twin turbo impala

[anarchy1114]

does anyone here kno if the 2000 impala 3.8 liter v6 is strong enough to support twin t25 turbos at 10-12 psi and if they make a turbo exhaust manifold for it or if i need to have the custom built. also do they even make a fmic that would fit in the impala

[Michael_S]

I don't know that much about cars, but wouldn't you need to modify your transmission to handle that kind of power? Twin turbos would boost you to... what, almost 300 horsepower?

[ImpalaDriver372]

You would definately need a transmission mod. I'm not sure however if the 3.8, strong though it is, would stand up to twin turbos with that high of a boost. You might have to do some major internal work.

[Michael_S]

I thought about doing some major enhancements to my '01 Impala. I would love to turn it into a sleeper speedster with maybe 275 horses.

All I know about cars comes from reading this and that here and there on the forums and a few hot rod magazines. The impression I get it is that a 275 horse new Impala would require more money than it's worth.

[Stephen B]

As there were internal differences between the turbo 3.8 used in the Buick Grand National and Riviera from GM as that of the naturally aspirated 3.8 I would have no doubt some well thought out internal work will be required, especially with twins.

Look at it this way, a naturally aspirated engine's power stroke (although in micro seconds) gradually builds force onto the piston top. Comparitively adding a turbo is like hitting the piston top with a hammer, adding another tubo would be like hitting the piston with a sledge hammer!

If you are going to go to the expense and work, do it right from the bottom of the engine up.

The 3.8 has been used in professional racing in the past and has produce as much as 800HP, but never saw any endurance with internal failures.

[Michael_S]

[quote=Stephen B]As there were internal differences between the turbo 3.8 used in the Buick Grand National and Riviera from GM as that of the naturally aspirated 3.8 I would have no doubt some well thought out internal work will be required, especially with twins.
QUOTE]

Wouldn't it be easier to buy a better engine than make all the necessary mods to the existing one?

I don't know too much here, so correct me if I am wrong. I would think you'd need new valves, new rings, forged pistons, a new crankshaft, new heads, plus of course a bigger intake and exhuast, and a new transmission...

If I had the cash, I would make all those mods in a heartbeat - but I would think it's cheaper to just buy the engine, transmission, intake and exhaust from the 2004 Impala SS and drop it in.

[Jared_80]

Good news for ya slick the Chevy V6 blocks hold up well to light to mod turbocharging, bad news is that that is the WRONG car to do it to. Get somthing RWD trust me on this one FWD and Chevy do not mix.

[anarchy1114]

all i'm looking to do is be really competitive on the drag...i'm also going for the sleeper...shit i wanna be able to hand some of these 5.0 thier asses in a 4 door ls. it would be great.... i would mod my eclipse but the block in my gs can't handle over 300 whp...and its a hell of alot of cash to mod it..so i though i would start playing around with my impala and see if i could get it runnin really fast....hopefully in the low 13's...if its possible, ikt may not be only running 8- 10 psi...it also would be extremely unique

[anarchy1114]

also if i did run the turbos would i be better off running a liquid to air intercooler or a front mount. and a correction on that about psi i'd be running 10 - 12 psi. also another question anyone kno if chevy makes a exaust manifold for turbos or is it a custom job thing i would have to do

[Michael_S]

Originally Posted by Jared_80

Good news for ya slick the Chevy V6 blocks hold up well to light to mod turbocharging, bad news is that that is the WRONG car to do it to. Get somthing RWD trust me on this one FWD and Chevy do not mix.

How do you know it can handle the boost? Have you seen cars that have it, or is there something about the design that is a reasonable indicator of what stress the engine can take?

[Jared_80]

Yes I have seen alot of older Chevy V6s turbocharged. In fact they are recomended in the book Turbocharging that SAE sells. I DO NOT recomend the FWD Impala for drag racing, get a RWD.

[anarchy1114]

whats wrong with having a fwd turbo impala...my gs is fixxing to be turbo charged to and well i haven't seen to many probs with other fwd turbo cars i.e. the eclipse

[Jared_80]

The eclipse is one thing the Impala is quite another, the eclipse was made avalable in turbocharged AWD trim (the GSX) and even the GSTs had good tranneys and suspensions, plus the 4G63 was made for turbocharging. If you want a dragster get an AWD or a RWD, if you want an explanation as to why a FWD is slower I will take the time to expalin it to you.

[Michael_S]

Well, I can't speak for anarchy1114, but I am not looking to turn my family car into a drag racer. I realize that 250 horses in a FWD car is nowhere near as good for any type of performance application than the same 250 on a RWD or AWD vehicle. FWD loses out a little on speed and a lot on handling.

I just want a little extra oomph to be available when I want it without totally nuking my long term reliability or my gas mileage. From what I understand - correct me if I am wrong - the best way to do that would to be replacing my existing 4 speed automatic transmission with either a manual or an automatic with more gears. The problem is, that's really freakin' expensive.

So my other option would be new intakes and exhaust, ports, heads, and possibly forced induction. That's cheaper than paying out the wazoo for a customized fit transmission, but it's still really expensive.

From everything I've read, custom ECU chips are overrated and not worth the money.

[Jared_80]

Originally Posted by Michael_S

Well, I can't speak for anarchy1114, but I am not looking to turn my family car into a drag racer. I realize that 250 horses in a FWD car is nowhere near as good for any type of performance application than the same 250 on a RWD or AWD vehicle. FWD loses out a little on speed and a lot on handling.

I just want a little extra oomph to be available when I want it without totally nuking my long term reliability or my gas mileage. From what I understand - correct me if I am wrong - the best way to do that would to be replacing my existing 4 speed automatic transmission with either a manual or an automatic with more gears. The problem is, that's really freakin' expensive.

So my other option would be new intakes and exhaust, ports, heads, and possibly forced induction. That's cheaper than paying out the wazoo for a customized fit transmission, but it's still really expensive.

From everything I've read, custom ECU chips are overrated and not worth the money.

What you read about the ECU chips is bogus, a GOOD ECU (or piggyback) is worth an extra 10-15 hp on a Chevy V6 on regular fuel and up to 30hp on 92octane. Just do your homework and avoid scam campanys. You don't have to give up on your tranny yet not untill you start talking about 75-100hp upgrades, reworking your intake and exaust will lengthen your powerband, which your auto tranny does not know how to use, so avoid anything that is ment to raise your redline unless you plan to convert it to a manual-auto. If all you want is a little extra umph raising your high rpm hp is probably not your goal anyway stick with somthing that raises the torque of the powerband that you already have, I would recomend either a 15% shot of NOS (15% of your stock hp is considered safe for your engine) supercharger. Depending on what your wallet can afford, the NOS system will run only about $500-$1000, but requires refills. The supercharger will cost you about $2000 but as long as you have gas in the tank it will never run out. If you go with NOS get a wet system to avoid having to replace your stock fuel system (or your engine). If you go with supercharging get a dynamic type compressor, which allowes you to use low boost at low RPM and high boost at high RPM, unlike a positive displacement supercahrger which keeps a constant boost level at any RPM (thus killing your milage). Just don't use over 7psi (I would recomend 5psi) because you will not be able to buy gas for it at Chevron you will have to go to the local airport and buy avgas. Anyway you would not want anything over 5psi for your trannys sake, because that is about a 1/3 increase in hp.