I pulled the trigger on a Td05h-16kx for my 17 WRX after considering many options globally for import to Australia. Many of the options involve larger and later spooling turbos for higher end power, and many of those seem likely not worth the price.
Kinugawa do not have many, if any, reviews for their options on my car that I could find easily, mostly just armchair comments with a mind to promote so called domestic quality. They have some good mentions in Aus in the 4wd scene.
Having said that, the price is not exactly low here, and Kinugawa are a big player in the Asian market. So you might say I took a gamble on them, but I was intrigued by the higher tier offerings and how more fitting they'd be for a streetable little 2 litre like my own.
I've not been disappointed. Side by side with the OEM turbo, you'd think this was an OEM turbo, but even better. It is clearly been balanced, fresh marks and oil still in the cartridge. A balance report is provided. Practically no play in the shaft at all, spun well. The 7+7 compressor wheel is very intricate.
Included is a bunch of high quality kit to bolt it up. The inclusion of extra studs for the turbo and headers with copper locking nuts is a nice bonus. It bolted up nearly perfectly, with the exception that the OEM heatshield required some modification to the stock bracket to install, and the front bolt couldn't be used so a tie wire option was employed. One might simply get a turbo blanket if concerned.
My only points of criticism, was the the wastegate inlet was installed on a conflicting angle, so I spun it around. I am employing a 3 port solenoid which mounts a bit differently to stock so this worked out good with a new piece of 6mm hose. The other thing I mucked around with a bit was the oil feed line, they include a new braided steel hose, but I think I put one of the 90 degree adapters in the wrong spot, made it a bit tricky to line the connection to the car up without said braided hose rubbing the headers.
Now this option isn't what you'd say is a huge upgrade over OEM, but efficiency and streetability are my goals. Kinugawa's compressor map could be a lot more detailed, but from what they do provide I can wager this will be more efficient across the board with more room to move. I have not been disappointed. There is a slight bit of lag there at the come on, I have elected for 0.8 bar wastegate for my purposes (20-21PSI target) and I do have a FMIC (in fact entire intake and exhaust is upgraded so that back pressure loss plays its part) but this is an advantage since we want to limit the spool before 3KRPM or so anyway. It comes on clean, smooth, and stronger at less pressure than OEM, and clearly wants more. With the 1 bar gate I might have been tempted (they included the spring for me for free), but we're on a stock block here for the moment. It has a nice clean sound when spooling, it does let you know about surge when tuning fairly clearly, I think it well balanced in this regard.
Product was shipped quick enough and no troubles were received by border patrol etc. All costs were included in the total price so that's really handy. Service was responsive and friendly. App was easy to use etc.
Overall I'd definitely recommend Kinugawa, and have done so already. I've been tuning it for 3K Kms now, and been impressed with my decision.
