I've owned both (custom front mount turbo and a radix) and you can't beat the radix in stock boost form 7psi or so. You pulley it down and you start getting into boost when you don't want to. Low end grunt is great but sometimes the boost too early sends you into PE mode and sucks more gas than needed with a smaller pulley. But like I said, in stock form it is almost perfect for a DD truck if that is all you want out of it.

A turbo, sized properly, can give excellent throttle response, almost no lag, and if you want to crank the boost up you don't have the boosting too early issues that you can experience with a pullied down Radix. The radix mp112 uses the same Eaton rotors as you old lightening just with an upgraded housing similar to what lightening boys do when they port one from my understanding.

IMO- Negatives of a STS turbo that you won't find with a radix is the electric oil pump return and turbos are more difficult to tune.
A front mount like Trick's kit biggest negative would be underhood temps but I never had any problems with temps with mine and it was similar to Trick's.

 

I like the thought of the front mount turbo, but I think in Mass they would not like the look of that under the hood. (I don't know this for fact, but just guessing) So I might not be able to pass visual inspection which would suck after putting in all that time and money to build it.

Turbo Gibbs- Great input from someone who owned both. Just what I needed.

I hate to say I will never do anything else to it....because as we all know, the mods never stop.

One more thing to add- Living in the North East, does anyone see any issues with the rear mount turbo in the winter? (salt, snow, cold)

 

i have had both the sts and now the radix on stock internals....i loved the sts but the kit was not for me ...i mean that it was not the best kit for my application as it was a daily driver in the oil field...gravel roads...calichie roads with 8" of dust blowing everywhere as you travel past...the air filter anywhere other than under the hood was not a good thing for me so i sold the kit and truck and bought the av and a used radix that i am completely happy with other than breaking 3 built trannys,twisting 1 drive shaft into and blowing up a limited slip g-80...all has been replaced with good stuff and is holding the power just fine as of now....
like i said thou...i loved the turbo but front mount something is what i needed and changed...
i love the radix also...instant power of 400#'s of tq at a mear 2400 rpm's gets this heavy *** av moving quite nice....

 

There are several on here with STS's that see snow daily during the winter with no issues.

 

I have driven an Avalanche with a Radix in it and it was almost impossible to keep it form going into boost, in fact I never could keep it out of boost no matter how little throttle i gave it... But, that was why this person had a Radix, he loves that "under the curve" boost it makes... Oh and I have driven an Avlanche with a Vortech on it too, it was more like a turbo on controling the boost...


But, lets face the real ugly truth here... We all like a certain thing and will defend to our graves! I will NOT sit here say which is better and certainly will not say some one else opinions are BS. I will only state my own opinions on this subject. Its up to you as a person (who ever you are reading this) to make your own decision based on the opinions provided and your own belief of what will work best for you...

 

Lord- Like you said... I want opinions/experience from both and to be able to take what I read from them and go forward with my build up.

Bud8fan- You break all those parts because you were hard on it? or was it the extra weight of the Av? Do you think you would have broken those parts if you had a turbo and not the SC?

 

Opinions are opinions, which are worth a lot less than experience. I got 19.7 mpg with my Radixed Avalanche (with 3.73's), so unless someone gets 22+ mpg with a turboed Avalanche, the mpg argument is out the window. Also, I had no problem keeping it out of boost - it was actually quite easy - the key was a smart foot. Just because full power is always at your disposal does not mean you have to use it. Self-control is your friend.

 

TBSS- That goes for both of them....or all of boosted applications. The power is there if you want to feed it the throttle, but you pay at the pump. I like the fact of getting some decent mileage and still being able to move when wanted or needed. I know it is crazy to talk about gas mileage in the same breath as boost/turbo/superchargers, but getting decent mileage is a nice plus in the end. Like I have said, a nice DD with a little extra.

 

basically what turbogibbs said. its not a bolt up deal. i dont have the time/resources to tear my truck down and make a kit work. the radix took me 4 hours to install, cant beat that!

 

It all depends on how far you want to go with it and what you are going to use it for. If you do a lot of towing then a Radix will probably benifit you more with its low end tq. I know there are turbo guys on here that tow with them, but most of the companies that sell kits dont recomend you do it. If you dont do that much towing and you plan on modding more in the future then go with the turbo because it is a lot more upgradeable. The Radix will eventually hit a wall if you start trying to push it. I currently have a Radix and it has been great. It is reliable and deliveres exactly what magnacharger says it will. Only problem is im boared with the power level I am at and I want more. I have also had issues with belt slip that I cant get rid of no matter what I try. Some people have it and others dont. I have a Livernois front mount with a PT GTQ72 sitting in my spare bedroom right now. Im just having trouble deciding wether to put it on and sell the radix or sell the turbo and do an LS swap with a single or twin turbo setup on my 90 RCSB.

Either way you go you have the potential to break a lot of stuff along the way. You are going to be trying to push twice as much power through everything on your truck, and you will quickly find the weak links. You will have to do tranny upgrades, and if you get traction you will kill the G80 eventually. You could probably flip a coin to see which one goes first. I know my 4L60E only lasted three weeks after doing a pully swap and tune.

As far as cost take the price of a Radix and a set of long tubes throw in a pully and tune. You will have spent just as much if not more than you would have spent on an upgraded turbo kit that you can push farther.

Both are going to offer you a really fun driving experience, and I'm sure you will enjoy either setup. My advise is if you are planning on doing more mods in the future or you are like most of us on here and get boared with where you are at after a couple of months and keep trying to get more out of your set up. Go turbo because you will be able to upgrade it alot easier.