CT9 Hybrid Recommendations In 2024

[mrFez]

Hi folks,

I've tried searching and have come across a few nuggets of info but nothing quite nailed my questions. Thought I'd ask these questions here now that theres plenty of people with more up to date experiences with CT9 hybrids.

I've found two sources to get a hybrid. EBay and a vendor in England that a lot of you do not recommend and dont like to use.

Any experiences with the eBay hybrids?
Who would you recommend sourcing a hybrid CT9 from if the eBay ones are no good?

Will a Blitz access ECU be good enough to run a hybrid or is a standalone ECU the only way to go?

Thanks!

 

[Djaniero]

I'm guessing the British vendor is TD? If so give Mike at TD call and discuss your requirements with him. People give them a bad press but I have never had any issues with them. Others may think otherwise though.
What sort of warranty do yo get with the Ebay turbo?
Speak to Sacha @wickedep also. I'm sure he does a hybrid also, that was making some good numbers.
The stock ecu will work fine with a hybrid turbo, depending on how much power/ boost your aiming for.
For the price you're going to pay for a Blitz access ecu, you would be better off with a piggy back like a det3 or emanage... or future proof yourself with a standalone.

HTH

 

[SKINY]

Midland turbos is your man for anything toyota turbo, Caldina turbo getting sent to him soon, tf035 will be sent to him too when the time comes

 

[H_D]

Midland turbos is your man for anything toyota turbo, Caldina turbo getting sent to him soon, tf035 will be sent to him too when the time comes

me and my friends always use midland turbo too.

 

[H_D]

Hi folks,

I've tried searching and have come across a few nuggets of info but nothing quite nailed my questions. Thought I'd ask these questions here now that theres plenty of people with more up to date experiences with CT9 hybrids.

I've found two sources to get a hybrid. EBay and a vendor in England that a lot of you do not recommend and dont like to use.

Any experiences with the eBay hybrids?
Who would you recommend sourcing a hybrid CT9 from if the eBay ones are no good?

Will a Blitz access ECU be good enough to run a hybrid or is a standalone ECU the only way to go?

Thanks!

blitz access is good for a hybrid, i ran a TD04 at 1bar on a blitz access, they do run a little rich

 

[mrFez]

I'm guessing the British vendor is TD? If so give Mike at TD call and discuss your requirements with him. People give them a bad press but I have never had any issues with them. Others may think otherwise though.
What sort of warranty do yo get with the Ebay turbo?
Speak to Sacha @wickedep also. I'm sure he does a hybrid also, that was making some good numbers.
The stock ecu will work fine with a hybrid turbo, depending on how much power/ boost your aiming for.
For the price you're going to pay for a Blitz access ecu, you would be better off with a piggy back like a det3 or emanage... or future proof yourself with a standalone.

HTH

Yeah thats the company. I didn't want to encourage spreading bad press, I just know they offer hybrids, from a quick online serch and a lot of folks here wont recommend them.
I'm willing to explore all options though.
I did see on TD's website that they dont suggest running a hybrid on stock ECU and something else should be considered.
With eBay stuff I didn't dig too deep looking into warranty etc as I dont really want to get an eBay turbo, I can only imagine the quality isnt great.

Currently I'm running a Blitz Access so was hoping it could manage a hybrid. The goal is to run 1.0bar.
Thank you for the feedback!!

 

[mrFez]

Midland turbos is your man for anything toyota turbo, Caldina turbo getting sent to him soon, tf035 will be sent to him too when the time comes

Do you know if the folks at Midland do hybrids?
Where are they based?
Cheers for the info man.

 

[mrFez]

blitz access is good for a hybrid, i ran a TD04 at 1bar on a blitz access, they do run a little rich

Sweet. So they manage just fine eh? Did you run a wideband too to monitor your AFR?

Im running at CT9 at 0.7bar and a Blitz Access. AFR hits around 11.8 or so at full throttle in first second and third, when I wind it out in 4th and 5th around 4500rpm + it hits about 12.1 or there abouts. So yeah a little rich, right?

 

[SKINY]

Do you know if the folks at Midland do hybrids?
Where are they based?
Cheers for the info man.

UK Mainland buddy, ask for Laim, he's a Starlet man too
I've no issues slaging TD off, his turbos are probably cheap recycled off of Ebay Chinese shite
WEPR is also very very highly recommended, Sacha is a really Sound guy
Idress at ID works also another top class Bloke and all his team

 

[Djaniero]

Yeah thats the company. I didn't want to encourage spreading bad press, I just know they offer hybrids, from a quick online serch and a lot of folks here wont recommend them.
I'm willing to explore all options though.
I did see on TD's website that they dont suggest running a hybrid on stock ECU and something else should be considered.
With eBay stuff I didn't dig too deep looking into warranty etc as I dont really want to get an eBay turbo, I can only imagine the quality isnt great.

Currently I'm running a Blitz Access so was hoping it could manage a hybrid. The goal is to run 1.0bar.
Thank you for the feedback!!

Don’t worry we’re an honest bunch on here as you can probably already tell lol.
As I said I have never had any issues with them where as others have .
Ah ok, if you have the Blitz ecu already stick with that.
Do you have any other supporting mods I.e updated fuel pump?
Are you planning to run the hybrid with an external or internal wastegate setup?
Plenty of info on here and helpful/knowledgeable people. So have a search or continue to ask away.

 

[mrFez]

UK Mainland buddy, ask for Laim, he's a Starlet man too
I've no issues slaging TD off, his turbos are probably cheap recycled off of Ebay Chinese shite
WEPR is also very very highly recommended, Sacha is a really Sound guy
Idress at ID works also another top class Bloke and all his team

Deadly stuff Skiny. Thanks for all that info. I have dealt with ID Workz and they are definitely 10/10. Great communication and fast delivery.

 

[mrFez]

Don’t worry we’re an honest bunch on here as you can probably already tell lol.
As I said I have never had any issues with them where as others have .
Ah ok, if you have the Blitz ecu already stick with that.
Do you have any other supporting mods I.e updated fuel pump?
Are you planning to run the hybrid with an external or internal wastegate setup?
Plenty of info on here and helpful/knowledgeable people. So have a search or continue to ask away.

I will look at getting a fresh fuel pump. My starlet is still on the original one I think. So definitely a good idea to replace it.

I haven't gotten that far in regards to deciding on external wastegate. I suppose I'm just getting the thoughts flowing for now. I'd imagine external would be the way to go seeing as the ct9 can't get the gases out fast enough. I did bore out the wastegate port on my ct9 when I put the new manifold on and adjustable actuator, decat etc. Zero boost creep.

I will do some more searching, although it is nice getting a bit of a chat going with folks such as yourself and Skiny who have been down this road before me.

I'd imagine you'd go external wastegate, better fuel pump and maybe something better than the Blitz Access? What would be the secret sauce recipe for you if you were in my shoes? Keeping in mind I am open to a TD04 but if a hybrid would be an easier way to make similar and more useable power then thats the route I'd like to go.

Cheers again for your thoughts.

 

[H_D]

Sweet. So they manage just fine eh? Did you run a wideband too to monitor your AFR?

Im running at CT9 at 0.7bar and a Blitz Access. AFR hits around 11.8 or so at full throttle in first second and third, when I wind it out in 4th and 5th around 4500rpm + it hits about 12.1 or there abouts. So yeah a little rich, right?

1 bar on a td04 mines was running 11-10.5

 

[gorganl2000]

Sweet. So they manage just fine eh? Did you run a wideband too to monitor your AFR?

Im running at CT9 at 0.7bar and a Blitz Access. AFR hits around 11.8 or so at full throttle in first second and third, when I wind it out in 4th and 5th around 4500rpm + it hits about 12.1 or there abouts. So yeah a little rich, right?

i'd say that on the lean side for a turbo car with pump gas

 

[Djaniero]

I will look at getting a fresh fuel pump. My starlet is still on the original one I think. So definitely a good idea to replace it.

I haven't gotten that far in regards to deciding on external wastegate. I suppose I'm just getting the thoughts flowing for now. I'd imagine external would be the way to go seeing as the ct9 can't get the gases out fast enough. I did bore out the wastegate port on my ct9 when I put the new manifold on and adjustable actuator, decat etc. Zero boost creep.

I will do some more searching, although it is nice getting a bit of a chat going with folks such as yourself and Skiny who have been down this road before me.

I'd imagine you'd go external wastegate, better fuel pump and maybe something better than the Blitz Access? What would be the secret sauce recipe for you if you were in my shoes? Keeping in mind I am open to a TD04 but if a hybrid would be an easier way to make similar and more useable power then thats the route I'd like to go.

Cheers again for your thoughts.

Uprating the oem fuel pump is never a bad idea, especially if you are planning to up the boost etc.

Exactly that. an EWG setup is always going to give you more stable boost especially on a ct9 setup. But seems like you have already done the necessary mods to eliminate creep.

TD04 has been done to death over the years, and some refer to it as a dinosaur turbo these days especially with all the newer options available. However its been proven to work over the years for a lot of starlet owners to produce reliable figures, if you don't mind a bit more lag compared to the ct9. One thing to bare in mind, if you do go td04 and the turbo blows, it will be much cheaper to replace than a hybrid ct9.
Have a think about your goals in terms of budget, power, driveability i.e is your gt a street car, race car etc and decide which turbo setup best suits you. I do miss the quick spool of the ct9, but the td04 comes on hard once it gets going. The tf035 is always a compromise between the ct9 and td04, but again depends if you wish to stick with a TD setup of go for a garret/v band setup instead.

 

[mrFez]

i'd say that on the lean side for a turbo car with pump gas

I just did some reading through my notes. AFR obviously varies depending on boost pressure, but according to my notes and from a quick look online the AFR's my cars hitting is fairly bang on for a turbo car, but only a dyno would confirm it.
What AFR's do you normally see or like to see when under the load conditions I described in the previous post?
Cheers

 

[mrFez]

Uprating the oem fuel pump is never a bad idea, especially if you are planning to up the boost etc.

Exactly that. an EWG setup is always going to give you more stable boost especially on a ct9 setup. But seems like you have already done the necessary mods to eliminate creep.

TD04 has been done to death over the years, and some refer to it as a dinosaur turbo these days especially with all the newer options available. However its been proven to work over the years for a lot of starlet owners to produce reliable figures, if you don't mind a bit more lag compared to the ct9. One thing to bare in mind, if you do go td04 and the turbo blows, it will be much cheaper to replace than a hybrid ct9.
Have a think about your goals in terms of budget, power, driveability i.e is your gt a street car, race car etc and decide which turbo setup best suits you. I do miss the quick spool of the ct9, but the td04 comes on hard once it gets going. The tf035 is always a compromise between the ct9 and td04, but again depends if you wish to stick with a TD setup of go for a garret/v band setup instead.

Great info and food for thought, thank you.

You're right, I'll have to sit down and weigh out the goals vs budget etc. This is a great start.
I do have plenty of time to scope out the options and think about it as I'm not quite bored of the ct9 just yet. I should update the fuel pump and then turn up the boost a tad.

I haven't heard of the tf035 option. I'll have to do some reading!

Can you clarify what a "TD setup" is? The company selling the hybrids?

By the way, seeing as theres some traction on this post, I did put a question up in another thread about an LSD that I have. Would you like to take a peek and see if you can identify the LSD?

 

[Djaniero]

No worries. Happy to help.

Yeah CT9 is a fun setup, especially between 0.8 - 1 bar of boost.
Have a search around … plenty of info on the tf035.
The TD setup is a manifold that enables you to mount a TD turbo to your car. So, td04, td05, tf035 and vf series turbos.
I saw that thread but LSD’s are not my forte. Maybe post in the Facebook group … starlet society. I’m sure one of the members on there maybe able to I’d what it is .

 

[gibby1980]

i'd say that on the lean side for a turbo car with pump gas

Yip. I have moved away from trying to magic numbers. 11.7 etc. In the words of your tuner, give the car what it want and not what you want to see.
A blitz can handle most hybrids easily. A friend had a blitz in conjunction with an SAFC running his td04 setup. 22psi.

I used my jam racing ecu with the gt2871r up to 13psi.

 

[gibby1980]

Yip. I have moved away from trying to magic numbers. 11.7 etc. In the words of your tuner, give the car what it want and not what you want to see.
A blitz can handle most hybrids easily. A friend had a blitz in conjunction with an SAFC running his td04 setup. 22psi.

I used my jam racing ecu with the gt2871r up to 13psi.

Another guy here recently bought an ebay hybrid but it came from Australia. It look good. Will see how it goes and how durable it is later on.