Turbo Location

[Chris]

Right guys, I'm going big turbo (iveco ko3) on my HDi in a couple of months.

But not really sure if to bay mount it or keep in its original location, as I'm thinking I can get the pipework to bay mount it made up for about the same cost as having the old hotside machined.

I'm leaning more towards bay mounting it as there's less restrictions on the inlet piping (sraight from the filter into the maf then turbo), and I'll get better routing on the boost piping also.
Obviously the other benifits are its easy to change out if it goes tits up, boost is easier to adjust, easier to swap out for a bigger turbo if I so wish.
The only thing that is put me off is the extra time it will take to spool, if any at all?

So guys opinions please?

[Dan!]

From what iv read, *not personal experiance*, expect to see ~500rpm extra lag with a longer exhaust manifold upto the battery area. Although imo a K03 isnt really a 'big' turbo, it should be fine down the back tbh.

[Ruan]

An Iveco K03 is not what you'd call a "big" turbo...

People are going to laugh if they see a peanut where the battery used to be... If you had a 28RS or a TD04 18T or similar, then you could get away with it there, but putting a pissy little thing there, people are going to laugh... IMO anyway - that's half the reason my VNT isn't in the battery box, it'd look 1000% gash, it doesn't look big in the slightest.

[Chris]

I'm not particularly bothered about how it looks, rather the pros and cons of mounting it in the stock location or in the bay.
I may go bigger with the turbo when the cars not a daily anymore, so bay mounting it now would be an advantage in that aspect too.

[Ruan]

TRUST me it's easier down the back!!! You have issues of oil drains going down and making sure they're beyond 45* the entire way, getting the downpipe past the gear linkages, it's a bit of a farce..

Just keep it down the back, there's more room than you think.