$3,500 Single Turbo Kit vs. $8,100 Twin Turbo Kit | HiLow

(acceleration of the car engine) - Twin Turbo Kit of $8100. - $3500 Single Turbo Kit. - Does more expensive mean more is better? - Let's find out. - I hope our cars don't explode. - Hey, I was just on fire. Oh Lord. (upbeat music) (car engines roaring) (imitates car engine) - Turbos! - Yes. (laughs) We bought two almost identical Nissan 350Zs and we've been modifying them to be fun daily drivers that you can take to the track. - moi's One Z gets a lot of really cool expensive parts that I always wanted and Nolan's car gets a lot of cheap parts. - Then we test them to see which components are really worth spending your hard-earned money on. - Brakes, tires, coilovers.

All of those things help improve the way your car interacts with the road. But we haven't made a

single

mod that directly gives our cars a mo' powa, baby. - That's what we'll do today. Mo'powa. - Mo' powa, darling! My slogan, friend. (upbeat percussion tones) - The most important thing this bad boy comes with is instructions. It's like Ikea. This weekend I put together a shelf in my garage. This should be no different. (parts hitting the table) - Little children. - Impulsive little boys here. - Your

turbo

is bigger than mine. (bangs on table) (crumpled plastic) - Big

turbo

. - We also added a Tomei titanium exhaust. - What a sick friend. -Yes, he is so sickly. (imitates car engine noises) - It may seem strange that James has a

twin

engine and I have a

single

, but in reality there is no such thing as a cheap

twin

-turbo kit.

And we focus more on comparing what you can get for different prices. - We're going to install these turbos, dyno them, and immediately drive 800 miles to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to hit the track and see who does... A mo' powa, baby! - A mo' powa, darling! (rock music) - Turbochargers work like this: exhaust gases enter the hot side of the turbo, which spins a turbine inside. There is a shaft that joins the two turbines. One on the hot side and one on the cold side. The cold side draws in air from outside and sends it through this outlet.

The charged air then passes through the charged tube here, through an intercooler to cool the air, making it denser. It enters the intake and enters the engine, where it is then compressed further and then explodes, thus powering the engine. - Honestly, I feel like today we can have this turbo kit 100%. - Do you agree, Nolan? - Okay, yes, you have 90 minutes, so. - Oh, we have 90 minutes to put this turbo kit in the Z or my wife will leave me! (upbeat music) - I hope this installation goes a little deeper than theirs. For an important reason.

We are replacing our exhaust manifolds. It shouldn't be that bad, hopefully we can finish it in two and a half days. I think that's reasonable. They are just car parts. (high bass music) - Is it loosening up? - No. (Buzzes and clicks) - I mean, you're squeezing. (loud laughter) - Oh yes! - Very good, we lower our crossbar. Now we are practically ready to remove the subframe. Which are big screws, the engine mounts. We have to disconnect the steering rack and then some suspension components. You're getting a great workout, dog. - Thanks friend, the pump is working well. - Very good, that's the subframe. - Speaking of subscribers, if you like this video, why don't you go ahead and hit the subscribe button? - Devil!

Okay, now we're tied up, the engine is hanging. We'll lower the car and then lower the engine a little bit to give us more room here. Actually, I'll take the cats out first and then we'll do that. - Tiger is the number one cat in my book. - That's how it is. - Lions are cool too. - Lions are like smaller tigers. Lions are (bleep) compared to tigers. - That? - It's true. - My God... - Directly. - Yes. - Spend five minutes on the Internet looking for tigers. - The largest lion in the world, probably at 50 dollars. - Yes. - Because this was a cheaper kit, we found ourselves in a situation where we were missing some hardware that was quite essential to be able to install all of this 100%.

So we had to go to the Tractor Supply store, which was right down the street. Pick up some grade A fittings we used to connect the exhaust manifold to the turbo and from the turbo to the downpipe. And now we can install it completely. - We removed the hood so you, the viewers at home, can have a better view of the engine bay while we install the turbo. Yes, we do it for you, okay? - This is a very narrow engine compartment, there is not much room for activities. - Or hands the size of a man. - So, to have a little more space, we will lower the engine. - This is basically what we've been preparing for all day.

Getting things out of the way. We've removed some coolant lines, removed the subframe, disconnected engine mounts, turned off the exhaust, all of that, to get to this point. Andy, do you want to hit him? We're going to lift the car and the engine will stay where it is for a few centimeters. That will give us more space from below. - So far it's been a rest day, which isn't that fun. They chirp more than put things. But we're almost done taking things off and then we get to the fun part. (deep bass music) - Once the oil passes through the turbos and needs to return to the pan.

So instead of having to touch this, the Jim Wolf kit comes with a spacer. (metal clang) (thud) (whistle in the air) - Single ladies, all the single ladies, oh oh oh. (buzzing) (upbeat music) (inaudible screams) - Okay, we spent like four hours trying to solve the clamp problem. Here we have some real V-band connectors. This feels like a much stronger unit and, you know, I hope it works, because otherwise we're kind of screwed. - So far our team is... (metallic hum) - It's going up. He doesn't want to fall. - Are you OK? - I mean, hopefully.

He was coming up on his own. Like a ghost (beep). (metallic whirring) Oh, why did we get the cheap elevator? - Those guys can't catch a break. Then-- (metallic hum) (deep bass music) - Then our wastegate hits our subframe. What we're going to do is reposition the waste gate to a down position, like this. The fire will come from the bottom of our car. And on purpose. - Our collectors are finally in place. He took longer than I expected. Now we need to put some bolts on the turbo manifolds to give the turbos something to ride with.

The moment we were all waiting for. Snail is going to enter his house. - Yes. - I have the nuts that I will give you. - So, the decision I didn't want to have to make. We try with all our might. - All. - For this to work without removing the air conditioning, we will have to do it. And I'll have to drive to Albuquerque with the windows down. (downcast music) - The turbos are on! T-T-O, turbos technically on. T-T-T-O, that's code T-T-T-O for everyone. Technically it means twin turbos. (metallic sounds) (bass music) - Because it makes sense to give priority to the O2 sensors. - Well. - I'm not sure if that's really the case, but we can try to see if it fits. (metal clang) Since we don't have directions, we don't know which direction it's going. (high bass music) - It is wedged between the engine and the rest of the engine compartment.

It's just a very tight fit. (hammering) This car was super fun with its stock power. - All this has been very tedious. There have been many ups and downs. - Right now this is not worth it. Not worth it. - But as we've been saying all along, it's a very tight engine bay. - We are missing hardware, the (beep) doesn't fit well. - This is going to leak. - But we are doing very well. - We have tried it in all directions so far on the down tube, but it doesn't fit. So we'll modify it a little bit. (hammering) I hope it works. (upbeat music) Bad news.

We were trying to put it backwards the whole time. Yes. - It makes sense to do it that way. It makes sense. - And I just want... The downspout has to go through that. It's something so simple that we didn't realize. He does it like... It takes a little air out of him, but hey, tomorrow we'll be back. We will place it and make the turbo. I'm over it. (guitar music) - Setting up my gangster escape. Look at these welds, honey. This thing is so light. (imitates car exhaust) - No, you can make a better VQ than that. (imitates car exhaust) - Looks like we've run into another problem. - I feel like we can 100% get this tube kit today. (sarcastic laughter) The problem is that this is like everything they have given us for our drain and they are trying to return the oil through the same plug in the oil pan where the pressure sensor is.

So we're going to have to find a solid solution to get the turbo oil back into the actual pan without clogging up too much space, but we're kind of limited on time so we'll see what happens. with. - I just opened the exhaust box and our exhaust doesn't fit. - Does not fit? - No. - Oh man, that's... (laughs) - What we're going to do is use the exhaust that came with the car, which wasn't the original exhaust to begin with. Someone broke into a store and took off the muffler. And it already sounds pretty good. (metallic hum) (guitar music) - And you'll do maybe half a turn and then you'll move back a little bit.

Half turn, small movement backwards. (popping noise) That doesn't help. - Can we get some tools that work here? God, I'm sick of this garbage. - I think we really are not going to have any problems, there are big problems left. I really shouldn't say that, but that's how I feel. They may feel a little doubt because they've been struggling, but sometimes that's just how it happens. Especially when you buy cheap parts. - Well, we ran into another setback. I feel like we can get this turbo kit 100% today. The plug they provided us to drain the oil from the turbo to the pan is actually aluminum and our pan is steel.

We are definitely not going to drill any holes in the block of our VQ to put the aluminum plug in there. So, we're going to have to think of something else. - We are connecting the indoor refrigerator. It's a really tricky piece, it fits really well. I mean, look how the shape of the car follows. - We are going to relocate this plug, which we will use to place the factory narrow band sensor. So we're going to relocate it because we had the sensor here, but it was pinching another tube. So we'll relocate it here and that will give us room to install it smoothly and allow us to run all the OEM sensors.

It has been a long day. - That will work. - Now that we have finally installed the downspout and exhaust, I feel like we are in a good place. You know, when you go on a hike and it takes you forever to go up a hill, at the end of tonight our hike will be over, our turbo will be on. Hopefully we can get it going and I'm really happy. excited to hear how it sounds. I think it's going to be evil. - I feel great, I look great. I think we're going to be fine. - And I feel like they feel better too. - Yes, I just went there.

Things are looking better, everything is bolted together, there is a turbo in there, they are getting ready to work on the intercooler. - I feel like both teams are at a point where we're almost done. - Yes. - And there is so much... - More tension. - More things to do. - Oh, sick. - Hell yeah. - Turbo back together. I hate waiting, you know? This would be a lot more fun if we had all the pieces in front of us. - Good. - And we could just exaggerate, but we can't. We're like waiting and then like, oh, we find another weak point, we look for another part.

It's very frustrating. - We put everything in and it didn't fit at all. So now we're just cinching and trimming. And the hood is hitting right here on the air filter and if it is, then it closes, but without pipes there is no way it can tilt like that. - Just push it. - If you want a tour of the store you can... - Register? - Sign up for one. - So ours is under-designed and yours is over-designed. - Give it a try. (hammering) Ken, that sensor came out, in that position. Ah, it worked. - If you are installing a new turbo, be sure to prime it.

To do that, you will disconnect the ECU and then turn the key so that the engine turns over without cranking. - And we do it to get oil pressure. You need oil in the turbo so it can spin. - If not, it will get stuck and burn. It is as if the French had taken over France that day of the robbery. - Ready? - Yes, connect it. (car engine turning) - I hope that when we connect the ECU it will start. - We're putting some tape on the charging tube because it's too small, they didn't give us the right couplers to complete this kit without, you know, modifying it in a really crazy way.

But this is what we have to do to make this work. (pulling tape) - Okay, well the oil pressure light didn't go off, but that's definitely enough cranking to prime a turbo. So, we'll move on. I think everything will be fine, but... We just put a lot of spare parts into this car, so anything could be wrong. - Okay, so the master air flow sensor housing we bought last nightto complete our turbo intake side is too small. It's the wrong part, they sent us the wrong part. Maybe we didn't order the right part, whatever it may be.

Anyway, as you can see, the flanges are different sizes, but the diameter of these internal openings is the same. And what we're going to do is lift it up a little bit diagonally and snap it in because we just (bleep) finished this. (laughs) (car door closes) - The moment of truth. (car engine spinning) - I want to make sure whatever it is. I don't know, I'm... As if this isn't a bit, I'm legitimately angry. I mean, what were we thinking? What were we thinking? (metallic hum) - Although I'm sure some get in here. - I think probably. (gravel crunch) (car engine roar) (upbeat music) - Alright, we're here at NM Imports.

Finally we are going to put our car on the Dyno. We'll see how much power it generates. I am very excited. Right now I have a new breath. Honestly, that was the longest trip of my life, back to the point. Let's tune the cars. We will make our uprev system work perfectly, these guys know exactly what to do. I don't know if you've looked around here, but there are millions of Nissans and they say they know practically everything about uprev. So hopefully this works out and we can have a car we can really put our foot in and have fun. (car engine roar) - Two major concerns are that the stock injectors are running out of fuel and there is not much heat management around the turbo.

I personally like the twin turbo kits because they keep the heat down where the cats were. With a lot of the cheaper things there isn't much quality control, you have to be the quality control if you are going to buy a cheap piece. This is the MAF we had on the vehicle, but you can tell it's probably the correct MAF for the kit. Because these are the pre-drilled holes and then there are holes drilled for a smaller MAF. I'm sorry. - Everything is alright. (laughs) We were in a time crunch, it's definitely not ideal and it's a perfect example of how it bites you in the butt. (Car engine roars) - I can't take much more of this.

I think we are finally on the right path. - It's hard to have hope. - It's hard to be sure. - At this moment in our lives. - But that's three good runs in a row with an OEM Nissan crank sensor. I'll take it to the track and see what happens. (car engine roaring) (upbeat music) - So after 800 miles, multiple breakdowns, and the longest week of our lives, we have some numbers. First the baseline. Hello, the car started with 212 horsepower. The low car started at 244. We're not quite sure why we started with a 30 horsepower difference on identical cars.

The lower car had a muffler delete and a cold air intake. We don't think that makes much of a difference. Perhaps the Low car, ironically, held up better than the Hi car. (Car engine roars) How much power did both turbo kits add to our cars? - I'm looking forward to it. - The numbers please. Thanks, Jesse. After your single turbo kit from Ebay, I'm really building it. - You ended up with a whopping 302 horsepower. You get a nice 60 horsepower gain. - Yes, it's 60... - You almost killed yourself for 60 horsepower. Hello, car with the Jim Wolf turbo kit made... 334 horsepower to the rear wheels.

The Hi car started with 40 less horsepower than the Low car. - 30 less horses. - The low car added about 60. - The high car added a whopping 122 horsepower. I want to point out that both cars had original injectors. - Yes. - We don't have much of a reason to do it other than the fact that we ran out of time. - A production control. - Yes. - Which, there have been many. (laughs) - We learned a lot in this episode. So, Nolan, boy. Does more expensive mean more is better? - I have complicated thoughts about this. - Me too. - The low turbo kit was... - I mean.

You saw it. - Yes, I lost hope several times. However, I got it back through the power of teamwork and friendship. - Yes, then... - Even a simple diagram would have helped a lot. Sorry, James, I'm going to move on. In that sense, more expensive means more is better. What I'm not sure absolutely means better is the end result, because no... We didn't have the injectors that matched. - Yes, once we have the injectors, we will both be at the 400 horsepower limit. - Yes. - for stock internals. So at that point it's just a turbo versus a twin turbo.

Answer the question! - Yes. - Answer the question! - In this sense, yes. - What are you, a politician? - The more expensive, the better, for now. (laughs) - You should run for the Senate. Which one would you buy, Nolan? - Well, now that I know how to do it, I would put the low turbo kit back on. Yes. Now that I know, I could do it again quite... - Yes. - I think pretty fast. - I wouldn't buy either of them. I think Jim Wolf's kit is great. - Oh, I didn't know that was an option. - Yes.

We could have put a 2J in either car, we could have put an LS. - I'm going to put those injectors there, we're going to tune it. You'll be seeing this baby at some Pro-Am events soon. - You will drive it once and it will explode. - No. - If you're wondering why we drove to Albuquerque, New Mexico. You'll find out in the next episode, where we take both cars. They both complete cars and go head to head. A $13,000 350Z model versus a $41,000 350Z model. It's a really fun episode and it's the conclusion to this season of Hi, Low. - Hi Low - So make sure you don't miss that.

Follow Nolan on Instagram NolanJSykes, Thank you. - The J means James. Follow me on Instagram @JamesPumphrey. And of course-- - Follow Eddy @-- - Follow Eddy @-- - Edward Scedward. -Yes.-Eddy_Esparaza, I forget what he is up to. Be good. - I love you. Wait wait wait. We won't let you go without watching a little race, so check out this drag race. The results may not surprise you. - Give me a revolution. (car engines revving) - Damn, damn! (upbeat music)