Review of JmP Custom VF52

[xt2005bonbon]

As Max said the VF52 is solid. I went with it after reading his list and saw his build. I got an OEM one from Subaru, and I also have ID1000 injectors, DW65 pump, ID Fuel Rails, customs AN lines, Radium STI FPR kit, Radium FP gauge, and I will tell you this, the car is nuts in 3 gear. The tuner on the dyno told me if I was going to be in a heated highway pull, 3rd and 4th is your strong gear. I would like to know how much better the Jmp 11 blade is over the OEM 52. My shop is doing a hybrid rally turbo and told me it would be night and day difference from my VF52. I plan on going that direction.

 

 

How is your gas mileage?

[NORULZleggy]

How is your gas mileage?

 

Well the Shop is 2 hours away from me and If I fill my tank, I can make it there and back and drive around my town for a few days but that's getting real close to E. I never let it get that low. Only when I was getting the old gas out.

 

I see 23-24, but to be real, I work from home and have only put 4800 miles on my build. I do get pretty nice miles out of it on the highway with my cruise on. Also my car sits in the garage and only gets drove 1 day a week and sits on a battery tender . I do have a daily driver. But for sure I see above 22mpg, but I did not care about MPG, and I put down 317/326. The car runs very strong. I surprise so many cars.

[Pleides]

I did manage to get ahold of John and he did say he felt that an upgraded VF52 of his would suit my needs plenty, so I think that's what we're going with. Been hard to keep in touch with him so I'm sure he's plenty busy. Anybody know what he charges to rebuild a turbo if you send it to him to work his magic on it?

[JJr]

John has a custom VF40 on his GT so I had him build mine identically, of course it's been sitting in the box for a year.

 

I'm asuming if it's good enough for John it's good enough for me.

 

Pleides do you have the 5EAT Hexmod or a upgraded valve body?

[Pleides]

John has a custom VF40 on his GT so I had him build mine identically, of course it's been sitting in the box for a year.

 

I'm asuming if it's good enough for John it's good enough for me.

 

Pleides do you have the 5EAT Hexmod or a upgraded valve body?

My car is a 5-speed manual

[Mr. Electric Wizard]

As Max said the VF52 is solid. I went with it after reading his list and saw his build. I got an OEM one from Subaru, and I also have ID1000 injectors, DW65 pump, ID Fuel Rails, customs AN lines, Radium STI FPR kit, Radium FP gauge, and I will tell you this, the car is nuts in 3 gear. The tuner on the dyno told me if I was going to be in a heated highway pull, 3rd and 4th is your strong gear. I would like to know how much better the Jmp 11 blade is over the OEM 52. My shop is doing a hybrid rally turbo and told me it would be night and day difference from my VF52. I plan on going that direction.

 

You're in much the same position as me!

I work from home too, so a reliable commuter isn't super important to me. And I've got a great Subie mechanic buddy and a great tuner nearby too.

Hopefully getting a ton of work (including a JMP custom VF52) done this weekend. CANNOT WAIT.

Still need to do the fuel system and intercooler before I take it to the tuner but that'll be this Spring probably.

[JJr]

Lol, missed that!

[NORULZleggy]

You're in much the same position as me!

I work from home too, so a reliable commuter isn't super important to me. And I've got a great Subie mechanic buddy and a great tuner nearby too.

Hopefully getting a ton of work (including a JMP custom VF52) done this weekend. CANNOT WAIT.

Still need to do the fuel system and intercooler before I take it to the tuner but that'll be this Spring probably.

 

I have the intercooler and tons of other stuff also. Let me know how that JmP turbo is. I would like to see numbers. The fuel system helps a ton. I know some say you do not need it, but I like know that If I am flat foot, I have the fuel system to support it.

[TMBLKDG]

I see it's been about 8 months since anyone's posted in this thread and I'm just resurrecting it to ask if JMP is still doing his thing?

I have one of his custom VF52s and my engine suffered a catastrophic failure (not turbo related) so would like to have the turbo gone through to make sure the bearings are okay.  I emailed him yesterday at the address I had for him when I bought the turbo in '19 so am hoping I'll hear back soon but I don't know if he's still in business or able to help me out. Anyone know?

Thanks!

[Max Capacity]

Jon was around the forum a couple of day's ago, I'm sure he'll get back to you.

[JmP6889928]

I'm still around somewhere.......I do know one thing for sure-if I'm not here, I'm somewhere else. 

[xt2005bonbon]

[KZJonny]

Might be marginally off topic, but it applies….

I have a JMP Custom VF40 installed in my wagon. (ELH, UP, GS catted downpipe and Borla Catback)

Currently on a COBB OTS stage 2, 91 Octane tune, but fuelling with 93 as long as I can get it.

The car is an entirely different beast with this setup, and the turbo responds ridiculously quick, and earlier enough in the RPM range to notice. (Took a buddy for a ride who has a stock car, and he noted how much faster mine comes on boost…) I’m very much looking forward to when I can do a pro tune with a 3 port to really let the turbo do it’s thing. Currently at 15psi target boost, which I am pretty sure is holding it back.

I’ve got nothing but praise for the equipment and the customer service I had with John. In the unlikely event I ever tire of my current setup, I would absolutely be finding a VF52 core (or used BNR 16g??) to have him work his magic on.

So, not a JMP VF52 review, but hopefully topical.

Edited September 14, 2022 by KZJonny

[xt2005bonbon]

On 10/10/2021 at 12:16 PM, xt2005bonbon said:

In my case, the peak boost at sea level is around 19 psi which translates into a peak load of ~3.3 g/rev at 65F or so. Feels good. But then, at 2600 ft elevation and about same temp, the stock tune uses a multiplier to decrease target boost (so as to supposedly save the turbo -- and that makes sense since it works harder at higher elevations). So right now my peak boost is about 16.5 sometimes 17 psi at that ambient temp, which yields a meh load of 2.75 g/rev if lucky. I miss 3+ g/rev load (read torque). I know if I get a bigger turbo it would fix the problem, but then it would be laggy...

 

I finally went ahead yesterday and set the multiplier to 1 in the tune, essentially removing altitude dependent boost target adjustment. In other words, my target boost will remain the same regardless of altitude. Did a test drive yesterday and yep, did reach 3.14 g/rev instead of the meh 2.7 g/rev. I can feel the difference. I missed that torque. No knocking so far. Intake temp was 45F and altitude was ~2700ft. The Grimmspeed IC must help too.

[Enlight]

I just wanted to let everyone know that after meeting @JmP6889928 in-person at the 2023 East Coast Meet, I sent in my VF52 for the JMP treatment. The turbo was fine, but after all the warm fuzzies experienced from meeting all the members IRL, getting one of his turbos would have really continued the theme of mine being a "forum" car (2 previous owners were forum members).

There have been some questions swirling around about whether JmP was still rebuilding turbos. In short, the answer is an enthusiastic yes. @KZJonny confirmed this with @JmP6889928 at the meet. Further, while I was corresponding with JmP we found that I was not receiving his emails, so it's possible that you never received his replies if you reached out to him. I encourage everyone to follow up with him now that the emails are working again.

That being said, I would like to speak to my actual experience dealing with JmP. When I got my turbo back from him, it was packaged excellently with an instruction sheet detailing installation, start-up and break-in procedures. He even includes a syringe to ensure that the turbo never starts up dry. He truly cares about how his turbos perform after they leave the door.  He prefers to work with people who are hands-on with their cars. This is more "professional" than many retail outfits I've dealt with.

If you've reached out to him in the past and have not heard back, please do reach out again. He's very much looking forward to helping out our little community.

[tehspud]

Making me want a VF52 with that glowing review...

[Enlight]

I just realized I had never shared the the dyno results in this thread:

 

 

[KZJonny]

There was a moment there when I was thinking.... "I know it's the dyno and all, but you're pushing your luck holding pulls to 6.5+k RPM"

Then I remembered: built block.

 

Niiiice. I bet that torque is gonna be wild, and it's all between 3.5 and 4.5 which is right where you want it for flogging the twisties. This is beginning to make me think I should consider going to a brick and mortar tuner for a dyno tune... Or... start saving for a JMP Custom VF52....