drive around the lag. But I wonder if this is really lag that they are talking about or a drop in power between were one turbo reaches max and the over starts to kick in. That is a sizing problem with the two turbos and might require some modification to eliminate.

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Here's an option. Found it HERE:

 

I imported my Legacy last summer it is a 2 litre twin turbo (GTB) has been modified to run the turbo's in parallel plus quite a bit more cool.gif

With this set up the VOD (valley of death,the lag between the first turbo and the larger second one kicking in) is no more and pulls very hard from around 3000 rpm to the redline biggrin.gif

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Here's an option. Found it HERE:

 

I imported my Legacy last summer it is a 2 litre twin turbo (GTB) has been modified to run the turbo's in parallel plus quite a bit more cool.gif

With this set up the VOD (valley of death,the lag between the first turbo and the larger second one kicking in) is no more and pulls very hard from around 3000 rpm to the redline biggrin.gif

 

I often wondered if that could be done, that would make it a real twin turbo car instead of a hand off from one turbo to the other. I loved the term VOD (Valley Of Death) to describe the lag between turbos.

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Nice pics, I would be interested into how you got it imported. Anyway, back to your question. The lag will change from driver to driver because of how they drive the car. The twin turbo were developed to provide a broader power range. I say drive the car for awhile and see if you notice a lag. There are ways to drive around the lag. But I wonder if this is really lag that they are talking about or a drop in power between were one turbo reaches max and the over starts to kick in. That is a sizing problem with the two turbos and might require some modification to eliminate.

 

That's exactly what it is, the time from the first turbo to max out and the second to spool up.

 

I contacted a guy in the area who imports vehicles from Japan and has people in Japan to do his inspections and cleanup before exporting. He forwards me potential vehicles coming to auction and I review them and let him know if there are any I am interested in. My requirements were pretty high, so it took a couple of months to find one that I liked.

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That's exactly what it is, the time from the first turbo to max out and the second to spool up.

 

I contacted a guy in the area who imports vehicles from Japan and has people in Japan to do his inspections and cleanup before exporting. He forwards me potential vehicles coming to auction and I review them and let him know if there are any I am interested in. My requirements were pretty high, so it took a couple of months to find one that I liked.

 

Cool! Care to share how to get a japanese car over here to the states? I would like a jdm rhd wrx 2dr.:slobber:

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Cool! Care to share how to get a japanese car over here to the states? I would like a jdm rhd wrx 2dr.:slobber:

 

I'm pretty sure he's in Canada, but I could be wrong. It is WAY easier to import older cars there compared to the States.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Nice pics, I would be interested into how you got it imported. Anyway, back to your question. The lag will change from driver to driver because of how they drive the car. The twin turbo were developed to provide a broader power range. I say drive the car for awhile and see if you notice a lag. There are ways to drive around the lag. But I wonder if this is really lag that they are talking about or a drop in power between were one turbo reaches max and the over starts to kick in. That is a sizing problem with the two turbos and might require some modification to eliminate.

 

i got a '99 jdm legacy tt, and yes i understand the lag theory.

What it is is the second turbo kicking in at about 5000rpms.

i'm also trying to overcome this but have not yet found a solution.

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Importing JDM cars into the US is virtually impossible. Generally, people import them into Canada and try to get them past the border.

 

Indeed.

Look at the hassle that Earl had trying to get a JDM SVX into the US.

It never happened :-\

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  • 2 weeks later...
I'm pretty sure he's in Canada, but I could be wrong. It is WAY easier to import older cars there compared to the States.

 

 

Yes, I am in Canada. My vehicle was 15 years old and legal to import on April 1/09, I believe they have to be 25 years old to import to the US. You may be able to get around this by purchasing a JDM vehicle in Canada and bringing it into the US, but make sure you contact the proper authorities before you attempt this just to be sure.

 

I received my car about 2 weeks ago and it passed the out-of-province inspection and was registered/plated yesterday. I must say it's a blast to drive. I was originally looking for a manual, but they can't be had in the EJ20H engine until 1996 (when it changes to an EJ20R and 276HP). I got a nice surprise when I was inspecting it and changing/checking all my fluids. It has coilovers!! My 17s fit perfectly and it handles like it's on rails, completely flat cornering. My sound system took me 4 days to install (I'm very picky) and I'm heading outside to add some Dynamat to the trunk door as dual 12s cause some vibration at higher SPLs. I'll add some pics once I've completed the detailing, but I'm having a hell of a time finding the wax I want to use on the car. :mad:

 

With regards to the 'valley of death', I don't really notice it unless I am watching for it under moderate-hard acceleration, but it's definitely there. At ~65 MPH it seems to be the sweet spot for cruising and the boost comes on instantly for quick passing. It pulls like a bull up to 100MPH (that's as fast as I have had it). The speedo tops out at 180 km/h (as do all other JDMs up to 2003) and apparently there is a 190 km/h limiter, but I don't intend to find out. :)

 

Other little unique touches that I can't get in a 1994 North America spec car:

Power mirrors that fold flat to the car with the touch of a button (for tight parking spaces)

Heated mirrors

Heated wiper fluid

A winter traction mode? (Keeps the transmission in the current gear, button says HOLD AT and has a snowflake icon)

Dual sunroofs

Tweeters in the front doors by the mirrors and in the rear firing forwards (not down) in the ceiling just inside the hatch.

Edited by Kilroy
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Me too!!!

I'll have to work on the accent and the eh's but maybe we could be roomies!

:lol: jk TSJ.

But I hate the stupid lockdown the US government has on JDM vehicles.

Stupid skylines...

 

Twitch

 

I'm not sure about the accent (the only Canadians that say 'aboot' are those damned frenchies to the east), but I notice now and then that I say 'eh?' quite a bit to change a sentence from a statement to a question. I didn't really notice until I was visiting a friend in Seattle and I asked him if I was using it a lot, turns out I was. :-\

 

I still haven't found the wax I want (Turtle Wax Color Cure). It turns out it has been discontinued and replaced by their 'ICE' line of products. I used the Color Cure on my Acura RL and it's phenominal for hiding small scratches as it comes with a little lipstick tube of hard wax that you run across your scratches to fill them in and then you use the colored liquid wax over them. Voila! No more scratch. Zymol is supposed to be (arguably) the best wax on the market and I have tried it, but it is light blue and every little nick or scratch is filled with it and turned light blue. Not good on a deep red (or deep green, as my RL was) vehicle.

 

I've purchased the ICE wax and cleaner ($40!!) and will give it a shot soon, but it's been raining on and off here several times a day for the last few days. 5 minute rain, add dust/pollen and your vehicle looks like crap again. :mad:

 

I went out to check the spark plugs on the car yesterday, figuring it would be a simple procedure as most cars are. I couldn't even see the damned things, let alone find them! That engine bay is packed tighter than a flamer on gay pride day! And good luck finding a manual for the car/engine. Any manual I would be able to find would probably be in Japanese anyways. :banghead:

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  • 2 years later...

i own a 2000 legacy GTB with the EJ20TT. to change the plugs you have to remove the windscreen washer tank and the battery on one side, then remove the cold air box on the other side then you can access the plugs! its not as hard as everyone makes it out to be, just dont be lazy! Good luck !!:cool:

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