Just curious as I'll be installing one around the first of the year. Wondering who did the tuning, I'm going to TourqueFreaks for a ground up AEM tune. I don't quite have 10k on it and will be going full synth then and with the weather I'm not getting the driving time in I hoped for to get the miles on, so as soon as I make the switch I'll install the turbo and exhaust.

MM

 

Are you going to make some of the drives this year? I would love to see your setup

You should come out to the Portland International Auto Show with us. We plan on going on January 27th. It is the Saturday! We are going to meet for lunch/dinner first then take the MAX over to the Convention Center to check out all the new rides

Hope to see you there,

Brandon

 

I'm definately going to try and get more involved with the locals this year, I was going to do the Astoria trip as it went right by my house but we didn't get back from vacation till that Saturday.

I may be able to do the Auto show but will have to see what's going on, I have a whole lot of trees to plant this winter so a lot of my weekends will be booked up.

MM

 

OT, but what kind of trees do you plant? Just landscaping in your yard, or acres of timber? I only ask because I've spent my summers planting acres and acres of Cedar/Pine/Firs for the last couple of years.


Back on topic, what Turbo kit did you end up choosing? I've heard great things about tuning from TF.

 

Had one, sold it 18 months ago. Mine of was one of the very first in the country. The car was wicked fast, but fickle. If you're planning on building a trackable turbo, it's a lot harder going than you might think. For street use, the challenges are a whole lot less daunting. Good luck.

CB

 

Acres of trees, puting in the last 4k this winter, mostly fir with some WRC and malpe thrown in. The guy who used to own 20 of the acres was raising thoroughbreds and there is a track on it but I'm replanting it all. I have about 8 acres mature forest, some scattered mature trees and 1-9 yo reprod. I ride dirt bikes so always have a place to ride.

I ended up with the Inline Pro w/the Gt35 upgrade, 675 injectors, the AEM EMS and some other goodies. I'll use the Ultimate Race dual 3" exhaust. Going relatively conservative with boost for now, stock rear end and clutch w/o delay valve. When the weather isn't REALLY nasty I drive it a minumum of 110 miles a day and need to maintain the reliability. Only other thing is I'm going to run 285/30 18's on the rear, which will be both good and bad. More upgrades in the future as I deem them necessary I'll keep you posted on how it comes along. I've heard/read good things about TF and after talking to them I feel pretty good about it. I'll be doing the install myelf.

 

If all you're going to do is occasionally "get on it" under spirited driving conditions, you'll probably do fine, although I'd be concerned about using the stock clutch. I fried mine the fifth or sixth time I ran the car at WOT. 285s in the back might help contain the boost, but unless you stuff fat tires up front, you'll shift the balance toward understeer when you're not hard on the throttle. For street use, that's not only okay but probably preferable. It depends a lot on your application.

If you intend to track the car, you'll need to address cooling issues (on the track, the stock radiator isn't adequate for a turbocharged car), oil cooling, cam overlap and excessive EGT, etc., etc. And then, for a track car, there's the need to stop the car (brake ducting, stainless lines, race pads, race fluid, etc.) and turn the car (coilovers, appropriate wheel sizing, tire stagger, alignment). The list goes on and on and you ought to budget money for fixing the stuff that breaks, etc.

But for the street, the problems are less numerous, more easily solved, and less expensive to manage. In any case, tuning is everything, so be sure you're very clear with your tuner what outcome you're looking for and what tradeoffs you're willing (or not willing) to make. It's a LOT harder to get a really satisfactory streetable tune than most tuners (and owners) will ever admit to you. Btw, 675 injectors are huge. Are you planning on running more than 8-9 psi of boost? If so, you might be better off with 550s.

In the end, one of the biggest problems with the route you've chosen is that NOBODY is really willing to speak honestly about their experiences, so you only get half the story on the boards or from the tuners. Most turbo owners (at least the ones that walked point, like me) wind up selling their cars without ever admitting that they blew an engine (I was lucky, I didn't), burned up a center cartridge or two (that did happen to me), or just gave up when they realized that they had only just begun to address all the issues they created for themselves with what they had done.

Bottom line, be a bit skeptical of what you read and what folks tell you. This isn't a trivial undertaking, particularly if you really want a car you can beat on or track.

CB

 

Yeah, it'll be a street car for a while. I'll be running 245's up front.

I'm aware of the issues w/turbo and tracks, if I were to build a track car today I would go SC or N/A. It seems the biggest obsticle for tracking a turbo S is EGT once the other cooling issues are addresses. I haven't heard of a successful attempt to eliminate that as of yet besides a very custom set up. I do have some experience with aftermarket turbo's though it has been some years.

IP and TF recomended the 675, I want the ability to up boost in the future.

I'm not typically a straight line guy or a hard launcher, my commute is about 70 miles of twisty's and that's what I enjoy the most so my clutch should last a while. I do plan to upgrade when needed.

My initial goal is 350 rwhp for a 600 mile a week DD without any reliability issues. I don't know anyone with an S personally so have no other experiences to base anything off of except what I read. I have had Honda's before and this isn't my only vehicle so it can sit while I work things out. I'm a tinkerer and can't leave anything alone, this is just an extension of that mind set. I'm willing and ready to take on any issues that come up and have some $$ to play with. What's the worse that can happen? I blow up the car? I can live with that, won't be the first time, I can fix it. I like taking on things that other people might struggle with, I may end up on my face but I'll learn a lot in the process.

 

You sound like the *perfect* sort of guy to undertake this project then. Good luck. Post back and let us know how it turns out.

 

Tactfully put my friend

I'm perfectly foolhardy, just ask my wife

She's given up trying to reason with me where motorized toys are concerned. I think she's of the "give him enough rope" school of thought and hopes that I will "see the light" but honestly that just makes me more determined, then when I do fail it's usually a pretty good one, anything to make her smile. We've raised the kids, now she's just got to deal with me, can't be as bad as a couple teenagers, at least in my mind

I'll keep you guys updated, maybe you can get some good laughs too.