# **SPA Turbo** (A little insight)



## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

Some of you all may of heard of them. Some of you may have not.

SPA Turbo

Established in 1990, they are based in Sao Paulo, Brazil are responsible for supplying pretty much all of Brazil's performance needs. They look to be the "ATP of South America". They are mostly known here in the states for their cast manifolds ranging for a variety of applications and configurations. They also supply and partially manufacture turbochargers. I know they cast their own housings. After much digging i heard that they got their center sections from ITS (Innovative Turbo Systems) which went out of business and restarted as Comp Turbos. More digging ensued but seemed to be a dead end as Comp does not supply technical details about their turbos and no one seems to be running them. More digging and looking through their website (thanks google translator!) reveals that their turbos are "Biagio Turbos", based out of Sao Joao da Boa Vista, Brazil.

Biagio are based on Schwarzer cartridge assembly design and Turbonetics/Garrett wheels.
Most compressor wheels used in Biagio turbochargers are Air Research Garrett wheels. They are fully responsible for the casting and full manufacturing of their own turbos.

SPA has a 1yr warranty on their turbos and for the the price seem to be a viable garrett alternative (on paper). As a result i purchased one from Black Forest Industries (BFI) for a mean $425 :laugh: (WaterFest Pricing) and will be running it HARD 25~30psi on an 8v  The turbo i will be using is the SPA7000 which utilizes a 56mm compressor wheel. Adam at BFI is also running a SPA turbo on one of his cars. (Thanks again Adam!)




















*Casting on wheel seems a looks rougher in the picture than in reality*









*4" Anti-surge inlet...always a plus *


















*t3 inlet (definitely needs porting to match a t3 gasket)*


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## Soundwave_vr6 (Oct 1, 2007)

watching

opcorn:


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## speed51133! (Aug 5, 2002)

nice, are you selling these products now?


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## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

speed51133! said:


> arent all thier manifolds for t25 turbos??
> http://www.designengineering.com/catalog/spa-turbo-usa/turbo-manifolds/audi


 No. heck the bottom one in the link you posted is t3.


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## speed51133! (Aug 5, 2002)

yeah, i just caught that.
so i changed it.
are you selling them?


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## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

speed51133! said:


> yeah, i just caught that.
> so i changed it.
> are you selling them?


yes


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## speed51133! (Aug 5, 2002)

nice, there arent that many people doing that.
how about manifolds?
can i get a price for a spa turbo manifold for the 1.8t?
they make 2 of them. 
im interested in the one that looks just like the pag parts manifold if you will.


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## rjones1214 (Apr 24, 2009)

wow that was a great price for the turbo, I can't wait to see how it holds up to the 30psi. 

*opcorn:*


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## Dave926 (Mar 30, 2005)

What happened to the holset?


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## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

Dave926 said:


> What happened to the holset?


2 of the 8 blades on the compressor are missing their tips. the rest are fine. no shaft play. still boost...but whines. dunno if it sucked something up or shock from two step or compressor surge...but yea...so i wanted to try something else but stay close in size.


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## DannyLo (Aug 2, 2006)

Finally getting recognition it deserves considering the fastest VWs on the planet are in Argentina and Brazil.


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## TDiPusher19t (Feb 19, 2007)

Spa turbos are really good...I've been running an spa 70/63h at 20psi+ on an aba/16v and I've had no problems...and I've built a bunch of setups with spa turbos and they were all runners....:thumbup:


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## kamahao112 (Nov 17, 2007)

i usd the spa vr6 bottom mount turbo manifold on my gti .. i liked it ... made a nice heat shield that covered the mani and down pipe and it stayed pretty cool in the engine bay :thumbup::thumbup:


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## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

TDiPusher19t said:


> Spa turbos are really good...I've been running an spa 70/63h at 20psi+ on an aba/16v and I've had no problems...and I've built a bunch of setups with spa turbos and they were all runners....:thumbup:


tell me/us more.:thumbup::beer:


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## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

*BEFORE:*












*AFTER:*











*Vband welded on with extension (so i dont have to modify the down pipe)*












much better:beer:


turbo is installed...spool is loud! sounds like a semi:laugh:


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## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

hmmm its not even been 500miles and there has been a turbine wheel failure (25psi run) Not really sure how the hell this happened...99% of the time it's foreign object damage. The question now is from what?? Will be pulling the turbo off tomorrow for inspection. :beer::banghead:


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## Soundwave_vr6 (Oct 1, 2007)




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## rjones1214 (Apr 24, 2009)

wow that was fast, hopefully they have a good warranty.


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## knwledgebase (May 18, 2004)

You should change your name to "[email protected]" Just how many turbos have took a dump on you in the past year?:laugh:


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## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

knwledgebase said:


> You should change your name to "[email protected]" Just how many turbos have took a dump on you in the past year?:laugh:


you've been stalking me...i like it!  .... to answer your question: three... #3 (SPA) was not my fault it seems.. #2 was (no filter) :laugh: and #1 i honestly dont know... (oil seal failure)


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## J.Owen (May 31, 2001)

So what seems to to be the issue Q? Machining issue?


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## killa (Nov 26, 2000)

Funny you mention this, BFI said that the center sections were 100% Garrett, i then asked for proof and he reported me to the moderator who deleted my post and warned me about posting something disagreeing with the classified advertiser. 

I think i know more about these turbos companies than BFI and other small companies combined but it was funny how he tried to shut me up and push that lie foward. 

Also, ITS uses the old TurBLOWnetics tech, it was started by an old T'netics guy, they then started Com Turbo due to too many ITS turbos going bad. 

Don't be fed BS, you know you can IM me if you need anything :thumbup: 

Paul


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## kamahao112 (Nov 17, 2007)

Garrett or bullseye FTW !LOL


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## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

killa said:


> Funny you mention this, BFI said that the center sections were 100% Garrett, i then asked for proof and he reported me to the moderator who deleted my post and warned me about posting something disagreeing with the classified advertiser.
> 
> I think i know more about these turbos companies than BFI and other small companies combined but it was funny how he tried to shut me up and push that lie foward.
> 
> ...


 well based what i found they use swartz chra and garrett wheels. i prefer to do my own research and at no time was i fed any "bs" on the matter. i will post pics later but this looked to be a casting failure which destroyed the turbine wheel. the bearings are still intact and seals held up fine. talking to SPA they will honor the warranty and will be sending me there new model when it is ready so :thumbup: Paul i do need to talk to u tho....will pm


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## PBWB (Sep 12, 2004)

opcorn:


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## 92g60gti (Jul 6, 2004)

kamahao112 said:


> Garrett or bullseye FTW !LOL


 i actually read a thread on hondatech a little while back that bullseye power turbo's were having some problems and the guy who owns the company wasn't doing anything to stand behind the product. i don't remember the details now, but they weren't too good. 

Edit: and don't think i'm on some bullseye power bashing mission or something. i actually am running an S364 in my car. haha


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## TDiPusher19t (Feb 19, 2007)

heres a short clip of an R32 i built with using an SPA 70/63M and SPA turbo manifold...enjoy:laugh: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0sAIdP3IBY


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## papo98jetta (Dec 10, 2008)

How long did it take to hit full boost?

I'm also thinking of upgrading to a SPA 7000.


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