W1 Turbo Alarming Failure Rate

[kytos]

So I had the unfortunate experience of recently experiencing a failed W1 that I bought late spring of this year and installed it 4th of July weekend. It was a brand new 9 blade turbine model and I had used it for about 4 months and 5000-6000 miles. However I did have the pleasure of experiencing the wonderful support that 27won does offer, which definitely helped ease the pain.

I had a base file for this turbo and all of my bolt ons from DRob already to go after I had the turbo installed and then I was fully tuned within 2 weeks after that.

The failure happened as I was out on a cruise on the 24th of October doing some spirited driving and on about my 7th or 8th wot of the drive I was pulling onto the highway from an on ramp and went to redline in 2nd gear and when I engaged 3rd and put the gas pedal down my RPMs stopped at 4K RPM (pretty much right where it lands after shifting from 2nd to 3rd after redline). I stepped off the gas and then back on and everything seemed to be working fine.

However, when I got off the highway, stopped, and then started going from 1st gear I heard a loud cry like R2-D2 being blown up in Star Wars when boost would slowly start to engage between 2000-3000rpm. I did a few more pulls and data logged them to check if I was still making my normal boost targets and I was (24psi from the MAP sensor). Everything seemed fine, besides the obvious turbo screaming in pain at low RPMs. However, I recorded a video of the sound and sent it to Vincent at 27Won with the story of what happened and he sent me a replacement right away which I got 2 days later.

Because this car is my daily driver and the turbo seemed to be working "okay" and I wasn't burning any oil yet, I decided to continue to drive it gently to work until I could fix it and just keep an eye on things. By the 4th day my cold start sounded a bit rough and I noticed a bit of dirty dark smoke coming out of the tail pipe at idle, so I parked my car until I could get to it that weekend, at least I already had the replacement turbo on standby.

The replacement was an 11 blade turbine model, according to Vincent they haven't found much difference between their 9 blade and 11 blade models. After driving with it I've found the 11 blade seems to spool quicker, which I like more, or maybe its because I have a proper working unit?

Anyways, that weekend I got the turbo replaced and I couldn't find anything obviously physically wrong with the turbo itself, the blades looked fine and they would spin freely, shaft play was minimal to none which seemed normal even on a new unit, but I'm not an expert on journal bearing turbos and how much shaft play is acceptable or normal, but it didn't seem excessive. Either way there wasn't any catastrophic damage, how boring.

I did have some oil in my inlet pipe and obviously I had some coming out the exhaust side as well since it was burning a little bit of oil.

Vincent did call me personally the day after I got the replacement turbo to make sure I was good to go and also to let me know he would also be available via instagram messenger that weekend if I had any questions or concerns during the install. This was my second time installing this turbo so it did go a bit faster but it was nice to have support if I needed it. I took my time and had the turbo out of the car and the new one prepped and ready to go back in the next day.

Install went great and there were no leaks anywhere. The new turbo has been running fine for a couple thousand miles now. However, I wont be satisfied until I get at least a good year out of it and then hopefully I am in the clear. Fingers crossed.

Vincent did get back to me and let me know that the failure with my turbo was a material issue with the wheels and so it was a manufacturing defect there. He said that specific issue was very rare.

27Won support is excellent and some of the best I have ever dealt with in any industry. As far as recommending the w1 turbo itself? That is harder to say, if you don't mind the possibility of having to replace at least 1 to get a good one, then maybe it is. However if that is out of the question then you are better off looking at another product. It's probably still too early for me to give the replacement one a thumbs up until I've known I can run it hard for at least a year.

As far as how the w1 works when they are operating as they should? This is a perfectly sized turbo for this platform, still small enough to spool fast but makes power all the way to redline and on this L15BA, I really don't want to push it anymore than the w1 is capable of anyways.

The w2 is definitely beefier and more reliable as I haven't heard of any failures from that yet and now the ball bearing version is out so hopefully that spools as fast as the w1. If this replacement w1 doesn't make it to a year, I'll probably see if I can work out something with 27won to get a w2 ball bearing at a reasonable trade. However, if this w1 does last for years to come, then it really is the perfect turbo for my engine and goals and that is what I am really hoping for.

Do you happen to have photos of the failed turbo? Im in a very similar situation, they seem very nice to the customer which is nice. Mine is just being handled by vlad and will send me a replacement W1 today, which on this dates you could dream on some bigger companies.

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[Zedaine]

Do you happen to have photos of the failed turbo? Im in a very similar situation, they seem very nice to the customer which is nice. Mine is just being handled by vlad and will send me a replacement W1 today, which on this dates you could dream on some bigger companies.

That is unfortunate and sounds like perhaps the batch we got had similar bad wheels. As far as pictures I don't have any worth showing. Like I said in my post, physically nothing seemed wrong with the turbo, no cracks in the housing and all of the blades on each wheel looked fine and spun freely, especially since there was some residual oil still on the bearings. However, it was definitely leaking oil on both ends because I had some oil in the inlet pipe going to the hot pipe and I was burning oil out of the exhaust. So something internal on the wheels must have failed since the cause of failure was reported by Vincent as just simply "a material issue with the wheel."

How many miles were on your turbo and when did you purchase it? I will say If you installed the turbo the first time it is definitely faster and easier the 2nd time!

Good luck with the reinstall and replacement turbo!

 

[kytos]

That is unfortunate and sounds like perhaps the batch we got had similar bad wheels. As far as pictures I don't have any worth showing. Like I said in my post, physically nothing seemed wrong with the turbo, no cracks in the housing and all of the blades on each wheel looked fine and spun freely, especially since there was some residual oil still on the bearings. However, it was definitely leaking oil on both ends because I had some oil in the inlet pipe going to the hot pipe and I was burning oil out of the exhaust. So something internal on the wheels must have failed since the cause of failure was reported by Vincent as just simply "a material issue with the wheel."

How many miles were on your turbo and when did you purchase it? I will say If you installed the turbo the first time it is definitely faster and easier the 2nd time!

Good luck with the reinstall and replacement turbo!

2000 miles aprox. It was installed by a professional local shop so I guess it just money for the installs, I decided to put the stock turbo while the warranty is handled since I needed the car. The purchase was shipped 1st of October. The most dramatic thing on my failure is the exhaust wheel with 4 blades with a broken chunck and heavy shaft play that aslo caused the compressor wheel to rub and create some metalic dust, so I had to clean my intercooler and pipes and change the oil just to be safe.

 

[ChefRyeSi]

Bringing my thread back to say, DRob spoke again on Instagram and replied to a comment i made saying "L15 is a crap shoot" referring to me asking how he feels about longevity of a car he posted a dyno of. RIP.

 

[kytos]

This post is about the W1 btw

 

[ChefRyeSi]

This post is about the W1 btw

I know i made the thread. The post i got the reply from was a W2 turbo, but the point i was making refers to the L15 platform as a whole.

 

[SuperSlowSI]

Well it sucks that I have to contribute to this thread but I’ve had two w1’s fail on me. First one I bought was brand new however it was from someone who had received a replacement for their original blown turbo so I obviously couldn’t get a replacement. Purchased another brand new from Unity performance and had the same thing happen. Car is dyno tuned and not running excessive boost. Have since purchased a w2 and had my car retuned and the turbo has survived so far. Unfortunately I cannot say I have received the same customer service as others have mentioned regarding blown turbos. Have messaged Vince on IG and email with no response, I’ll try messaging him in here as a last attempt. If you track your car at all I would not recommend the w1, you will likely end up with an expensive paperweight (or two like me). I would say go straight for a w2 or grab a PRL kit if you can find one.

 

[kytos]

Well it sucks that I have to contribute to this thread but I’ve had two w1’s fail on me. First one I bought was brand new however it was from someone who had received a replacement for their original blown turbo so I obviously couldn’t get a replacement. Purchased another brand new from Unity performance and had the same thing happen. Car is dyno tuned and not running excessive boost. Have since purchased a w2 and had my car retuned and the turbo has survived so far. Unfortunately I cannot say I have received the same customer service as others have mentioned regarding blown turbos. Have messaged Vince on IG and email with no response, I’ll try messaging him in here as a last attempt. If you track your car at all I would not recommend the w1, you will likely end up with an expensive paperweight (or two like me). I would say go straight for a w2 or grab a PRL kit if you can find one.

What did exactly fail? The bearings or did you had the turbine wheel broken? What oil did u use?

 

[Boosted_01_R]

Well it sucks that I have to contribute to this thread but I’ve had two w1’s fail on me. First one I bought was brand new however it was from someone who had received a replacement for their original blown turbo so I obviously couldn’t get a replacement. Purchased another brand new from Unity performance and had the same thing happen. Car is dyno tuned and not running excessive boost. Have since purchased a w2 and had my car retuned and the turbo has survived so far. Unfortunately I cannot say I have received the same customer service as others have mentioned regarding blown turbos. Have messaged Vince on IG and email with no response, I’ll try messaging him in here as a last attempt. If you track your car at all I would not recommend the w1, you will likely end up with an expensive paperweight (or two like me). I would say go straight for a w2 or grab a PRL kit if you can find one.

As a brand I would avoid, better options out there... It's amazing how the dealers selling the turbos are getting the longest life out of the W1's... Crazy how that works , expecting fanboys ready to die in 3,2,1... Lol

 

[Ap1 George]

Well it sucks that I have to contribute to this thread but I’ve had two w1’s fail on me. First one I bought was brand new however it was from someone who had received a replacement for their original blown turbo so I obviously couldn’t get a replacement. Purchased another brand new from Unity performance and had the same thing happen. Car is dyno tuned and not running excessive boost. Have since purchased a w2 and had my car retuned and the turbo has survived so far. Unfortunately I cannot say I have received the same customer service as others have mentioned regarding blown turbos. Have messaged Vince on IG and email with no response, I’ll try messaging him in here as a last attempt. If you track your car at all I would not recommend the w1, you will likely end up with an expensive paperweight (or two like me). I would say go straight for a w2 or grab a PRL kit if you can find one.

If you track your car? Nah man, if you love your car I wouldn't even put that piece of shit W1.

 

[kytos]

If you track your car? Nah man, if you love your car I wouldn't even put that piece of shit W1.

Then If you love your car leave it stock

 

[Ap1 George]

Then If you love your car leave it stock

You're not wrong

 

[SuperSlowSI]

What did exactly fail? The bearings or did you had the turbine wheel broken? What oil did u use?

Bearing went both times. Was using 5w30.

 

[David228cx]

My engine went to knock city before the turbo did lol.

20000km and was still good, apparently. A few trackdays and mountain passes....

Ill mount It again when the engine gets rebuilt.

 

[tacocat]

Well it sucks that I have to contribute to this thread but I’ve had two w1’s fail on me. First one I bought was brand new however it was from someone who had received a replacement for their original blown turbo so I obviously couldn’t get a replacement. Purchased another brand new from Unity performance and had the same thing happen. Car is dyno tuned and not running excessive boost. Have since purchased a w2 and had my car retuned and the turbo has survived so far. Unfortunately I cannot say I have received the same customer service as others have mentioned regarding blown turbos. Have messaged Vince on IG and email with no response, I’ll try messaging him in here as a last attempt. If you track your car at all I would not recommend the w1, you will likely end up with an expensive paperweight (or two like me). I would say go straight for a w2 or grab a PRL kit if you can find one.

I mean why spend another grand on a 3rd turbo from them when you could go with the RV6 turbo?

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