Value of ceramic CT20b?

[sergei]

Are CT20b's that good that you can't just get a dirty old CT26 rebuilt with better designed exh and comp wheels?

Most likely you can. CT20b is good because it is more or less a decent turbo (unlike CT26) and is a bolt on for Gen2. You can get better results with turbos from dark side (Subaru/Mitsubishi) if your ECU allows, but those are not bolt-ons and at least require a spacer.

But generally speaking with CT20b at 1bar with Gen1/2 stock engine, and stock ECU you can expect ~ 170-180kW at the 4 wheels with minimal mods, compared to CT26 ~140kW at the 4 wheels if you are lucky (same boost).

Do you know if they spool better or is it all top end?

At least compared to ST165 CT26, they do definitely spool better.

[Dell'Orto]

I found them much of a muchness. The steel CT20b was slower spooling than the ceramic CT26, but both ceramic turbos make positive pressure under 2k rpm

[kim0663]

Steel wheel ct26 vs steel wheel ct20b,

ct26 felt like it spooled faster, transition from off boost to full boost gave you a kick in the rear end at about 4000rpm then all that momentary acceleration sort of goes somewhere.

ct20b 'felt' like it spooled slower (unsure whether it's because it didn't kick you in the arse), but pulled linear to redline, harder and longer.