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To is38 or not is38 ...

Hoon

Autocross Champion
Location
Rhode Island
I read it as he is concerned about traction in the cold.

Yeah saw that, but his second question was...

2. Reliability wise, I dont know if people with similar climate condition had experience with an IS38 setup?

It's a factory engineered setup. The only reliability issue is when you push them well beyond their intended design,.and even then they aren't as unreliable as people make them seem.
 

Borkowski

New member
Location
Montreal
Yeah saw that, but his second question was...

2. Reliability wise, I dont know if people with similar climate condition had experience with an IS38 setup?

It's a factory engineered setup. The only reliability issue is when you push them well beyond their intended design,.and even then they aren't as unreliable as people make them seem.

That's why I kinda asked the question, didnt know if really cold weather could affect or not the reliability. When I was searching I saw a lot of setup similar to what I have or aimed to have with the is38 but they were all in less nordic climate than Canada and taught maybe it could have an influance, i dont know when I was young I use to have a mazdaspeed and was hitting fuel cut when it was -25 . I see you have a beefy setup and live in Rhode Island which is face not Florida but often people dont drive thru the winter with a setup similar to yours

Basicaly turbo car loves cold air but sometime it's freaking cold here so just wanted to know if that could affect
 

JC_451

Autocross Champion
Location
NJ, one of the nice parts.
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport
Once the car is up to temp its basically irrelevant how cold it is outside.

Unless you get stuck not moving it's not like it'll actually drop back out of the optimal temperature range for oil and coolant. Road salt is much worse for your car than the cold.

One vendor (FCP) sells an IS38 with a lifetime warranty. Not sure how iron clad it is, or if they try to weasel out of replacement, but that's an option at least.
 

DSC808

Autocross Champion
Location
HI State
Car(s)
2016 GTI SE MT
Have them buy you a S3 😬
 

jimlloyd40

Autocross Champion
Location
Phoenix
Car(s)
2018 SE DSG
If you are looking to make your IS38 last 60,000 miles I would start with a new one. Additionally if looking for high reliability I would consider Littco’s L380 as it is better built and balanced. This will allow it to sustain the higher boost of a hot IS38 tune. However reliability is subjective and every car is different. There is no proven “safe” setup.

I agree with this if you don't want a bigger turbo than an IS38. Littco upgrades the bearings also.
 
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