Turbo elbows: Tomei-vs-Greddy-vs-Megan

[khilgers]

I am trying to get the rest of the my parts together for my SR swap and now it has come time to figure out what turbo elbow to get. From what I have gathered the megan one is a single opening, where as the Tomei, Greddy and Circuit Sports one have a divider in them. What is the purposed of the divider? What are the performance differences between them? Does the divider for the wastegate help out with overall exhaust flow? I don't mind spending a little extra $ for a better product. So help me out if you can.

[samplesurf]

go with the greddy, ive had 2 and never had problems with either, had a megan once and it cracked so im not a fan of the 1 piece design, as for the divider it seperates the gasses from the wastegate and turbine wheel creating less turbulence, and the greddy has that also

[Wei240]

i'm thinking it's better with the divider, helps air flow and such, but then again, i'm no engineer,

only problem you may encounter with the divider is if you have a s15 t28 that has a divider, kinda need to bend the elbow divider to fit...

[kensreliableb18b]

s15 turbo just chop the divider so its flush with the mating service. go with either greddy or circuit sports. circuit sports if you're on a budget

i have the circuit sports one piece elbow-downpipe; works great

[punxva]

i've got the greddy one, and im running a s15 turbo, and it's fine, but as stated above if your on a budget then go with the circuit sports, if not then i'd go with the greddy

[RISINGSUNPROJECTS]

Have used both Kazama & Tomei elbows...Both are pretty much identical design, both straight thru no divider. Work really well!

[khilgers]

So if a high end company like Tomei or Kazama DOES NOT use the divider then there has to be a reason, correct?

[S13 Charlie]

Yes and no. For probably 99.99% of we Zilvians, we'd never notice a difference between an elbow that has a divider and an elbow that doesn't. The idea behind the divider makes sense, to a degree, but exhaust gas flow is always going to be turbulent. At the flow rates when the wastegate is opening (i.e. high rpms), I doubt that the the high rate of the main exhaust flow will be disturbed by gas from the wg opening. Of course, I have not tested either pipe, that's just my speculation as an engineer. Take it for what it's worth.

Personally, I like the Circuit Sports combo pipe, because it widens and flattens out in the middle, allowing for ground clearance for lowered vehicles. I will probably go for that pipe when I'm in the market for one.

[kassed33]

i have a Garrett 2871r on my S14 motor and i'm using a Greddy elbow. The purpose of the divider is to give you better exhaust flow, with out it the 4 exhaust pipes from the manifold just come to one big opening into the turbo, then compressed and either recirculated into the intake or out the exhaust. The spliter in the elbow will allow the compressed gas to eaily and smoothly flow out the exhaust pipe.The easier and faster and the more in and out flow you get the more power you get. Hope that helps ya in your decision, i've gone with just about All Greddy and Trust products and have nothing but good things to say about them...you cant go wrong with them.

[khilgers]

Charlie, yes that all makes sense to a certain extent. Like you said most of us would not notice the difference on a mildly built street car. I do like the elbow/downpipe combo, but I already have a downpipe. So it looks like I have a much better idea of what I am dealing with, thanks guys.

[Flybert]

I have the greddy with an s15 turbo and it has to be cut to clear the built in divider on the turbo. I haven't used the circuit sports one but that seems to be the best one in my opinion. It's cast and looks to have more clearance to get the bolts on there.

[big_schaf]

i have a hks elbow and its a single as well...i recomend it it's built really strong

[PoorMans180SX]

the divider is trying to make an internal wastegate design more like an external one. Ideally, the divided section would be 10-12 inches long and smoothly integrate back into the exhaust.

[Crono562]

Go with the circuit sports one piece, its good quality and it has a better ground clearance then the others due to its flat design. Plus its a lot cheaper! Can even get one from off ebay, just search for 'askme4parts', I know he has one for sale and I can vouch for his service.

*Edited to remove ebay link, sorry about that, didnt know that rule.*

[GSXRJJordan]

The big problem with the Circuit Sports combo pipe is that it doesn't have a flex section. I love the fact that it gives better ground clearance, but no flex section = more stress on your turbo->manifold studs (I broke 2 sets before I learned why flex sections are important).

Also, ebay link posting is prohibited, just post up search words that will help the OP find what you're linking to.

I have almost everything Megan makes for the S13 (worked at a Megan sponsored shop, got it free), and I have to say, it's not bad. I dont use the coilovers, but on all the engine/chassis stuff, it's well made and they've always given me great support whenever I had a problem.

[mayco_86]

I had a tomei and that was 3 inches (oval) all the way through. When I looked at the greddy and megan racing they seem to be a little smaller on the top side. I would go with a tomei.