Borg Warner 171702 or 177287 on a 14L Detroit???

Personally I think the 80mm is overkill and tends to flow more air then the engine can handle, especially at low RPM tends to move the map into surge real easy. The cons out weigh the pros at this point.

The 75mm 171702 is fine for a tuned 12.7 or your 14L stock.

I would do a 78mm with the 1.45 housing. Still spools nice and flows more then enough for a tuned 14L.

Detroit's have a ton of exhaust energy. I find the 1.45 better then the 1.32 on a hot 14L also.

 

The 171702 will more than suit your needs and is fairly inexpensive

 

If you take you're stock turbo off an HK and put a 171702 in its place, you're going to notice 2 things: it's spools up slower and it won't make as much power. That 171702 is the most overrated upgrade for a series 60 of any displacement. I've tested it on a 12.7 and a 14L with stock injectors, 7014s, 7473s, four different cams, with and without a high flow manifold and countless calibration adjustments. How it ever got a reputation as a performance turbo when there are so many better options is beyond me. The stock HK turbo is far superior and that's why Detroit used it on all their HKs from 500-825hp.

The 177287 is a much better option but being non-wastegated, it's limited to. If you take it, change the housing to a 1.15 A/R and add a 38mm external wastegate, you'll have turbo performance you won't believe. If you're not going to go to that extent, I'd stick with the stock turbo.

...You could also take the 171702, change the exhaust housing, compressor wheel, add an external wastegate and feed it with another turbo well over 90mm. That's how I got mine to perform pretty decent

 

Interesting. Once I installed 702 turbo, the difference was very noticeable. It takes longer to spool, but then it pulls like a train. This is on 12.7 Detroit with just a tune and nothing else

 

It seems everyone has opinions.

I found the stock HK turbo terrible. It would hardly cool the egts stock. Tuned I could push it well over 1250 easy. Sure it spooled great and understandably so it should.

So many people are running the 171702 and are extremely happy. And it's cheap, this is why it's a popular upgrade. It also made MORE power then my stock HK turbo.

I don't think many people are interested in doing compounds or changing wheels and housing or custom builds. They just want to bolt a turbo on and go. These borgs fit that nitch nicely.

 

Of course nobody wants to change wheels and housings or go to compounds. I added that to make the point that that's what's required to make that turbo perform. People like that turbo because it's cheap and it makes a little more power but if you give a man who's far sighted a magnifying glass to read the paper he'll think it's the greatest thing in the world as long as he never gets his hands on a pair of prescription glasses to compare it to. They make all kinds of similarly sized turbos that perform much better than the 171702 with its first generation, antiquated technology but it's not the cheapest option so it probably won't catch on with most owner/operators.

 

i put a 1702 on my cat. Took it around the block and then yanked it the hell off. the lag on the end was terrible and then spools up after waiting. put the thing on ebay that night. I dont know about you guys but id rather have my truck spool up down low. especially ehen you drive local

 

For that HP rating, I'd go 171702. Above 600hp and you'll push it too much so the 177287 would work better but at 550, the 177287 will be a bit of a dog in my opinion. I've used both on my 14L but I'm at 625HP.