GTX30 Turbo delivers 450 whp on STM's Mustang Dyno
May 22, 2011, 10:05 AM
#1
GTX30 Turbo delivers 450 whp on STM's Mustang Dyno
I recently tuned my car on STM's Mustang Dyno in preperation for the 2011 One Lap of America where we finished 1st in class and 6th overall. The results of STM's custom GTX30 .83 hotside top mount turbo setup speak for themselves. I wasn't revving out the engine too high but it probably is good for closer to 460 whp if I ran it right to 8000. This is 93 octane and 100 octane/E85 tunes will be even higher! 
Here is a comparison between my old "bolt-on GT30" setup versus the new "STM GTX30" setup:
Spoolup is 20 psi by 3800 in 4th, basically only a 200 rpm penalty for over 50 whp more over a wide RPM band. My fuel system us E85 and easily will have the capacity to push this combination to the 500whp+ area at 30-34 psi and extra timing but I'm deciding if it is worth splitting the stock block open in the process!
I also upgraded to a Boomba 3" TB with another similar prototype intake manifold that had a larger plenum and larger TB flange. Basically the swap of parts before and after yielded no measurable gains or losses when using the same conservative tune before and after. This was partially expected since the FMIC to TB path was still using the same 2.5" IC piping.
After having Cory at STM fabricate some 3" IC pipes we put it back on the dyno and found that it might have lost some response down low and gained next to nothing through the entire rpm range. I think at my HP level the 2.5" stuff just wasn't a restriction although it was probably right at the point where it would start making a difference or at least not hurting that much. Once I did start tweaking the tune though, the car seemed to easily make 450 whp so it's possible the changes are allowing me to push the entire combination farther than I otherwise could have.
If I had to do it over again I would have tuned all the combinations to the same AFR's, boost, and at the same knock limits and then done the comparisons. That way the only major change would be if the parts combo allowed more timing advance which would limit the variables. All I know is that the spool and response is still plenty for what I'm using it for and it can still spin all 4 tires in an auto-x with no issues getting the setup to move. Road courses are insane with full power from 4000-8000 and the power is still workable from 3500-4000.
In the comparison you can see both plots look almost identical. Last year's GT30 plot is confusing in that it appears to spool much earlier but that was because it was a 4th gear pull instead of 3rd, my bad!
For reference here is what a 4th gear pull looks like on the new setup compared to 3rd gear, not sure why I didn't place them all on the same plot!
Overall I'm really happy with the upgrade and it really helped us take the class win at this years One Lap of America event. I plan on taking it to a drag strip soon so that I can see what it can do even with a shift to 5th gear. Sadly the taller final drive upgrade never came available in time so it wasn't installed with the latest round of upgrades.
More to come soon!
Here is a comparison between my old "bolt-on GT30" setup versus the new "STM GTX30" setup:
Spoolup is 20 psi by 3800 in 4th, basically only a 200 rpm penalty for over 50 whp more over a wide RPM band. My fuel system us E85 and easily will have the capacity to push this combination to the 500whp+ area at 30-34 psi and extra timing but I'm deciding if it is worth splitting the stock block open in the process!
I also upgraded to a Boomba 3" TB with another similar prototype intake manifold that had a larger plenum and larger TB flange. Basically the swap of parts before and after yielded no measurable gains or losses when using the same conservative tune before and after. This was partially expected since the FMIC to TB path was still using the same 2.5" IC piping.
After having Cory at STM fabricate some 3" IC pipes we put it back on the dyno and found that it might have lost some response down low and gained next to nothing through the entire rpm range. I think at my HP level the 2.5" stuff just wasn't a restriction although it was probably right at the point where it would start making a difference or at least not hurting that much. Once I did start tweaking the tune though, the car seemed to easily make 450 whp so it's possible the changes are allowing me to push the entire combination farther than I otherwise could have.
If I had to do it over again I would have tuned all the combinations to the same AFR's, boost, and at the same knock limits and then done the comparisons. That way the only major change would be if the parts combo allowed more timing advance which would limit the variables. All I know is that the spool and response is still plenty for what I'm using it for and it can still spin all 4 tires in an auto-x with no issues getting the setup to move. Road courses are insane with full power from 4000-8000 and the power is still workable from 3500-4000.
In the comparison you can see both plots look almost identical. Last year's GT30 plot is confusing in that it appears to spool much earlier but that was because it was a 4th gear pull instead of 3rd, my bad!
For reference here is what a 4th gear pull looks like on the new setup compared to 3rd gear, not sure why I didn't place them all on the same plot!
Overall I'm really happy with the upgrade and it really helped us take the class win at this years One Lap of America event. I plan on taking it to a drag strip soon so that I can see what it can do even with a shift to 5th gear. Sadly the taller final drive upgrade never came available in time so it wasn't installed with the latest round of upgrades.
More to come soon!
Last edited by Hiboost; May 22, 2011 at 01:58 PM.
May 27, 2011, 01:12 PM
#4
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Thats some sick power on Emerys dyno, he just tuned my yesterday and I made 305whp and my car pulls hard, I can't imagine this. This is easily a 500whp car on a dynojet
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May 29, 2011, 10:22 AM
#10
Yep I went from the "twin-scroll" bolt on Garrett GT3076r that everyone raved about to this custom STM single scroll GTX3076r turbo setup. There really was only a 200 rpm penalty going from the old setup to the GTX30 which was well worth the increase in power. I really wanted to see what this setup could do on E85 but alas I will have to wait again.
Sadly the car had an engine fire last week on the way home from work, the Mitsu dealer is still trying to determine what happened so that I'll know what the insurance company can do. Chances are 50/50 that I have to start my efforts all over again to get the car to where it was, either way it's a giant headache I have to deal with. It happened about 6,000 miles after all the work was done to the car and literally there were orange flames coming out from the hood vents just as I was accelerating at 50% throttle from a slower speed zone. The small extinguisher that I carry with me wasn't nearly enough to put the fire out, luckily there was a guy with a lawn/landscaping truck happening by that unloaded their full sized extingusher into my engine bay.
All that time and effort to get the perfect setup and it went up in smoke in a couple minutes. All wiring and plastics are completely trashed underhood and the front fenders, front clip, and hood itself are toast.
Not the happiest evo owner right about now, best thing I can figure out was that the fire was centered under the alternator & passenger side end of the fuel rail as the aluminum undertray was very black on the underside where the fire was hottest. Turbo and engine "should" be fine, I was unable to verify oil levels after the event as the plastic dipstick was melted onto the stem but I didn't see any oil on the undertray or on the ground when it happened. I don't have good pictures handy since I stupidly closed the hood when loading onto a trailer to bring it to the dealership and they only just recently forced it open.
Sadly the car had an engine fire last week on the way home from work, the Mitsu dealer is still trying to determine what happened so that I'll know what the insurance company can do. Chances are 50/50 that I have to start my efforts all over again to get the car to where it was, either way it's a giant headache I have to deal with. It happened about 6,000 miles after all the work was done to the car and literally there were orange flames coming out from the hood vents just as I was accelerating at 50% throttle from a slower speed zone. The small extinguisher that I carry with me wasn't nearly enough to put the fire out, luckily there was a guy with a lawn/landscaping truck happening by that unloaded their full sized extingusher into my engine bay.
All that time and effort to get the perfect setup and it went up in smoke in a couple minutes. All wiring and plastics are completely trashed underhood and the front fenders, front clip, and hood itself are toast.
Not the happiest evo owner right about now, best thing I can figure out was that the fire was centered under the alternator & passenger side end of the fuel rail as the aluminum undertray was very black on the underside where the fire was hottest. Turbo and engine "should" be fine, I was unable to verify oil levels after the event as the plastic dipstick was melted onto the stem but I didn't see any oil on the undertray or on the ground when it happened. I don't have good pictures handy since I stupidly closed the hood when loading onto a trailer to bring it to the dealership and they only just recently forced it open.
May 29, 2011, 07:26 PM
#11
Yep I went from the "twin-scroll" bolt on Garrett GT3076r that everyone raved about to this custom STM single scroll GTX3076r turbo setup. There really was only a 200 rpm penalty going from the old setup to the GTX30 which was well worth the increase in power. I really wanted to see what this setup could do on E85 but alas I will have to wait again.
Sadly the car had an engine fire last week on the way home from work, the Mitsu dealer is still trying to determine what happened so that I'll know what the insurance company can do. Chances are 50/50 that I have to start my efforts all over again to get the car to where it was, either way it's a giant headache I have to deal with. It happened about 6,000 miles after all the work was done to the car and literally there were orange flames coming out from the hood vents just as I was accelerating at 50% throttle from a slower speed zone. The small extinguisher that I carry with me wasn't nearly enough to put the fire out, luckily there was a guy with a lawn/landscaping truck happening by that unloaded their full sized extingusher into my engine bay.
May 30, 2011, 11:53 AM
#13
No I had a Turbo blanket on it, the firewall was largely unburned, just some heat damage. Wiring in the passenger rear of the engine bay looked the least effected as well. If the car was running for 20-30 minutes at full tilt and then caught fire I would suspect the turbo as well, but on the street with partial boost used it just doesn't make sense nor was the fire centered over it. I'll know more over the next few days and post pictures and probable causes. If I rebuild I need to know as much info as possible and absolutely be sure that nothing like this ever happens again.
May 30, 2011, 03:28 PM
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Sorry to hear about this man. It always sucks when something this catastrophic happens. Hopefully insurance will cover the fire costs. Good luck with the rebuild!