Pulsar G25-550
 

After seeing Kraken selling Pulsar turbos and then looking into them further, they seem like one of the most reputable knockoff turbo brands for ball bearing turbos. I’ve seen CXracing and other cheap ball bearing turbos blow up after 6 months presumably due to the cheap bearing cartridge used.

My manifold currently is T3 and in the effort of retaining all my Hotside parts I planned to get a GTX3071 from Pulsar. My turbo now peaks at 20psi at 5000rpm and I want something a little faster than that.

Pulsar sells the G25-550 with several turbine flanges and all the housings are sized .72 AR, my only concern is that the T3 .72 AR may be larger than the T2 .72 AR, which a standard T3 .72 would be too large I think. But I find it unlikely that their T2, T3 and dual V-band housing are all .72 but different physical sizes.

Does anyone run this turbo or ANY Pulsar turbo and have anything to say about them, good or bad?

P.S. Built engine, VVT swapped 1995 Miata currently 346whp at 20psi on eBay T04B .63 AR turbine housing 3” vband downpipe. Goal is 350-400whp with peak boost by 4000-4500, not 5000

Garrett only has a .92AR t3 housing. When I last talked to Pulsar they did not have the t3 housing, glad to see they have one. I am also a Pulsar dealer and I am planning on grabbing one of their G25-550's to compare to my legit one. Just need time and money.

I was considering Pulsar and other turbos to replace my Garrett TO4E 50trim turbo which is pretty similar to yours.

Pulsar stated their maximum boost pressure is 45psi on their GTX versions. (Kinugawa said it would be best to stay under 2 bar)
I found lots of videos of people unboxing or talking about the Pulsar turbos, but little beyond that.
I was not able to find anything where people were talking about the Pulsar long term reliability. (either negative or positive)
Perhaps the turbos have not been around long enough?? IDK.

The Garrett GTX2867G2 was $1640, while the Pulsar was $615, however Pulsar did not have a T3/5bolt option which is what I preferred.
I ended up going with the Garrett.

Nice, and your manifolds are all T3 so you should get the G25 in T3! But I’ll probably get one before you. How have other pulsar turbos compared to real Garrett’s? I guess the main thing that matters is the cartridge and there’s no real way to tell without taking it apart. Maybe the wheel materials.

Yeah I definitely don’t plan to go up to 45psi lol. I don’t think this engine will ever even see 30psi, I think 25-28 will probably be the mac, depending on the turbo, but who knows.

I also saw lots of unboxing videos, but I was able to dig up a bunch of people running them, some dyno runs, and have been speaking to a guy in the UK that runs pulsar turbos on all his builds with good success. Garrett is better though, so you got the goods.

That video scares me a bit about the G25 copies out there. While I am not positive that Pulsar is the "same" as in the video above, I don't have any evidence they are not just rebuilt Chinese clones with the inconel wheel. You can get several clones on alibaba.



I have a legit T25 IWG G25-550 and down pipe built laying on my shelf. I think a .92A/R T3 or even a .72AR t3 will probably be a bit large for a miata motor. You will give up a ton of spool, for a top end most transmissions we are running can't handle.

I have a hard time believing that the 5 turbine housings they have available are the exact same a/r.
T2 IWG .72 AR
T3 IWG .72AR
T3 no IWG .72 AR
Dual v-band no IWG.72 AR
Dual v-band IWG .72 AR

If I had to guess I would say they’re probably the same or very very similar in size regardless of flange, and that’s how they’re doing their number. Or the number is completely off. Or it’s correct and they managed to pull up that off lol.

Check the media page I have a dyno of a gtx2867r from pulsar.

"You will receive a G25-550, dual vband 0.72A/R IWG complete turbo + an adapter V-band to T3"

That is from the Pulsar site with the T3 housing. So it seems like they are just making an adapter to hook up to a t3 manifold.

I like my pulsar turbo so far I've had it 3 weeks. However they DO NOT understand turbine a/r. My turbo was supposed to be a .64, and it's stamped .64 However, it is obviously a .86. it's physically larger than the Garrett .64. So my spoolup is slightly later than it was with my 2860 .64 but now it pulls all the way to redline really really hard and I was able to add timing bc of the reduction in backpressure so I'm ok with it. But just keep that in mind

Well I bought something.

Cheaper then the Pulsar. I am hoping to us my legit Garrett housing on it. I will pick up a pulsar later on.

Price is amazing...
Only difference: That thing is journal bearing, but that doesn't mean anything for reliability. The market is flooded with Garrett clones

edit: they even sell a CHRA for 255$, crazy! Should also work with your Garrett comp housing

Yeah I could tell by the way that the A/R is exactly the same on 5 different turbine housings that something was off. What I’ll probably do is get the exact same manifold in T2 flange and get the G25-550 in T2 flange. I have an external wastegate and I really like the external gate so I don’t want to have to switch to an internal gate but at least on the G25 and EFRs the internal gate works. But the wastegate noises are SOOOO GOOD

Before you put the turbine housing on, please compare the turbine wheel and compressor wheel to the real G25! Maybe even make a video! There’s no videos out right now and I’m dying to find out if the same shape and tech is in the turbine wheels on the China G-series turbos.

I will be doing comparisons on them both eventually. I am still planning on getting the Pulsar G25 sometime in the future to also compare.

I can say for the compressor wheel I believe their is a standard one, and an upgraded inconel wheel. Both are available on Alibaba. For a while there were "garret" compressor housings on alibaba also. Looked almost identical to my real one.

What I think is BoshiWheel is making all the G25 clones and such. Pulsar and a few other companies are importing them, swapping on better wheels and maybe balancing them. Then reselling for a bit more.

My Pulsar 2867 had balancing cuts and one blade had green paint on it so it does appear they balance them. Quality wise it looks extremely good but I didnt open it up and check the BB cartridge. Kraken sent me a CHRA just so I can pull it apart and look at the BB cartridge so we may know more soon.

Sweet! Let us know how it performs compared to your old GTX2860. It was a Garrett 2860 correct? I’m very interested in how the Pulsar turbos compare with the Garrett turbos. I think if they are even 85-90% as good in most areas then it’s worth the 60% savings

I am an authorized Pulsar dealer, so if anyone wants a Pulsar turbo at a slight discount can reach out to me.

I got my G25 copy in last week. I will try to get some pictures soon.

Any updates on the PULSAR G25 copy testing?

I got an ebay journal G25-550 copy. No real updates. It is on the shelf next to my real G25. Don't have the cash at the moment to splurge on a Pulsar G25. Have a ton of other projects to get done first before I can circle back around to the G25's.

Interested in pics and measurements. I've had a gutted mockup chinese "GT2560" turbo for a decade+, If I can make it compress air for a few hundred $, I will. Add it to my shelf in the wife's display case.

I have a chinese G25-550, a good bit different from a chinese "gt2560". More importantly what exactly are you trying to do with it?

I broke down and purchased a Pulsar G25 along with a few different housings.

Right - Garrett G25, Center - Pulsar G25, Left -Boshiwheel journal bearing G25
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...69228846de.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ce2a285cc5.jpg

Oh nice! What are your first impressions when comparing? It would be nice to see what the physical differences in the turbine and compressor wheels are. I think that would tell a lot, since the Garrett has some new tech for how they shape the blades. From the pics they dont look that different, in fact the compressor housing on the boshi looks almost identical to the Garrett. Def interested in learning more, let us know!

I will be pulling them apart sometime in the near future. Going to get some good pictures of differences in blades and such. I have one more G25 to purchase from RAX Turbo to add the the types. I also picked up the garrrett turbo speed sensor so I should be able to log wheel speeds to compare.

Oh SWEET! That is so dope. There's a bit of selfish interest on my part, admittedly, as I am in the market for a new turbo and the results from your comparisons will largely influence the direction that I go.

any news on this g25-clone benchmark?

Nope. Haven't had time to touch them in a good while.

Any update on this? If you don’t have time to look at them feel free to send me the 3 G25-550’s and I’ll gladly study them and put them to good use 😂

Unfortunately not. I have been slammed and have not had chance to get back to these. About to get all my BF sales out the door over the next week. Then hopefully will have some time to get back to them. I need to get a new downpipe built to work with my BMW trans.

Dang, is MKTurbo your only gig or is that a side gig? Pretty backed up, huh? It’s good to be busy in these times, though. Be grateful. I had no business at all for almost 2 weeks last month, that really fucked me. Now it’s slammed again.

Neat juxtaposition in this thread vs your propensity to shit on MKTurbo elsewhere on the internets. :)

Any news on this topic?

I am curious what the outcome of this test was? I am also curious about the a garret 2860 vs the Pulsar 2860 if you have good data on that!

G25-550 in car
 

Hi! I saw you posted the g25-550
laying on the ground but if anyone else is still searching in this forum here is it mounted to a built bp, with a kraken top mount.


Have yet to start the car, but I wonder what it’s going to sound like. I bought this turbo through kraken with the whole kit and everything mounts up perfectly. Does anyone know what size turbo blanket I should get for the .72 A/R housing? I want to keep the bay as cool as possible.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...1a21addd35.jpg

Looks like a sweet setup, let us know how it performs.

Definitely fix that wastegate line though, it should be pre TB so that it doesn't see vacuum. Post IC and pre TB is ideal.

[QUOTE=Definitely fix that wastegate line though, it should be pre TB so that it doesn't see vacuum. Post IC and pre TB is ideal.[/QUOTE]

I am curious why a wastegate can't see vacuum? Does it hurt it? Ultimately it will see similar pressure levels as the post IC will.

I've always heard that the diaphragms aren't meant to see vacuum and they'd tear. In reality who knows, but having it after the TB has other issues and doesn't accurately read the pressure that the turbo is actually making. I.E. in many part/low throttle situations there might be a whole lot more pressure before the TB and very little after it, and in those situations the wastegate might not open as it should.

The reason isn't due to diaphragm damage. It's because if you are WOT and fully lift off the throttle the vacuum pins the wg shut and can cause a turbo over speed condition. Depending on the turbo, wg, and load this can over run the bov.

I'm running a PSR g25-660 on my BPT (.72AR) and looking to reduce the AR to a .64 if they have one, as it's a bit laggy.

Currently hits 1-2 psi at 2700 RPM and pulls hard to redline.

maybe the 550 won’t be as laggy? I still have the .72 ar housing as well but have yet to get the car under load due to ecu/electrical issues.


car sounds rowdy just idling and revving though. The turbo is an amazing muffler

Yea speaking to pulsar, they offered to swap it out for a 550 as it would solve this problem, but I'm going for 450 wheel (4wd) so will stay with the 660, they do have a .49 AR as well, but its internal gated.

I THINK I may have this one: Dual v-band IWG .72 AR Part of a kit from Dynotronics. Pulls really strong...9-10 psi is what I was told. Water/meth added around 30hp the guys said. Wish they would respond about the oil leak issue...

I switched the line and put in a boost controller on the turbo side. Car is finally running and sounds insane! Currently on a base map and can’t get into boost but so far so good and I can’t get enough of the noises….

is that g25-550 from kraken?

yeah he recommended the turbo and shipped it with the kit.

daaamn that sounds good buddy! How’s the quality of turbo itself? What engine r u running? I was thinking about getting small turbo from Garrett but if I can get this one for the same price and it’s decent then it’s a bargain haha. When does the boost fully kicks in?

Any update on the dyno tune? Would love to see some data on it in regards to spool. I’m in between this and the gen2 2867R for 400whp and 350-375wtq. Given I’d have to get a new downpipe with the 550, but that’s something else that’s already on my mind. 2867 would be a more budget friendly route but if it’s worth it then I want the 550.

quality of turbo is pretty damn good, all lines and fittings seem to be holding up well.

engine is a 1.9l forged bottom, with cams, springs, retainers, all the jazz. Only thing that wasn’t touched was crank and main caps.


with the g25/550 it comes on kind of late(3400+) but pulls HARDDD. Ive gone to dyno twice so far and have been having some issues and only been able to get up to 9psi and it was making 223. I believe my injectors could be clogged from me making new AN lines so ima clean then and go back and turn the boost up to 18-20 psi and be in the mid 3s. Definitely would recommend the g25 and kraken kit as a whole.

update:

car is having some underlying issues while over 5k rpm’s. Seems to be breaking up but spark has been ruled out as I just put in new spark plugs and r8 ignition coils. I’m suspecting my injectors are clogged cause 2 of my spark plugs looked like they weren’t getting any fuel after a few pulls.

id definitely recommend the g25/550 as it’s a cheaper alternative to a Garrett and also sounds insane! Wastage spring in the IWG is 12-14lbs so if you’re looking to run more than that I would go with an EWG setup.(would sound a lot rowdier with it.)

Why not use an EBC solenoid to up the boost? Avoids the hassle and big cost of the gate itself AND a new DP.
If you don't have massive boost creep issues (can always port the WG channel), go IWG and invest in a harmonic balancer or better tires or a six speed... the list goes on :D

i do have an ebc already wired into the ecu and ready to go just didn’t get to really use it on dyno do to some other issues. Better tires are already otw and I have an ati dampener

been having issues the last 6-8 months with tuning.
i believe I’m hitting a cut or misfire or something around 4400-5000 rpm’s. Other than that the turbo is a ripper! I have my ebc putting in work and it’s hitting target pressure at 3450. I can post a log if you’d like to look at any data.

I've also got the pulsar g25-550 and i was wondering where the hell i could purchase a fitting to screw into the compressor. I see they provided a threaded hole with a little hex key plug, but I don't know the thread size or what hose barb size to go with. Where did you buy one?