austin183524

I was wondering how you guys felt about turbocharging a tc that has over 100k miles on it. I recently bought my tc and i really want to add a turbo on it within the next 2-3 years. The only things that throw up a red flag are obviously the money and the fact that my car just clicked over 100k. Please give good and serious feedback on this. thanks

draxcaliber

get a compression test and a leakdown test to find out the health of the motor, and then you'll have your answer.

o TaGGeD o

iTrader: (2)

Check compression if compression is good go for it just be reasonable and remember that your car has higher miles also stay ontop of your oil and if you wanna be real safe about it do some motor work before the turbo

etoomey3

Agreed with above posts. I turboed my car with 103K and now has 112K. Only running 7psi. Runs great. No problems yet. But you just have to always be prepared in the back of your mind to drop in/ re-build another engine if yours dies.

rhythmnsmoke

This is why I don't care to wait till warranty is up before boosting my car. Already dealing with a tired engine by that time. As mentioned, check the compression and leak down test.

pdool09

iTrader: (2)

If the motor was well kept and you don't run the car with a crappy tune you should be fine.

I boosted(7PSI) at 70k and I now have 150k on the car with just under 10 PSI.

Going strong.

austin183524

I think Ive figured it out. Im thinking about getting some Brian Crower block sleeves put on the engine that way everything is fresh then i can boost as high as desired without worries.(this boosting as high as desired also includes upgrading cams heads bearings forged rods and pistons and a really good tune(just have to find a place in or near Cincinnati to tune it)). This is alot different from my original plan to put a low boost setup on there and try to run as stock internals as possible so its going to take a about 2 years to get everything together for it.

draxcaliber

There is no point to doing that. If you're 18, and the tC is your only car, and you can't afford to be without it, don't turbo it. could go fine, or you could immediately throw a rod, melt a piston etc.

Unless you really plan to revamp the car for serious performance. there is no point to building the engine to make over 300 whp, the FWD set-up and short gearing will only be able to put down so much power, even with an LSD. (PS, i have 311 whp and an LSD, so I know)

enjoy the car as much as you can now, and save your $$$$ for 2 years and if your tC is still holding up well, do whatever you want, but the better idea is probably to get a better car.

austin183524

I actually am planning to completely revamp the car and i do have a back up car to drive if anything does go wrong(even though its a little beat its self(1997 cavalier with 273k miles) i do have it and it runs). I really would love to squeeze as much power and performance out of this car as i can which is what Ive always wanted to do. right now my biggest debate is if i should do the performance or the styling first( I was leaning towards styling but I don't know maybe performance). but thank you for your concern and by the way how much boost are you running?

draxcaliber

My tC is running about 12 psi.

austin183524

is that as much as it can take or could you up the boost a bit more? i mean i know you said that the drivetrain setup could only handle so much but could you get more out of your engine if you wanted to?

draxcaliber

PSI boost isn't the final determining factor. It is ultimately how much air you're flowing to the engine. I've run as much as 14 psi on my tC. My kit uses a smaller turbo, so to make my power goal >300 whp, I had to run that much PSI with my turbo to do it. A different kit with a bigger turbo could do it with less PSI.

With just about any turbo kit, the first weak point in the drive train is the clutch. Then after that you have the internals of the engine and the half shafts, but that usually starts to happen above 350 whp.

past 300 whp, you can't really put any power down in 1st and 2nd gear. and in the wet, you can't put down power in 3rd gear. so if I make the tC any more powerful, it'll really only be faster in 3rd gear on a good day, but really only in 4th and 5th gear.

Roller_Toaster

iTrader: (1)

^What he said. A moderate amount of boost + an LSD and you will have tons of fun, enjoyable power.

rhythmnsmoke

That's why you buy a boost controller that does boost by gear.

Roller_Toaster

iTrader: (1)

I keep forgetting that tc's have shorter gearing than we do.

paul_dezod

Agreed 1000%

BadDudeTC3

Very true.....that's one of the important secrets to getting the power to the ground. Having what's considered a high horsepower tC and having it so where the tires don't just spin in every gear has been done successfully. thendawg has a 656 hp tC that gets the power to ground, Tom0613 also is putting down some high numbers as well and there are others out there....question you must ask yourself is do you have the budget, resources and patience to making it all work.

BadDudeTC3

The E351 tranny solves that issue nicely.

paul_dezod

Boost by vehicle speed DOES help tremendously. Getting a quality EMS that can do fuel, ignition and boost control like this will be worth every penny as well. Our AEM EMS does all of this and more.

BadDudeTC3

I agree 100%. I will have my AEM EMS-4, 3 bar MAP sensor & boost controller wired up in the spring.