Mr. Sandog

My experience with the stock Radix tune was that it was conservative in the timing department as well as a little rich. This ensured it would still run properly and not detonate even in the most adverse conditions (towing max load, uphill, in the heat) while temporarily dropping to the low-octane timing table. Set and forget.

For staying with the stock tune you are rewarded with ~120 RWHP over stock. Not bad for out-of-the-box performance. Tweakers/HP-eekers of course are on their own once they start playing with the stock Magnuson tune, but there is considerable power to be had if you know how to play.

Biggest point I will make is Magnsuon is plug-and-play; most (if not all) turbo kits are "It comes with everything but fuel..." or "It comes with everything but a tune..." as if fuel and tuning are incidental.

parish8

iTrader: (6)

not sure what is up with the eye roll. you are not saying anything that all of us turbo promoters are not saying allready. even the guys selling the turbo kits are coming in here and posting up the negatives to a turbo compared to a radix.

Mr. Sandog

My point is that you can easily amass hundreds of dollars in dyno and drive-tune time, in addition to fueling, and still have potential issues that aren't found until the wrong place/wrong time. These issues are what's behind the eye roll. I appreciate that they're in this thread, but I don't see these being highlighted in other threads.

I would love to see just one performance company design plug-and-play turbo kits that are 100% complete - like the Magnuson kits - and put them out to market. Competition is good.

parish8

iTrader: (6)

i get ya. magna did put a lot of time into their kit. none of the current turbo kit makers have the resources to get something like that together. there are just too many diferent combos out there to try and get a plug and play set up for. combine that with how every turbo buyer will want something a little diferent such diferent exhaust trims or sizes of turbos or exhaust systems after the turbo makes giving out a pre set tune very dificult.

TrickTurbo

iTrader: (12)

chevrolade

iTrader: (22)

Good points

Bill Reid

iTrader: (14)

Love my daily driven turbo truck

thunderwagen

iTrader: (3)

Both setups have their own pros and cons. Both have the ability to make power. Both have increased maint.

The Radix is a very well designed kit that for some is great. It does have its limits and makes a ton of heat. If you want to get rid of belt slip you are gonna have to go to an 8 rib set up that aint cheap. Not to mention the belt tensioner sucks and I know im not the only one on here that has broken more than one.

The turbo is more involved, but thats not to say one is better than the other. I have personal experience with both and have enjoyed, and had problems with both. Lets face it anyone who is trying to go 500 + hp in a heavy *** truck knows there are going to be some hurdles to jump along the way and you have to take that into account. If you dont want to have problems with your truck treat it like a soar dick, Dont **** with it.

zippy

I can only answer this by my opinion as there are too many variables. If you want a truck that is going to be over 500RWHP you either need to get the TVS2300 or a turbo. The TVS line is so much improved over the previous line that it's hard to compare. Unfortunatly the promises from the MP122HH didn't pan out from Magnacharger which makes some shy from how good the TVS line is. There are really very few Magnacharged trucks in the 11's that I know of. I don't count the one's doing it with nitrous since that's two power adders. Bragging about your product and your times when you have to spray on top of it to get those numbers isn't really backing your product. That's not taking away from what was accomplished, but there have been quite a few turbo trucks getting 11's on nothing but boost. Everyone's hard work should be appreciated no matter how they get there. Size choices are more the issue. The TVS1900 can get you over 500RWHP without question and without much challenge at all. You then get into an issue though of belt wear, belt slip, tensioner issue's, etc due to having to pulley down so much. In every boosted world except the Magnacharger when you want more boost or you step up in cubes you can just buy the next bigger unit (P1SC, D1SC, F1, 67mm, 76mm, 88mm, etc. ). Magnachargers were limited to just spinning it faster. Now with the TVS2300 it is a whole new game. One of my friends for example has made 850RWHP with a 74mm turbo on a stock long block LQ9 and the turbo is far from out of breath. Even the TVS2300 is going to have to spun up pretty damn hard to get there. Can it get there, yes I think so. The boost off idle is important if you run in a class that requires you to leave off idle and it's only 1/8' mile. Once you get into the big power a slight lag is nice to keep the traction in check.

philntx

iTrader: (8)

Another consideration would be the level of emissions testing/inspection in your area. Several counties in Texas just increased their standards in order to pass the OBD2 test. I just had one of my trucks inspected and he got under the truck to verify that the catalytic converters were in the stock location.