Twin Turbo Review

[dnewman9]

I bought a new 14 SE Crew with the intent of putting on a twin turbo kit after seeing what Hellion could do with the Boss 5.0. I have researched this option extensively talking to 6-8 vendors and posting on a couple forums looking for feedback. I thought I would share my legwork for those who may be in the same boat.

After talking to a few vendors I have decided to go Whipple, here is why. In speaking with a few Hellion dealers only Blowby racing was familiar with the kit. I had a second dealer in Oklahoma tell me they had installed 3-4 of them and their only feedback was they had not been back in for issues. In speaking with another Raptor vendor with a TT kit in the works, they intimated they were ending the development due to multiple issues. Its not a surprise, if you have seen what is required to be insulated alone to run a turbo under a Raptor hood, you can see why there is challenge. If you were to thrash a truck through the desert, and one of the heat shields were to come loose or fall off, the results could be catastrophic.

In the end, you can find over a dozen vendors who tune and sell and have installed Roush or Whipple. Many of them are very familiar with the platform and the tuning options. I struggle with only having one vendor who could attest to Hellion's kit. Keep in mind I have a ton of confidence in Hellion however for the platform I think this is a niche market, and the support for it aligns. Same with the other vendor with the alternative kit.

I hear there are at least a dozen twin turbo kit trucks out there, however I have not been able to find a single vendor who is willing to put me in touch with an independent end user. Frankly as tight as our group is, I have not talked to anyone who has seen one at an event or function. (outside of one prototype truck) Hopefully as this market matures that will change. Until then I am going supercharged again.

My last truck was a Roush custom tuned by Stanghi and it was FANTASTIC. 0 Complaints and impressively fast even at high altitude. My only complaint is the blower was not loud enough, (I like whine.) I chose Whipple in this case mainly to try something new on this Raptor build. Hopefully I will not be disappointed as it lives up to the fanfare of the many people I have been debating the Roush side against for a couple years.

Hopefully that helps those who are looking. This information is as good as the date on this post. Again, hopefully this will change.

Dennis

 

[Deleted member 12951]

I thought the Hellion system had a bunch of the pipes down below and looked like a bad idea if you off-road hard?

 

[dnewman9]

No that's the first gen UPP kit. Hellion is all up top, as is the new kit it sounds like UPP is working on.

 

[torrin]

My $.02, if you want Twin Turbo's, get an Ecoboost, you can tune 'em and torque the hell out of them. I am loving my Roush, though I was really close to doing a Whipple instead. I think the Whipple is a more cost effective way to Supercharge and gives more performance, but having a Roush dealer near and no authorized Whipple installers here sort of made the choice for me.

 

[MTF]

I know you and I have had words in the past and I'm all good with it.

I just what to say my 2 cents to, without doing any engine work before doing the Whipple,
your only going to see 40 to 50 fwhp, more if you want to take a chance, than the stage 2 Roush.
For a 6000 lbs. truck that really not a big in seat feeling difference.

I'm sure you have seen what can be accomplished with a lot of engine work but how many of us have that kind of money. Not me that's for sure.

I would look into head work and cams, bigger injectors like 60 lbs. and bigger TB. If I would do it all over again that's what I would do.
No ones really done that but Livernois and not much noise is coming from them lately on the forums.
And do the oil pump gear upgrade if your looking for big HP and a B.A.P. or fuel pump upgrade.
Just explore all your options. And good luck!

 

[dnewman9]

MTF, you and I have had issues where fact and opinion cross. It is not personal for me, I appoligize if it's seemed so. My background is engineering and sometimes I see more black and white/ones and zeros. I appreciate your advocacy for the whipple brand,to some extent you have kept me thinking about the Roush decision on my 13. I really wanted a turbo setup, but I like trying different things in this hobby. I think I am going to give up low end hole shot power on this next setup (JDM 650 kit) but I am looking forward to validating it myself. My tires generally outlast my vehicles, I doubt I will see the full potential of the Whipple platform before I am on to a 2016 or something else. I appreciate the advice, I look forward to validating or refuting the difference between Roush and Whipple.
Dennis

I know you and I have had words in the past and I'm all good with it.

I just what to say my 2 cents to, without doing any engine work before doing the Whipple,
your only going to see 40 to 50 fwhp, more if you want to take a chance, than the stage 2 Roush.
For a 6000 lbs. truck that really not a big in seat feeling difference.

I'm sure you have seen what can be accomplished with a lot of engine work but how many of us have that kind of money. Not me that's for sure.

I would look into head work and cams, bigger injectors like 60 lbs. and bigger TB.
No ones really done that but Livernois and not much noise is coming from them lately on the forums.
And do the oil pump gear upgrade if your looking for big HP and a B.A.P. or fuel pump upgrade.
Just explore all your options. And good luck!

 

[MTF]

I have yet to call JDM and ask what the difference is between the 650hp and 700hp kits they offer. You may what to ask.

 

[dnewman9]

I have yet to call JDM and ask what the difference is between the 650hp and 700hp kits they offer. You may what to ask.

I did, the 700 is more aggressive tuning, they backed it down to the 650 as they did not feel the stock engine would last at that level.

 

[SD_Plat]

In speaking with another Raptor vendor with a TT kit in the works, they intimated they were ending the development due to multiple issues. Its not a surprise, if you have seen what is required to be insulated alone to run a turbo under a Raptor hood, you can see why there is challenge. If you were to thrash a truck through the desert, and one of the heat shields were to come loose or fall off, the results could be catastrophic.



Dennis

Dennis - curious if you can elaborate on this statement. You're implying that all TT kits are ticking time bombs. For a company to abandon development work there is obviously extenuating circumstances at play.

Details would be useful considering all the 'research' you completed.

 

[dnewman9]

Dennis - curious if you can elaborate on this statement. You're implying that all TT kits are ticking time bombs. For a company to abandon development work there is obviously extenuating circumstances at play.

Details would be useful considering all the 'research' you completed.

I don't think ticking time bomb is an accurate statement.

Hellion has thermal wrap, heat shields, and covers on quite a few components including the master cylinder reservoir, AC lines, various harness' and even the PCM connecters under the hood. They also recommend ceramic coating the hot side piping. The headers route up to the front of the motor, and then you have a second set of tubes that run back down to the factory exhaust. I am not sure if you have done a header install, but when I put the Stainless Works on my first Raptor, its a tight fit, not an easy job for just headers let alone the additional piping needed for turbos. Given all the plastic, including the valve covers on the later Raptors, its for good reason. If you are flogging your truck off road for any length of time there is going to be heat under the hood. To me the risk factor is a shield comes loose, or a thermal wrapped harness or line becomes un protected and you have best case melting, worst case fire.

All that being said, and in Hellion's defense I have not heard of a single user with the Hellion kit who had problems. But in all fairness, I could not speak to a single user who had the kit period. I do think a turbo install is much more critical to be done by a very good detail oriented shop than say a supercharger kit. If I were to do it, I would spend the time and drive down to Hellion directly to install it as I am not sure even my tried and tested local speed shop has the experience to give me 100% confidence I will not have long term issues on a hot day somewhere.

Give the guys at TMX a call about their prototype kit and the challenges they ran into. They can articulate exactly what I just described.