"All about the BB bull
BB turbos spool up FASTER than otherwise identical plain bearing versions- FACT. That may seem an odd thing to say considering the title, and it's what all BB turbo sellers will tell you, but it's a clever play on words hiding the realities, so, lets do a little digging, and get to the truth.
The type of bearing does NOT affect at what rpm the turbo begins to come on boost, not at ALL. Thats the biggest thing they dont mention. People hear the word "spool" and suddently think a BB turbo will come on boost at half the rpm of an otherwise identical one with a plain bearing. Wrong. No difference at all.
What a BB turbo WILL do is go from say 1psi to full boost faster than a plain bearing turbo once in the boost threshold (the boost threshold is the rpm level where you put your foot down, and it comes on boost, as all engines have an area low in the rev range where it doesnt boost at all), but even according to the biggest promoter of them, Garrett, its only 15% faster, FIFTEEN PERCENT, thats, well, hardly noticable. Think about it, your at 4500rpm, you put your foot down, how long does it take to hit full boost? Blink of an eye? Maybe a second or even two if your car's really laggy. How much has spending maybe double the money buying a BB core turbo gained you? Yup, 15% of one or two seconds, thats less than a blink of an eye, certainly nothing a human being would really notice, and nothing that would make a dent on a performance time.
Dont get us wrong, is money was no issue and we wanted the perfect car, we would say BB all the way, but unless we all win the lottery (and then im sure we wont be worrying about this!) money is an issue, and paying an extra 500quid for something you wont even feel, just because the salesman told you its good, is frankly ridiculous when there are SO many more effective ways to improve your performance or indeed, increase spoolup speed.
Wheel size and type (compressor and turbine), turbine housing a/r, exhaust gas temperature, turbine housing style, and much more all can make a HUGE difference to when and how your car spools up, much much more than what a BB core will do, and usually much cheaper too.
Basically, dont worry what core it has, worry it is the best specced turbo for your application (ie not the huge a/r old junk at the top of this page, for example!).
BB turbos spool up FASTER than otherwise identical plain bearing versions- FACT. That may seem an odd thing to say considering the title, and it's what all BB turbo sellers will tell you, but it's a clever play on words hiding the realities, so, lets do a little digging, and get to the truth.
The type of bearing does NOT affect at what rpm the turbo begins to come on boost, not at ALL. Thats the biggest thing they dont mention. People hear the word "spool" and suddently think a BB turbo will come on boost at half the rpm of an otherwise identical one with a plain bearing. Wrong. No difference at all.
What a BB turbo WILL do is go from say 1psi to full boost faster than a plain bearing turbo once in the boost threshold (the boost threshold is the rpm level where you put your foot down, and it comes on boost, as all engines have an area low in the rev range where it doesnt boost at all), but even according to the biggest promoter of them, Garrett, its only 15% faster, FIFTEEN PERCENT, thats, well, hardly noticable. Think about it, your at 4500rpm, you put your foot down, how long does it take to hit full boost? Blink of an eye? Maybe a second or even two if your car's really laggy. How much has spending maybe double the money buying a BB core turbo gained you? Yup, 15% of one or two seconds, thats less than a blink of an eye, certainly nothing a human being would really notice, and nothing that would make a dent on a performance time.
Dont get us wrong, is money was no issue and we wanted the perfect car, we would say BB all the way, but unless we all win the lottery (and then im sure we wont be worrying about this!) money is an issue, and paying an extra 500quid for something you wont even feel, just because the salesman told you its good, is frankly ridiculous when there are SO many more effective ways to improve your performance or indeed, increase spoolup speed.
Wheel size and type (compressor and turbine), turbine housing a/r, exhaust gas temperature, turbine housing style, and much more all can make a HUGE difference to when and how your car spools up, much much more than what a BB core will do, and usually much cheaper too.
Basically, dont worry what core it has, worry it is the best specced turbo for your application (ie not the huge a/r old junk at the top of this page, for example!).
