TSI Review - Manifold, Downpipe, and Oil Return

[Si Speed 317]

TSI, aka Turbo Specialties Inc, has a kit for the 06+ Civic and Civic Si. Supa Ninja, the main person who helped me get my kit together, was the first person to deal with their kit. To put it simply, their kit is horribly put together for our cars - except for 3, or now 2, parts.

The first part is/was their V3 downpipe. It is an advertised 3" downpipe to mate up to the OEM cat (or your custom test-pipe). The inlet is a 5-bolt flange for internally gated turbos. The outlet is 3", but the piping that connects the two is only 2.5". Also, the welds are visually horrible, but actually hold without leaking. To enhance the look (and hide the shotty welds) they rattle-can it black.


The second part is their cast-iron manifold. The one you see in the first picture at the top of this thread is the K24 Accord manifold. The one above is the correct one for the Si. TSI sent me the wrong one. In either case, their cast manifold flows very well for what it is. It's also much thicker than the GReddy manifold, which is much better in terms of being crack-resistant I had mine heat coated with JetHot coatings. Oh, and it was only $250 at the time

The third, and best, part of their 06+ Civic Si kit is their oil return - it's by far the SMARTEST method available, much easier than removing your sub-frame and tapping your oil pan. Their oil return is simply a cover with a 10an (IIRC) fitting welded on that replaces your OEM timing chain cover. Remove your OEM cover, remove old sealant, apply new sealant and voila! Only drawback: only works for top-mount turbos. Works for log manifolds perfectly

Here are a few pics of the manifold, before and after heat coating, with my GT2871R and their so called 3" downpipe:









After Jethot coating

[Rbsjnh]

pic of said timing cover?