In our 7.3 legendary giveaway videos, KC was asked for a Turbo Shootout between drop in turbos, so we gathered up a few of the more popular drop in turbo options and sizes and put them to the test against our newest KC 300x gen 3 turbo, and even slipped in a potential turbo option for next year. In an effort to avoid drama and hurting feelings we didn't call out whos turbos we got, but instead labeled them Turbo A, B, C, D, E, and F.
General Specs
B - stock 3" inlet, 63mm billet compressor, everything else is stock... except for a ton of spray paint colors
C - larger 4" inlet, 66mm cas compressor, Dual Ball bearings, 1.0 a/r housing
D - KC s1 gen 3 https://kcturbos.com/.../kc300x-g3-stage-1-turbo-7-3...
E - KC s2 gen 3 https://kcturbos.com/.../kc300x-g3-stage-2-turbo-7-3...
F - Prototype KC s2 gen 3 9 blade (same specs as KC s2 gen 3 but with upgrade 9 blade turbine wheel)
We performed two tests on each. Max HP and towing abilities.
We performed two tests on each. Max HP and towing abilities.
For the max hp we ran the same tune for each truck, A hot street tune from Andrew Arthur. Same load and all run in 3rd gear. We did our best to mimic each dyno run but there is always a little variation on how you roll into the throttle so below 2200rpms is not the part of the graph I would focus on. By 2200rpms I was 100% Throttle on each on so focus on 2300rpms forward.
For the Towing test we got the truck up to about 75mph in OD on the dyno, then added 75% load... which is very similar to towing a 10k trailer on flat ground from our testing. We would let rpms drop down to about 65mph in OD (where most people want to tow). What we focused on is what EGTs and boost would do.
Here is the data, there is a lot to go over but you can find peak HP in the chart on the graph. Under the graph you will see HP and boost at 3000rpms and boost/egts while towing at 65mph.
If you have not been following then check out the video links below to watch us take a 100% stock legendary 7.3 and turn in into a 500hp monster that hurts 6.0s feelings and still tows great!