I am in the market for a TD04HL-16T or TD04HL-18T.

I would like to know the benefits and downfalls of each.

Which is better bang for your buck and which one will make my wagon make me smile the biggest?

 

From what I've heard the 18T really isn't that much better than a 16T. I have a 16T for my sedan. 16Ts you can usually run 17PSI, they spool up faster than the 15G, you could probably even go 18/19 PSI if you wanted to. 18Ts I'm not exactly sure about, my guess is that you can run close to or above 20PSI on that. But most of the people I know running 18Ts is where you start having built motors and supporting mods and what not. With an 18T you'll most likely need bigger injector which means you'll have to get your ECU reflashed. 16T you can run on stock injectors, or whites, and a stage 1 ecu, which looks like is what you have.

 

With the 18T, you can run around 20 PSI max. This is the turbo that IPD sells with there stage 3 kit and can produce 300HP easy. I would assume that you already have some good mods if you are thinking of getting a bigger turbo.

If you are only looking to run 17 PSI of boost, then the 16T is perfect. If you are looking for 300 whp, then the 18T is a must.