Best Turbo manifold opinions

[AliBOSS]

Hello, I'm sorry, I know this has been discussed multiple times but I still couldn't find a definitive answer to this topic and would like the wise opinion of anyone who's turboed their car.

I in the market for a new turbo manifold, my car is running now actually and I'm using a cheap ebay manifold that have actually hold surprisingly.

I started with a Afm turbo setup, n54 pistons and a Chinese gt30 made 330 whp and around 400 pounds of torque 15 psi of boost and a custom ship that I made using moates .
Then moved to the megasquirt and a gt35 at 20psi and made good power .

The problem is I have some boost creep and have had some problems with the manifold cranking and leaking at some point.

Now I'm ready to make the step, got forged pistons and rods and acl bearings, preparing for oring and some other things.

Now to the manifolds.

I've seen that we don't have that much of questionably quality manifold and would like to know what would be the best move.

-PPF manifold, seems to be the best from what ive heard but still not a lot of reviews and they offer 2 on their site but can't understand the difference since the description is the same.

-Mint performance, seen a lot of mixed reviews regarding the fitting and support but don't really what they're about.

-Rapidspool, cheap option, quality? Performance?

-Kangaroo cast manifold, I was thinking about this one for the reliability of cast. But performance wise I'm not sure, it seems that it could built a lot of back pressure at higher psi and rpm.

-VIEngineering, don't know anything about them .

I'm looking for something that could offer me some space in upgrading since I'm waiting for a bigger precision Turbo and a lot of head work to make a beast M20.

I'm sorry again if this is not the right place to post or if that has been discussed already but couldn't find those exact answers and obviously can't really buy them all to test them.

Thanks

[AliBOSS]

Bump

[varg]

There is no need to "bump" a thread that was already at the top of the board. Have some patience. The newer rapid spool manifold has wastegate priority which will probably help with the creep some have complained of with the old one. I know from experience that rapid spool honors the warranty but you're not in the USA so that may not be much of a benefit for you, shipping will be expensive. You're probably better off getting something made or at least distributed in Europe. Expensive built to order manifolds will probably be higher quality than $700 outsource manufactured manifolds like rapid spool, but rapid spool are good for the money and I have them on both of my cars since spending $1400 on a manifold is not easy for me. Very few of us will have firsthand experience with multiple manifolds so comparisons will probably be few and far between.

Hundreds of turbo E30s have been built over the years, many good build threads have been put together. Many people have complained about products they've had issues with. You'd be well served by learning how to do high quality searches with the search engine of your choice.

[14thirty]

I used this manifold when I first put mine together. Awful fit at the head, had to split the flange and elongate all the stud holes to make it fit. Needed an turbo flange as a spacer so the turbo would clear the rocker cover as well. Doesn't have a wastegate port either so I added one, surprisingly had zero creep, could hold my 16cm HX35 at 7PSI. Also it's not twinscroll.

https://www.schmiedmann.com/en/bmw-E...ct=TURBOMANM20





I'm in the process of switching to The Kangaroos manifold at the moment to get twin scroll and exhaust ports that actually line up with the head. Fits perfectly, but as you say it might not flow as well. I want the twin scroll to help spool on my 16cm housing. Also, the wastegate port isn't at a good angle, so I'll have to see if it creeps.

[Northern]

You really went for the shotgun approach for manifold prices haha.

In my mind, PPF is a great option and well priced unless you're in NA and have to ship it.

I've heard too many complaints about Mint to consider it.

I really like the idea of the Kangaroo cast manifold. It is probably good quality/fitment but I haven't seen someone run one. Probably the least likely to crack, twin scroll and built-in WG flange on the bottom seems well thought out for packaging. Cast manifolds aren't sexy like stainless Sched.10, and that's probably the only reason most people don't buy this one. Might not flow as well, but probably has zero issues until way higher than a stock M20 will take. Hopefully warps less from use than any tubular/welded option as well.

VI Engineered makes nice stuff as far as I know. WG priority on their 24v manifolds looks rough, but the M20 looks great. Most Expensive on the list, plus it needs two wastegates. Twin scroll, not equal length. Front wastegate could be a pain to tie-in to a downpipe.

Rapidspool is a good mix of price/quality. Single scroll, not sure if lengths are equal or not on the new version. Front WG could be a pain to tie-in to a downpipe. Quality and fitment should be great. I run the old style 24V version of this. It's been installed for 7 years without cracking. Single scroll does seem to have a nicer exhaust note.

I have an old used ebay/cxracing gen-whatever/schmiedmann manifold like 14thirty above, allegedly purchased from the Dan Pinder "Swedish Manifold" group buy in ~2006 that has a wastegate tube added similarly. Seemed to work for the PO, looked like it had a few added welds from cracks around the "gooch" of the collector, and had a brace connecting the turbine housing and valve cover. Tubing is super thin on these.