papa5murf

nice post, really helpfull, i'm surprised you haven't blown your motor... i know of two people in my area with a turbo on there s and both have blown there motor...

fly_S2K

A great post indeed. I have learned a lot of valuable lessons that will benefit me once I begin a similar project like yourself. Good luck on your future adjustments and I'm sure we all greatly appreciate you sharing your valuable expriences.

white_S2000@16

nice post cbender! you have been through alot with your baby i hope it holds up

SpeedxRacer

You didnt describe any internal work (I think) Is there any done to your motor? Thanks for sharing all the info btw.

AndyDoh

Fantastic post Chris

I for one know the turbo route is a "VERY" long road indeed (I haven't drove my car for near 6 months ) but I keep telling myself it will be worth it in the end........I hope!

Good luck with the rest of the project CB.

Andy

ideugene

wow... props to you for the determination and patience! congratulations on achieving your goal of a reliable turbo

cbender

Thanks, all, for the kind words. It's been a very long road. The good news is that I really do believe I'm almost done sorting the car out. A few comments, in reply to some of your comments/questions:

1. 2K miles in one race weekend included 1500 miles to/from Monterrey. It's a bit of a haul, but I was able to drive both Laguna-Seca and Thunderhill in the same weekend, which made the drive less onerous. I, too, get about 6mpg on the track, so the fuel bill's a bit steep.

2. There's no doubt that the supercharger is easier to setup, easier to tune, and less troublesome. Had I known how hard setting up a turbo would be, I'd not have done it. That said, there's also no doubt that the turbo produces an awful lot more power under the curve for the same peak horsepower. I've driven supercharged S2K's on the track, and I like them. The difference, in feeling, is that the supercharged cars feel like stock, but with greater punch. A turbo S2K feels like an entirely different animal. In some respects, that's good.

3. I suspect the reasons that many turbocharged cars have blown motors are (i) the owner can't resist turning up the boost (I run 7 psi, max, even with race gas, which seems to me to be a prudent and sustainable level, based on the homework I've done -- others have run 10+ psi on the stock motor and it's never surprised me when things go bad for them), (ii) the boost is being fed into a car that runs the stock ECU and timing (the stock timing seems, to me, to be pretty aggressive under boost), or (iii) insufficient attention has been given to tuning. Just my two cents.

4. I've done no internal work to the engine. My plan (for what it's worth) is that I'll run the car until something wears out (hopefully, nothing catastrophic will break with 7psi of boost) and then do pistons, ring lands, and some other things to lower my compression a bit. But I've no interest in generating more power. Truly, the car's about right for what I'm looking to do with it.

Best,
CB

gilbertg

I went turbo when I had 8000 miles under my belt. I've just turned 31,000 miles and may well be one of the longest running and surviving FI folks with stock engine internals. I have owned the car just over two years and it's been stored 7 months of the year due to our lovely New England weather. The reason why Chris has not posted any internal information on his engine is that it is stock. Sean turned both mine and Chris' car last summer as I was having the same problems as Chris. I've had exactly the same oil issues with the turbo as Chris which cost me a new Turbo - anyone following me at Fall Colours 2003 will have ingested way to much oil from the cloud that followed me. The engine is holding in there - I recently did a compression check when the engine was reasonably warm. Results were 210,230,210,230 from cylinder 1 to 4. The key to survival is boost level - 7psi. 9psi rocks, but unless you want many $1000+ dollar bills for replacement parts and having your car off the road for 6 months at a time, don't do it. I have a large amount of knowledge about the EMS and the S2000 motor and have continued tuning my car on a daily bassis ever since it's installation and tuning by Sean 1 year ago. The truth is that it has only been in the last few days, maybe a week or so, that I have not changed my maps or timing in some way. The car is finally pretty close to exactly what I want. Nothing is perfect but it's pretty close - but that should give you an idea of how much work is involved in owning a Turbo. The cost of ownership is never ending. I now do all my maintenance and installation myself as I don't trust anyone else to do it correctly. I always carry tools and jumper cables in the trunk. Oil and coolant supplies is a must. My phone is always charged and AAA are ready. You soon get tired of opening the hood to find oil all over the place and never knowing if the car will start when you turn the key. I am currently experimenting with Water injection.

If you must go Turbo then expect things to be pretty miserable, make sure you have a reliable second car and it will cost you at least 3 times as much as the turbo kit/installation costs you!

My advice - don't do it. If you want a turbo, go buy an STi.

gilbertg

Future for me: If I fry something I will replace it with OEM parts and install a specially made head gasket to lower the compression ratio a little. The technology that Honda is using to make these parts amazes me. My rwhp desire is a maintained 300 rwhp, which I currently have with my setup - the car must be drivable every day of the summer otherwise what am I doing this for.

xviper

This is a TERRIFIC thread. Thanks for sharing with us. I'm bookmarking this one to link to threads when some smart-ass comes along to say how cheap and easy it is to turbo an S. Those guys haven't got a frickin' clue. ("I've turboed a TON of cars in my short 20 years of living and it's a piece of cake." Yeah, right!) It's guys like you and Gilbert who are the "pioneers" in this. You are the ones who really know what's going on.