Garrett PowerMax: A Perfect OEM+ Turbo Upgrade for the Focus ST?

When it comes to upgraded turbos on the ST, a lot of people say it's a waste of money if you aren't getting a 400 horsepower turbo. We understand the thinking behind that. But not everyone has the same goals. And for those that don't want to compromise on spool time, drivability, and practicality but still want a worthwhile power increase, there couldn't be a better turbo upgrade.

Preview

• A conservative, impactful upgrade
• Turbo specs
• Is it worth the money?
  
  

When I was younger, like many other youthful minds, I had the mentality that if you're going to upgrade your turbo, why not just go big? With more experience, I've realized not everyone wants all the power all the time. And realistically, it can be harder to deal with than it looks. If you know, you know. 

I'm competitive like many others in the automotive performance world. But winning isn't what street cars are all about (at least, not all the time). It's about hitting that sweet spot of power, function, style, reliability, and just having some good ol' fun. Budget also plays a huge factor for many of us.

A Conservative, Impactful Upgrade

The Garrett PowerMax upgraded turbo kit for the Focus ST lands squarely within a conservative but impactful upgrade. Many think it's what the car should have had from the factory. We agree. Having driven many bigger turbo cars that all suffer from slower spool time, I can honestly say the PowerMax doesn't feel any slower to spool than stock. Looking at the dyno chart below, they spool at basically the same rate. The stock turbo hits peak torque quickly but immediately starts to fall off and never recover. But looking at the PowerMax curve, it smashes through the peak torque of the fast spooling stock turbo, and stays there for about 1,000 RPMs. At peak torque with the Garrett, torque improves by about 125 lb-ft!! Of course, you can also tune the stock turbo to produce significantly more torque but the graph still doesn't look as impressive. The point here is that the characteristics people love about their stock ST power curve are not lost with this turbo upgrade. Here is the dyno chart with our stock turbo, untuned ST vs. the Garrett PowerMax tuned with an ethanol blend of E30.

Look at where the boost comes on. And look at how much more area under the curve there is!!

Aside from spool time being negligible, the entire curve from where the boost hits raises up a healthy amount. In an apples-to-apples comparison, here is our own Focus ST, project Half-Send, using the same curve above with the PowerMax turbo compared to the stock turbo with an upgraded Turbosmart Wastegate Actuator (IWG) and an E30 fuel blend. Our Garrett Powermax also has an upgraded actuator. We have tested these actuators to be far more reliable and consistent than any stock actuator.

What you end up getting with the Garrett upgrade is a turbo that acts completely stock, with up to 20 more horsepower and 25-30 more lb-ft of torque at various parts of the curve. The entire curve shifts up, which is a beautiful thing. No compromise anywhere, just more power and torque everywhere.

Garrett featured our R&D efforts on their website. Read their article here.

Turbo Specs

GTX Gen2 compressor wheel aerodynamics 52mm fully machined compressor wheel +16% more compressor airflow than stock Inconel turbine wheel rated for up to 950°C Stainless steel turbine housing 360° thrust bearing (journal) Speed sensor port (speed sensors sold separately) Precalibrated actuator

Is It Worth The Money?

Here's my take. When you consider what effect a $600-1,000 exhaust can provide for your car, gaining 20 more hp and 30 more ft-lbs torque is well worth the cost of the upgrade. What other bolt-on mod can make that claim besides the Cobb AccessPort, which you need to tune this anyway?

It comes with the same built-in bypass valve as stock, it's internally wastegated, and the housings fit and look exactly like the stock turbo. All the OEM oil and coolant lines bolt right back on. It even comes with a new boost controller mounted directly to the turbo like stock! There are zero changes external to the turbo. And it even retains the stock heat shield!

You don't need a new blowoff valve like you would with something like a GTX2867 turbo upgrade. You don't need to worry about plumbing for additional vacuum lines. New intercooler piping is not a requirement.

When you consider the additional components you need to use a bigger turbo than this, the value becomes even better. Even though it might only be another $800 for a GTX2867 upgrade, you'll still need another $500-1000 to set everything up.

This turbo setup is both big enough and small enough (and high tech enough) to improve power and torque at every RPM, all in a package that you wouldn't even know is an upgrade if you weren't familiar with the car. That isn't something all the big turbos can brag about. 

Garrett makes many of the world's OEM turbos, so it's not surprising this is an OEM quality upgrade. Not all enthusiasts are lucky enough to have an OEM quality upgrade at a price this fair.

Have any questions, comments, or suggestions? Post below or get in touch with our support team. We're always happy to help you choose the right parts for your build.

Ready to buy one? Find it on our site right here.

This post was originally published in January, 2022 but has been updated to reflect current parts and accurate information!