F-MAX Turbos

[CivicRacerX]

This questions was raised in the "Turbo on Civic" thread, but I felt it kind of deserved its own thread. Has anyone had direct experience with an F-Max turbo kit? Their website really makes it look like a better product than a Greddy or a Drag kit, but I wouldn't want to buy something based on the company's own opinion, of course. What kind of performance do they give, and is it really as easy as their website says it is? Thanks guys.

[Racing Rice]

good question... For future reference you may want to post this in the N2O/Turbo/Supercharger Forum. You may get more responses there.

N2O/Turbo/Supercharger Forum

[drift]

the F-Max system uses an additional injector and controller setup for fuel enrichment. this would be a very good system if you plan on increasing the boost over the average 6-8psi.

on a drag system, which uses the Vortech FMU, the FMU is designed to raise fuel pressure in response to boost. 12:1 is normal for the Honda setups, raising the fuel 12psi for each pound of boost. this is very inaccurate, plus it may cause further problems if you should decide to increase boost, as you could easily overload your injectors and also burn out the fuel pump by causing too much restriction on the return line.

with the F-max setup, you could easily reprogram the additional injector controller to supply more fuel throughout the rpm range, allowing you to optimise your fuel curve to produce more power, instead of just simply "throwing more gas" like the Drag system does.

with drag, you also run the risk of losing a vacuum line... if you do, you'll go lean and detonate. the F-max system would be safe as it's computer controlled... the only way for it to stop working is if the system fried. very rarely do you hear of someone frying their ECU's... but you do hear about vacuum lines coming off, cracking, burning, or otherwise forget to be reconnected during maintenance.

[Racing Rice]

good info drift..

[Trinity]

but fmax also has problems with cracking manifolds, so watch out for that

[drift]

Originally posted by Trinity
but fmax also has problems with cracking manifolds, so watch out for that

so does drag and every other cast manifold produced due to low carbon content.

tubular, which is only packaged with revhard, are less prone to failure.

[CivicRacerX]

Originally posted by Trinity
but fmax also has problems with cracking manifolds, so watch out for that

This is from the F-Max website:
Do their turbo manifolds crack, and will they warranty their fabrication? What is the primary material that the manifold is made of? Constructed from High-Carbon Cast-Steel, our manifolds are designed to eliminate the crystallization associated with high ductile Iron. What differentiates mild-steel from, stainless steel is the concentration of Carbon in the material. The more Carbon, the higher the grade of steel and the more resilient it is to the effects of heat.
---

So are these statements sketchy or is the manifold problem one that they use to have and have since rectified?

[drift]

Originally posted by CivicRacerX


This is from the F-Max website:
Do their turbo manifolds crack, and will they warranty their fabrication? What is the primary material that the manifold is made of? Constructed from High-Carbon Cast-Steel, our manifolds are designed to eliminate the crystallization associated with high ductile Iron. What differentiates mild-steel from, stainless steel is the concentration of Carbon in the material. The more Carbon, the higher the grade of steel and the more resilient it is to the effects of heat.
---

So are these statements sketchy or is the manifold problem one that they use to have and have since rectified?

the statement made was based purely on word of mouth by the individual... no factual representation.

i have heard of one manifold cracking, but i have heard a lot of nightmares about Drag systems.

lastly, of course a manufacturers isnt going to dog their own product, but i havent heard of an F-Max manifold cracking for a long time now.

[CivicRacerX]

Hey, thanks for all the info, Drift!

[piscorpio]

Id like to bring another turbo kit into the picture...the APEXi ball bearing turbo kit for 92-95 civics. I was reading over some old issues of SCC, and found an article saying this turbo was capable of producing the most power for a D series engine. Anyone have any experience with this turbo? Also, can it be easily adapted to 96+ Civics like the GReddy kit? Of all the kits out there, I seem to hear the least about this one.