Turbo Pricing Question
 

Hmm... has anyone ever done a search on a K-27 turbo on flea-bay? Seems that they sell them brand new for about $250.
So, the question is, why would we buy them for more than $1000 to put on our cars? Is there something different about these? Am I going to get squashed by the P Car part mafioso for bringing this up? If you don't believe me, click on this link...
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=K27+turbo& category0=

that's a good question. Besides the obvious (muffler out side requiring a totally different bolt pattern, Air pipe going into the IC is a different fitting), you're need to find out if the compressor wheel is the same as the one the Pcar guys use.

Good catch though.

This one even says "Best with any 911/930 model"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/K27-BIG-TURBO-CHARGER-OIL-LINE-KIT-V6-V8-MUSTANG-450HP_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33742QQihZ016QQit emZ260161486247QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

They can call it what they want but that is not a K27. It will not bolt up and it is not even a KKK turbo.

I think "you get what you pay for" is pretty much how it is for turbos

Well there are a lot of oversea knock offs, but that is one of the worst I have seen.

Trust Stephen on this one. The one I bought from IA bolted right up and works like a champ well worth the money. my 2 cents.

It looks like GT35 diesel turbo. Big hot side is a givaway.

Two words:

Chinese Crap

I did some research on this stuff last night. Apparently, our K27 is a "K27-3" model. They use the K27 all over the place but mostly on trucks made by Mercedes. The "-3" is unique to Porsche models though. I woudl imagine it has something to do with the mounting holes. However, there was not much information on the discs. Not to offend the guys that make their living off selling these parts... but, it would seem to me that real KKK stuff is available out there at a somewhat reduced price. Alternative sourcing has always fascinated me so I found it interesting to see what other models the K27 was used on. So, if we had a junkyard full of European semi-trucks we coudl probably source these things pretty cheap. When I got my Delortto carbs for my 914 I found that they are an extremely common part found in Italian junkyards but if you bought them domestically they might serve as grounds for divorce. I woudl imagine that if the guys who sell these for a living could find them for a cheaper price they could pass along those savings and get a lock on the market!!! Anyway, we occasionally whine about P-Car part prices so I figured I woudl do a little research. The nice part about the tuner shops is that you know you are buying something that will bolt right up and work...usually :)

Regardless of who is selling real KKK I can tell you in the picture the housing with NO KKK/BG tag and the VT or what ever is on the housing is not a KKK turbo. The real KKK turbo turbine and bearing housings are 900.00 wholesale! The way KKK/BG makes the older turbos now is they batch the orders and then build them when they have enough to make them. Therefore the pricing also goes up because production is limited. I know for a fact that supply is as low as I have ever seen it causing the price to raise again. So while you see these great deals on eBay just be aware it is not the real deal and any K27 actually from KKK is not going to be 300.00.

So are there "new" turbos that are currently in production that we coudl "fit" to our cars that have the same perfromance but more reasonable production levels and therefore pricing???

No, production remains limited. Yes, there are new turbos hence what we sell but the pricing has not gone down as supply has remained the same.

Actually, I meant is there something other than the K-27 that is made by the thousands today that will fit the 930. Or at least get close enough for a simple adapter. The diesel trucks are still being built so I assume someone is still working on development and production of turbos for the new trucks.

Diesel turbos aren't always bad. Typically, they are made for very high boost...tyehy typically boost 1.2 bar or more and have very sturdy bearings.

Drawbacks is that they are made for diesel applications. Diesel engines have cooler exhaust gases and diesel turbos have often very big hot housings. So hot/cold side are missmatcheed for gasoline engines. They do work, but aren't optimal. Also, shafts are very heavy which means more lag. They do not stand high temperatures too well either.