Why the Holset HX35 is the BEST budget turbo!

Link to T3 housing: amzn.to/3gtL7SG

As a design draughtsman at Holset in Huddersfield UK, I detail designed the HX35 along with the Midrange engineer. It's my baby. Holset Engineering Co. is now Cummins Turbo Technologies, I worked there man and boy for 32 years, my son is still there, it's a great place.

This is great info and exactly what us car guys look for "mo power baby" and still being affordable. That's smart👍

Bro this is a great video, well done 👏🏼

Great information.

I've been running a hx35w... Same one you have since the early 2000s. I recently went from a 12cm housing to a 10cm housing. I was originally going to do what you did but then I'd have to remake my exhaust and I have a Turbo support bracket. And I haven't had an exhaust leak in 6 years. I didn't want to open that can of worms. Anyway, I bought a rebuild kit and a billet compressor wheel at the same time. I've probably got 6 or 7000 miles on it... it's on a 2.8l. Spools around 3k. Sounds amazing it's a 5x5 design extended tip 54x78 Extended tip to 81mm. I highly recommend the bullet compressor wheel. If you're after spool go with a high blade count compressor top end 5x5. I did everything myself and didn't balance it. I run it a 17psi.

This has convinced me that this would be mint for my 2.4 l5 volvo build.

The Holset HX35 has been the secret budget turbo for decades now. I figured everyone would have found out about them by now. I think if you're laying money down for a brand new turbo, you should buy the best you can afford. If that means it costs $2000, so be it. When you get up to that range, a lot of times the differences come down to things like ball bearing CHRA, which technically might not make a huge difference, BUT when chasing down that last extra bit of power, you really do get what you pay for. I loved it when Cleetus put the ball bearing Precision turbo on his auction Corvette, and seeing how when he shuts the engine down that thing spins for DAYS. I personally have my eye on Forced Performance's Xona Rotor line of turbos. I'd love to try running one of those. That said, for budget builds, you can't go wrong with a quality used turbo. I'm partial to Mitsubishi myself, because I've used their turbos and loved every one of them. My first turbo swap was a used 14b that I bought off ebay for $80 (this was back when the cheapest new turbo was a small 16g for $550, nobody knew about Holsets, and Chinese turbos didn't exist). I was rather disappointed when it arrived because the turbo was coked, so bad that it wouldn't even spin freely. But I was able to take it apart and rebuild it just by thoroughly cleaning it out, no parts needed replacing. The previous owner had ported the exhaust housing as well, so that thing RIPPED! Taking a turbo apart is not that big a deal, just make sure you mark the alignment of everything and put it back together the same way. Loctite that shaft nut or you'll end up with a smooth compressor wheel (don't ask me how I know this)! This is why I love Mitsubishi journal bearing turbos, because they perform well and are super resilient. Even if you abuse them, they're easy to clean and revive. I would buy a used known turbo, like any Mitusbishi or Holset, long before I'd ever buy a new Chinese turbo. Why? Because you know what you're getting, and they're quality precision parts. I think Holset is probably the better way to go as they're cheap, and like you said, they're engineered to last a long time. A Mitsubishi turbo is more likely to have been abused and subject to extreme conditions like my 14b was. But I'd still rather buy a coked up turbo for $100 than spend more on a Chinese turbo. From what I've seen, a lot of these turbos seem to be a mishmash of whatever they have laying around. That might work out fine for you, and they might be assembled and balanced correctly, but it's an absolute crapshoot as to what you're getting. That's not to say that parts made or assembled in China are automatically bad. Good manufacturing CAN be found in China. I know nothing about CX Racing or their turbos other than what you stated in this video, and if they're doing it right, their turbos are probably great for the money. But there's a reason why new turbos cost as much as they do, so I personally wouldn't buy one. I'd rather stick to a known quantity, whether that's a new FP turbo or a used Holset.

being a diesel guy (specifically 12 valve cummins) its crazy to me that gas guys love this turbo. for our application on our cummins trucks this turbo is tiny and cant make more than 300hp. for us to make big power normally around 1000hp we run 70+ millimeter turbos

Totally agree about the hx35. Its pretty much my favorite budget snail. I've used them on a few different builds, my favorite being a top mount setup on a N.V. m50 with a Cometic/ ARP'S running on MS3. Put down around 450whp RELIABLY, and still had quite a bit more to go. These compressors can be had for as little as $100 or so in used condition, and you can get a rebuild kit for around $100 as well. They also come in both I external and internally gated versions. The letters on the end denote that. I believe they are either denoted as a 'Y' or 'HY.' They are also plentiful too which makes them great to use. Good video, some nice info on the Holset. We definitely think alike both liking these turbskis 😎👍

Saw an ad pop up locally on Facebook Marketplace for HX35 turbos for cheap. I thought he was scamming so did some research only to find out they just are that cheap. Changed my plan to swap a 1JZ into my E36 and going M50B25 with an HX35 instead.

oh man i love holset got myself a brand new holest hx40 super with a #18 twin scroll housing for 500€, but it was 37% off on a swedish website

Going Holset HX40 Super or Competition on my 2jz soon. Can get a brand new genuine one for 400$. Can't beat that

So what's your opinion on a power stroke turbo ? Road kill had a 7.3 turbo with a smaller banks exhaust housing and ran it on a stock 5liter ford and it seemed to be a real beast didnt have much lag

VSRacing and FP…Robert from forced performance famous for dsm stuff and the creator of zonal rotor etc are both company’s making there own USA assembled budget Chinese import turbo parts right now and impressive is an understatement for the price range. Really like the vid am messing with a couple hx40 hw myself. Boost on bro.

Does anyone know if these diesel turbos are rated at lower turbine speed? That's the only thing I could think of besides the (addressed in the vid) extra big hot side.

Kind of wish I bought an HX40 instead of the GT35R I bought. I justified it because $1,000 used seemed like a good deal next to the new price, but I could've had the whole setup instead of the turbo alone

what exhaust housing did you buy and where

Might wanna put a v band on your screamer pipe so you can clamp a little bike muffler on if needed, or have a capped off, v banded hole in the downpipe, and a little pipe to let you take the screamer off and feed it into the exhaust without much hassle. Not sure how it is in the states but a lot of tracks here have decibel limits, and screamer pipes tend to set the drive by decibel meters off like crazy!

I’ve got this turbo at home with me right now and I’m wondering should I be able to use this on my truck? It’s a 2011 GMC Sierra 5.3L V8 and idk if it would even work or what