It's true, they have tested it several months without problems. It all kinda comes down to what your goals are.

I had a pretty lengthy conversation with Stephanie about it, and she did say flat out she would not hesitate to put the Shanghai kit on her own car.

However, she did also say that they do have a couple shanghai kits fail every year. She said that they are priced so that "if something goes wrong with the turbo, you can just buy another one because they're so cheap".

She also said that the ONLY garrett failures they've had are user induced. That means they've had absolutely ZERO issues with the turbo that are the fault of the turbo.

If it's going to be a track rat, and you're okay with the possibility that something could go wrong, have at it.

My goals are a little different. I'm going for a relatively conservative build that I want to be 100% reliable* because this car is for the most part my daily driver in the summer, and I'd hate to have gone on a 2hr cruise (something that's common in our local car club) and get stranded 90 miles from home because I decided to buy all super-high quality parts except for the one piece of equipment that gets the hottest, spins the fastest, needs to be most precise, and has the possibilty of causing MASSIVE damage to the rest of my engine if something fails with it.

It wasn't *that* long ago that people laughed at chinese intercoolers. Now they're fairly well accepted. However, the chinese still haven't proved that they can make a truly high-quality manifold that won't crack.. so I don't quite trust a turbo from them yet either. Maybe in the near future this will change..?

*by 100% reliable, I mean as reliable (or at least very close to) as the N/A engine. i understand that surprises can still happen.

Hey it's cool. Does it matter what experience I have with anything involved here? Why start inquiring now? Most people here have already passed judgement, so we'll just leave it at that.
I'm the new guy to this forum, so that's the way it goes.

See that's good information to pass along. Which if anyone on here would go back and read, was all I was wanting to do. Find out which chinese stuff was good. Based on peoples experience with it. Every one of my posts was about this and only this. No name calling or put downs.

I've used my shanghai turbo without worries. the only thing that failed on me was my piston rings lolol

Compression test, motherfucker. Did you do it?

Cool way to back out of the argument...

For the record, many here that you're calling "most people" have done both, myself included.

Looks like you've done neither.

I just find it amazing that 18psi and I are agreeing on something. :| Can we hold hands next?

Ok.

Wow -12, and I've done nothing to nobody. LOL!

Apparently people don't like what you're saying?
Here's some +props for at least not getting butthurt :)

That's one thing I noticed quicker on here more so than the 20 or so other forums I am part of. I haven't said negative crap to anyone. And people get "butt hurt" over an idea or opinion. Kind of odd to me.
I try to talk to people on the interwebz as if they were standing in front of me. It's maturity thing I guess. Referring to a previous post. I'm old and experienced also. 39 years of it. Not to any particular model of car or motorcycle. I jump around trying everything. That's why I'm tolerant of people in the beginning. They see newbie, or low post count and instantly start waiving their "experience" around likes it's the biggest since Ron Jeremy. Not knowing who I am or what I know. But that would be a different thread.

Maybe i'm off base on this and I am no huge watcher of "Big Bang Theory" but to me this forum has some elements of Sheldon's personality:

This is not an insult on the forum or any of it's members, but we don't hold people's hand unless they have proven they have done the work on their part first.

As a fellow recent joiner of this forum I can tell you exactly what members of this forum don't like, and it's not when you share your opinion.

1) When you share your opinion *as if it was well known fact* and that you're a know-it-all (especially when you're wrong).

2) When you ask a question about something that's stickied/been discussed/"tribal knowledge".

The second is easier to do (in my opinion) as this "tribal knowledge" is scattered across 17 different stickies located in a few different places, some of which are several clicks deep... that being said, I've been amazed at the information that's buried on this forum. You just have to click through the DIY (all your answers) post, the "Your path to power" post, and a few others. You just have to spend a *very* long time looking before asking.

Good thing I've done neither of those bad things.

A jack of all trades is a master of none.

Usually people here don't like people like you because what they say rarely is applicable or helpful. Its vague and only sounds helpful, but in reality is not.

No matter how much you try to sugarcoat it and be "mature" about it, you either know what you're talking about or you don't, and if you don't you stop acting like you do.

Here's an example for you: cheap ebay manifolds crack like humpty dumpty on a BP. They do not on most other cars. So any advice about those when talking about other cars is completely useless to the miata crowd.

Get my drift?

Why do you feel the need to resort to personal attacks? All the while invalidating your own point.

I feel like we're not reading the same post, or you possess a different definition of "personal attack" than most.


That post was a "Here young one, let me take you aside and give you a few helpful hints for the future." Not "Your mother is a whore and you enjoy cocks in and around your mouth."

+1
Either post up something that's actually valid/relevant or just shut up?
Stop being such a crybaby.

I was referring to the "Jack of all trades master of none" comment. All the while insinuating knowledge of cars other than a Miata while telling me that my knowledge of other cars is irrelevant.

Ok, fuck it. Let's do this.

Yeah, that hasn't been an insult since like... this century.

Oh man, that's offensive. Heaven forbid he acknowledge that you might know something about other cars.

Much of it is. Especially when it comes to RWD BPs.

Being as I just bought a Miata, I have no particular experience to this car. That's not what this thread was about. The last couple of posts have turned into a play ground mentality questioning me and my automotive knowledge or skill. I promise if you were active in many of the Opel Kadett, Mustang, R32 R33 GTR, Caterham 7, or Subaru forums, I think you would have a different tone about the post that I have made. Just because I'm new here and have only said there should be a way to find out which of the chinese stuff was good, or which was bad, does not make me some evil person out to destroy everything you know or have. Which some how is what this turned into.

We don't need a way to find out which of the chinese stuff is good. We already know.

Been there, done that. Doesn't need to be questioned by people who don't know about these cars. We've done the hard work for you. We've made it easy for you. Be happy about it. No sour grapes.

Rejoice in the fact that the hard work has already been done for you.


We don't care what previous skills you might have. Just don't say stupid things and get butthurt when we point out that vague comments don't help anyone. I'm sure that 75% of us still have no idea what you were trying to talk about, myself included. It was just rambling posts about nothing stretched out to sound like they were important.


But seriously. We don't need help concerning Ebay turbo kits.

Ok this will be an easy question for you then. Which Chinese parts are good?

Ok, I'll bite: who are you in the subaru community? I'm on all those forums.

Those parts which reputable, well known companies are willing to put their reputation behind.

It's no different than any other car in that respect.

Many people on here are using Chinachargers with great success. A little fewer of them are using chinese ebay knockoff BOVs with mostly decent success.

I suspect even fewer may be using chinese wastegates with probably OK success.


I probably have more experience with Chinese turbocharging parts than many on here, because the cars i play with more than my Miatas have little to no aftermarket support and i don't see the point in sinking lots of money into them. (Barring my Escort. Yes.... Escort.)

Chinese knockoff bullshit i've used with no problems:

1) Chinacharger
2) BOV (though i have had to rebuild two of them and replace o-rings to get them to seal, out of the box)
3) Wastegate. Got it as part of a trade, used it. My car didn't explode.
4) AFPR. May not do this again, but the car didn't burn to the ground.
5) turbo manifold (Not a RWD BP, so irrelevant)

Same screen name on Nasioc and WRX forums, skylinesaustralia, gtrcanada, mach1forum, corral.net. I have the same screen name on all the forums I use.

I waive your experience, effective immediately.

This. You're not giving any new information. When prodded for your experience, you sidestep the question. Do you know why people are not responding positively to you? You aren't contributing anything, and you're perpetuating a discussion that has not only happened before, MANY times, but you're not even contributing to said discussion. It's like you're trying to be some sort of discussion leader or something.

+1

So the cast iron manfold on ebay is crap?

The cast iron log manifold? That's probably the only BP ebay turbo manifold i'd touch with a 10 foot pole, only possible exception is CX Racing's new bag 'o' snakes, but that's US-designed and possibly made.

Yes. In case you don't know, BP engines shake like Michael J. Fox after an all nighter of banging espresso. It is very difficult for anyone to come up with a cheap manifold that won't die a quick death. There's good reason that the few reputable vendors that offer Miata manifolds all have roughly the same price point, and it sure isn't sub-$100.00. Most of the Chinese manifolds will last a week before they crack. The eBay cast iron log manifold might give you a year of running, but it will crack in short order. It's been done and documented.

If you're into replacing parts every few months, or annually have at it. Many do. Most on this forum prefer quality parts that can stand up to rigorous use and not eat themselves.

Just to be clear, we are talking about el-cheepo Chinese parts on eBay not used name brand stuff correct?

I sure thought so. Isn't this thread about the ILOVETACOTACO kit and it's various "same-part-different-ebay-vendor" counterparts?

funny you should ask:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1315916850
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1315916850

you tell us

LOL. I'd like to formally retract my previous answer concerning this manifold.

You see, you asked stupid questions and asking stupid questions is acceptable here and there... the good ol "No such thing as a stupid question" saying but that only goes so far.. We answered your stupid question and fed you the answers with a spoon since we were trying to play nice. You're new so you most likely don't know that but we usually don't do that as this topic has been beaten to death and then beaten some more. So all and great but what do you do? You keep insisting the answers to your stupid question is not correct and you cry and moan. 2+2=4... "whaa but why isn't it 5, why wouldn't 5 work". What do you want man? You want people to tell you what you want to hear or you want the reality? Why ask at all? You dont think that if cheap ebay parts worked we'd be buying 500 bucks manifolds?

So I'm looking on the subaru forums and see a handful of threads and a few dozen posts made by you all of which are n00b questions and/or random posts.

Wow so impressive :laugh:

Or did you hope no one would call your bluff?

Hey, I know lots about Miatas (Miatae?) Maybe I should join the Subaru forums and spout off to the experts about how Subaru's work and what parts they should use! :idea:

I can't believe I've read all of this useless drivel. There are quite a few pages that add nothing to the forum and it bothers me. Please don't drag it out any longer.

You are not being truthful here. Also maybe my life ambition is not to be an automotive forum god with 22,000 posts.

now you're just poking the bear with fireplace poker

Yessssssssssss! The post count argument!

Mods... Shut this one down!

It's run it's course.

NEVARRR!!!!!

@ warp speed. (in a sincere voice). Most of these gays on here want stuff backed with data before they start listening. Data such as dyno graphs, years run, adjust ability, strength, material, welds, etc. I posted a while back about how I thought the Megan EZs were better than the entry level FM vmaxx and got so much shit. They wanted graphs so I posted graphs. They wanted years on them so I posted that in the end I was able to convince some and others not so much. The point is you really have to enter this forum like its and uncensored debate where anything you say that can not support your argument will be used against you. On the flip side you asking wither or not a ebay cast manifold is good or not is pretty much asking for it. The thing about the ebay manifolds is that the majority of them are thin pieces of shit. It eventually becomes a needle in a haystack type thing. The manifold is one of the hottest points on a turbo set up and needs to be very very strong. All this is covered in the stickies. Yes it may be out of date but really nothing for the most part has changed. I hope this helps you out and you continue to use the forum.

Could have fooled me.

Seriously. This whole thread is bullshit. Exacting analysis of why is also bullshit, but not nearly as entertaining.

TacoTaco is bullshit, and the exacting analysis is done X infinity. And also no longer fun.

Miata Turbo Forum - Turbo Kitten is watching you test compression. - Search Results

That's what came up in a 10 second search for tactaco.

Seriously. When everyones posts begin with 'that's not what I said, you are presuming.....hahahahaha look how smart I am..' the fun is over.

To be clear, the whole point of this trainwreck was the fun BS.

Thanks. :fawk:

A lot of times people will just jump in mid thread and go from the last thing they see. Not getting the full story of how the thread evolved to the point where they started. Throw in mob mentality and a lack of reading comprehension and things get farther off track.
My post started out as and have always been, find which Chinese parts are good and which are bad. Don't see how that offends anyone or makes me an idiot.

All parts of this kit are bad. Next topic.

I thought those ebay cast manifolds actually worked using flange relief cuts- like the greddy (which also cracked w/o cuts.) :dunno:

Don't get me wrong, these threads are great entertainment, but after an idiot argues for this long with people that know this crap won't work, just give up! Let him waste his money on parts that are marginally better than the worst crap. No amount of discussion will change his mind.

At work we have a set of engineering rules. Rule #1- Don't argue with an idiot. He will always beat you with experience.

:rofl:

I just noticed warp speed's post count currently matches his negative prop count. So statistically, for every single comment he has made, there's been one person who thought it was useless to the point of pissing them off enough to neg rep. This conversation has TACOTACO levels of quality all over it!

Definitely 5 star thread right here.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1391853550

So... the TACOTACO kit has the same quality of this thread?
I will be staying away from that kit.
Although I am now craving a taco

On a (vaguely) related note, I do think it might be a good idea to have a sticky thread where people can post ebay parts that they HAVE had good luck with.

I know there are some junk BOVs out there, but I also know that there are some decent ones that can be had for a fraction of the cost of the "high end" ones. I just don't know exactly what ones those are. I did a projector retrofit on my 99 for less than half the cost of some of the "high quality kits" out there, and it works perfectly..

Unless there's already a thread like this out there--but I didn't see it stickied, and obviously searching for things like "ebay" and "quality" don't exactly yield relevant results.

You realize that you can buy the EXACT SAME part from the EXACT SAME vendor on ebay and 1 will work and the other won't right?

That's the beauty of no quality control, and why we all talk crap about these parts.

The ultimate in Ebay blow off valves is the RFL knockoff. (RFL stands for Really Fucking Loud.)

Who cares if it leaks if you can hear it from 3 blocks away? Now available in "I-love-inserting-things-into-myself-purple."

Well the RFL is great design on paper however they fucked them up big time with their "fancy" designs. Instead of simply extending the bottom lip they make it a 2 piece with 4 shitty set screws that leak like the Niagara falls. Then they also cut the cylinder for some stupid reason instead of making it a single piece. The valve is a great design however after they added all the weak points its shit. That's what happens when engineers that do not belong anywhere near engineering jobs design shit. The ebay RFL is just garbage because the quality of the product is shit.

For example
Lets take a look at the cylinder.. it was cut on a garbage lathe with a worn out tool with very lose bits that moved all over the place (as the reason for all those lines) instead of a sanded or ground mirror finish like its suppose to be. Also notice the cut on the bottom.. theres 0 reasons why that cut is needed.
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1392061064

Next how about that seal.. You can probably find raw materials with better finish than this garbage.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1392061028

At last the setscrews. Yup this is suppose to be air tight...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1392060946

I just always remove the bottom portion and stick what's left into a silicone coupler as hard as i can. I wait until it crushes a little, then it's good.

Like this, but an RFL instead. (BTW, can't hardly wait to see what happens to this tiny small bore piece of shit when it tries to vent 30psi. I'm hoping for "Sorta controlled compressor stall")

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1392061002

So, the real question is, will the TacoTaco turbo kit be good for autoX?