Spyder 03 GS info...

I own a 2003 Spyder GS as in the decription.
1.) I would like to know (what engine it has firstly) and what type of turbo kits can I install?

2.) Ohh and another question....it has a 4 spd manual as well as an overdrive...Ive had opinions that the "sports mode" will actually slow me down ...whats this for if its slower than the auto?

(btw refrain from flaming im a noobie!! lol)

A company named AAI makes a turbo kit for the 4cyl. It is a very good kit. It may be only for the 5-speed though. Check their site.

www.acceleratedautosports.com

Also, the triptronic transmissions are slower than 5-speeds. They have more drivetrain loss, because essentially, it's still an automatic.

Is the engine code the 4g64 model?

So the tranny isnt good...how much would a nicer one cost? (im on a tight budget)

Yes, you have a 4G64.

And no one sells a "nicer" tranny, and it's not that those trannys suck, they are actually pretty strong. But with ANY car, if there is a 5-speed version of it, it will always be faster, stock vs stock that is.

Your only option is to do a tranny swap to a 5-speed manual.

So, I just have to check to see if the turbo will match the tranny. Hmm...(is a triptronic better than an auto? Or the same?)
And how much will a 5-speed $$$ ?

5 speed trannys cost around $1200-$1500.

Tiptronics are better as far as being able to shift when you like and whatnot. However, they have the same drivetrain loss. The will never match up to a 5-speed.

On a side note..with a turboed sleeper like the GS ever stand up to a Mustang v8 boss 5.0L? :S

It all depends on how much you boost it. The silver RS you see on AAI's page was pushing 9psi and hit 264whp. There were times when he leaned it out a whole lot and hit 280+whp, so, it is possible, without a doubt.

I was looking around for some turbo's for my 2003 GS Eclipse and came accross a few that boasted an added 255hp to your existing (stock is 145hp for the 5 speed manual GS). It's hard to believe that just dropping a turbo on it will jump it from 145hp to 400hp, so I often question the site, but the majority of turbo's for this car that I've seen all list between 220 and 255hp boost in addition to your existing hp. The one that was 255hp was a name brand like $3000 for the kit not installed.

Just out of curiosity, what is whp? Maybe I'm just not thinking straight and can't figure out what the "W" stands for, but I've seen it numberous times so I know it's not a mistype...

I think one of the main reasons I haven't gotten a turbo kit is due to the wear and tear on your engine, and the added maintenance of having to rebuild your turbo every 50k miles or so. If you don't rebuild the turbo, it starts to leak oil into your cylinders, and eventually you can kiss your engine goodbye..

Chances are that those kits boost the power to 255hp, not an extra 255hp. You'd have to run like 20psi for that, which would require internals and such. Either that or they are saying the potential for their kit is an extra 255hp when fully boosted to the turbos ability.

WHP = Wheel Horsepower

The numbers you see advertised for cars and whatnot is BHP, Brake Horsepower, which means horsepower at the crank. You lose horsepower though the drivetrain (clutch, transmission, differential) which makes the WHP lower than the actual output of the engine, but, it is an accurate representation of the cars ACTUAL power and not some BS that the company wants you to think. For example, the 2000 V6 Eclipse 5-speed is rated at 200hp from the factory. The actual WHP is about 170-175 in stock form. Thats why automatic versions of cars are always slower than the same car with a manual transmission too. Automatics have a lot more drivetrain loss.

Turbos do cause wear and tear, but when done right, they dont cause anymore damage than anything else. You absolutely DO NOT have to rebuild your turbo or engine every 50k miles. As long as you properly maintain you engine with the little things, like changing the oil, letting it warm up when its cold, making sure the gaskets are still intact, etc, your turbo could probably outlast the car itself.

wow...you scared me...every 50k miles? lol. I was going to find another route. Is it that hard to do properly? Or is it tricky enough that it requires a professional to install? Dont want to buy the thing and never have the skill to put it on right....

You have to rebuild the turbo every 50k miles or so because the berrings lose their seals. The rebuilding is basically removing the turbo, disassembling and replacing the berrings etc.. The seals only last about 50k miles or so I've been told by people who do drag races proffesionally (and has the numberous car pictures on his wall with his team etc..).

The rebuilding of the turbo IS "proper maintenance".

You have to rebuild the turbo every 50k miles or so because the berrings lose their seals. The rebuilding is basically removing the turbo, disassembling and replacing the berrings etc.. The seals only last about 50k miles or so I've been told by people who do drag races proffesionally (and has the numberous car pictures on his wall with his team etc..).

The rebuilding of the turbo IS "proper maintenance".


That is absolutely incorrect. Maybe on their drag car they have to rebuild the turbo every 50k, but certainly not on a street car.

What you are saying would require the millions of people who own SRT-4's, 1.8t's, GS-T's GSX's, Evo's, WRX's to bring thier cars in every 50k to have their turbo's rebuilt. As you can see, that makes no sense.

Why would that not make any sense? Cars have maintenance logs you are supposed to keep up with. Why couldn't that be part of the 50k mile maintenance sheet? Hell, there are some cars that require you to remove the entire engine to do any maintenance to them. Granted they are cars that only rich people drive because nobody else can afford that, but they do exist. Why would it be so hard to believe that you have to pull the turbine off once every 50k miles for maintenance as part of your standard maintenance on one of those cars?

That is absolutely incorrect. Maybe on their drag car they have to rebuild the turbo every 50k, but certainly not on a street car.

What you are saying would require the millions of people who own SRT-4's, 1.8t's, GS-T's GSX's, Evo's, WRX's to bring thier cars in every 50k to have their turbo's rebuilt. As you can see, that makes no sense.


Bingo. This is a street car...not a professional drag strip car. Why would I put my engine under so much pressure as to mess it up every 50k miles....I need to drive this thing a lot you know...I'm sure it can be installed without that amount of damaging pressure. Your friend IS indeed a PRO...with a PRO tuned car....

Umm, news flash.. those kind of cars that he races have their engine rebuilt before 50k miles.. =P It has nothing to do with the PSI being put into the engine. The PSI being put into the engine will add wear and tear to the engine, not the turbine. The wear and tear of the turbine is the berrings from being spun up all of the time. And if anything, there is more wear and tear on a street driven turbo then a track turbo because in street driving you are constantly spinning it up and down as you are switching gears where as the turbo in a track car is staying around a consistant RPM.

The point is berrings get worn out in turbo's, as well as the seals, and they begin to leak oil into the intake of the engine, thus causing damage to the engine. I mean seriously, how often does it come around that you put 50k miles on your car? So in the lifetime that you actually own your car, you'll have to rebuild it maybe twice? And you only put an average of what, 15k miles on it per year? maybe 20k? So you'll only have to rebuild it once every 3 years or so. That's not really bad... Being that the average person drives a car for less then 100k miles before they get rid of it. If you drive your car to 300k miles, then you are not the average person, however if you are going for performance and souping up your engine for performance, you also shouldn't expect to get 300k miles out of your engine. A turbo puts a lot of additional strain on the engine, so I wouldn't expect it to last 300k miles with a turbo on it =P

I am familiar with the basic procedures most turbo cars go though when they go in for 30k service, 60k service, 90k, etc. The basic services do NOT include rebulding a turbo. I know guys with 1st gen DSM's that have 150k+ miles on their cars and the same turbo from day one, with no problems.

It costs a lot of money to rebuild a turbo. Not so much for parts, but for labor as well. Manufacturers would not put turbos on cars if they cause severe damage to the engine after only 50,000 miles. It would not only cost them thousands of dollars in engine rebuilds due to people not knowing when their turbo is actually leaking oil, but it would also cost them a fortune in parts and labor time to repair and rebuild the turbo. And all of this would fall on them due to the fact that most any turbo car priced under $35,000 has at least a 60,000 mile powertrian warranty.

So you'll only have to rebuild it once every 3 years or so. That's not really bad...

A stock turbo does not put a lot of additional strain on an engine. Cars stocked with turbos from the factory have engines that are built to last with their stock system, just the same as any NA car.

If it specifies in the required maintenance manual however that you have to replace the berrings and such every 50k miles and the person doesn't do so, and their engine dies, the engine would not be covered under warranty because you didn't fulfill your part of the warranty requirements. Regardless, maybe you are right. I'm going off of knowledge of others rather than my own personal knowledge, so if you say it's otherwise, then maybe it is. I just took his word for it because I know he knows his way around a car =) He was even telling me that if I got a turbo for my car I too would have to rebuild it every 50k miles or so... so dunno.. =P

If it specifies in the required maintenance manual however that you have to replace the berrings and such every 50k miles and the person doesn't do so, and their engine dies, the engine would not be covered under warranty because you didn't fulfill your part of the warranty requirements.

Show me where any service manual says that.

i know that Rulez has a turbo on his car, so he would know more about puttin a turbo on an eclipse than most people. u could also look into the supercharger by RIPP for our cars. ive heard they r pretty reliable and can give about the same amount of whp. just another option.

The RIPP kit is an aweosme kit for sure, but the 4cyl is just so easy to turbo, I'd prefer that.

Superchargers have a real linear power curve because they only hit full boost at redline, whereas a turbo can hit full boost at midrange, depending on what turbo you have. Therefore, a turbo's powerband is more favorable.