AT the track they used to say that 82 housing where worth a tenth or two and a few mph on the big end over the 63. Problem is slower spool up. At the track you build boost on the line anyway so no big deal. On the street a 63 will get the jump, but thats only if it can get enough traction to put the power to the ground. Now a buddy of mine used to whoop up on guys with a car that spooled like a pig. The quick spooling cars ONLY had an advantage right at first and they couldnt take advantage of it because they didnt hook up. Now my buddies car would be rolling pretty good before he started making his power and once it came in the car was moving fast enough to hook up. They half wasted advantage of the quick cars was made up in a hurry and he would go by them like they where sitting still. Keep in mind where talking about more than just an exhaust housing but the point still applies:
1. spool to quick can be no good
2. giving too big of a head start can be no good
3. running some one down is always fun because thats horse power and THEY know it!
Now heres some more that goes into that some people over look. This is some thing I didnt consider enough when I got into my set up. Big turbos and big exhaust housings are known for better top end charge. They are also known for needing higher stall convertors to make them work properly. Now the problem is that high stall convertors slip and man they slip alot. Alot of guys who run big turbo/ high stall convertor combos have built motors. They got heads and hipo cams and shift at higher rpms. I dont think alot of these guys realize how much thier convertors are slipping on them. Now I have to shift at just over 5 grand. SO with 27" slicks and a 3.25 gear I'm in OD a probably 400 feet from the end of the track! Big turbo or not cars just dont pull as hard in OD as they do in drive.
You can get away from this senerio if you run a high stall lock up convertor. You launch hard with high stall then switch to no stall at some point after the start. Now these guys tend to run good ET's and good mph. The problem is that big turbo-big stall-lock up guys tend to spend $$'s to fight tranny and convertor probs. If you tell the tranny guy you want to build big hp and run locked up he'll ask you for big $$'s. This would seam a decent option to me as far as getting your moneys worth except that they dont really seam to last. So a year or two or five, or what ever, you got to drop the big $$'s down again to keep running that set up.
That all said it comes down to really thinking hard about what you want. Then if your like alot of other people you have to decide how your going to change your mind once you got "what you thought " you wanted. That may sound stupid but alot of guys have done this. I was tickled ****less when I ran my first 11.xx because thats all I wanted pfffffft! a week later I wanted to run a 10.xx. Alot of ideal 11.xx parts arent ideal 10.xx parts. So when I buy now I lean towards the radical side because I know I'm a junkie.
. Theres a good number of guys who do the oposite. They get tired of the $$'s you always seam to need for that next part or series of them you want or feel like you need. Or they get tired of the added down time that most guys wind up dealing with on the faster cars.
Morale of the story: Watch what you wish for, because if you work hard enough, long enough and spend enough money odds are you'll wind up stuck with it, until you sell it and lose your ass on it! That or you'll work and spend even more $$'s to change it again, and THEN you'll sell it and really lose your ass on it!
You could do a little searching and reading on the nitrous section of this board. That stuff works! It kicks the turbo square in the ass, it charges hard on the top end. I just put it on my TTA late last fall. I'll have some fun with it next summer.
HTH: Jason
