Turbo: water cooled or non-watercooled?

[vector601]

I have a choice between two turbos that are the same size with or without a watercooled center. My questions is which one should I buy? Why? Im going to use this turbo on a custom kit on my s13 with the KA24de.

[uiuc240]

water cooled is better because it is more street-friendly. you don't need to worry about a turbo timer and idling for 2 minutes after a brief hard run around town.

main advantage to non-watercooled (and the reason why many aftermarket turbos/tuners don't use them) is simplicity. that's one less hose (actually two less and hoses and 4 connections) to worry about.

Eric

[BRB240]

Watercooled turbos tend to last longer and can take a bit more abuse than oil cooled ie Shuting your engine off immediatly after a drive which is bad no matter what, but a wc turbo can handle it a bit more often. The turbo will also tend to stay cooler because of a second cooling system however your water temp will go up so you need a good radiator and a good fan(s).
The biggest prob with wc turbos is that when they wear out(just get old) they are prone to leaks. Whether it be oil in the cooling system or radiator fluid in the oling system.

This was what I found out during the time in which I owned a Saab 900turbo which had a water/oil cooled turbo. In the summer in traffic the fans would kick on every 30 seconds, so the temp went down, they clicked off, 30 seconds later the temp was back up.

I would recommend the reg oc turbo but with a damn good oil cooler(If you run the car hard)
My ideal setup would be 2 coolers(cooled b4 turbo --> into turbo --> second cooler after turbo --> back into engine)

In the end I think it is just a personal opinion... Each one has its pros and cons and in the end they are just about equal.

[vector601]

Thanks for all the info. guys!