Turbo question.

Hello.

I am bascially a complete newb when it comes to modifying cars, so I got questions and this is the best site for answers. Ok, here we go. I'm have a 99' Solara that is completely stock. I want to modify her. I guess I'll begin with a Turbo system, for starters. But the car has over 100k miles on it (mostly highway miles) and I was wondering if its a bad idea to install a turbo on a car that has so many miles. Also, when adding a turbo to a car, does it now become a gas guzzler?

turbos cost at least $2000 and if you have a V6 solara, there isn't even one made for your car.

read http://auto.howstuffworks.com and then come back

Like drdisque said, there probably isn't a kit for your car and you will probably being spending around $2,000 at the absolute least to set-up your own kit. I would also highly suggest looking at How Stuff Works. Here is a link (http://auto.howstuffworks.com/turbo.htm) to how turbo-chargers work. This will give you an idea of what is involved.

As for your mileage, it can be bad to put a turbo or any form of forced induction on an engine with 100,000 or more miles. I would suggest having a compression test done on your engine. If that comes out with even solid pressure across all cylinders then your engine should be fine for forced induction. Your gas mileage will decrease some. However, with a turbo-charger, if you're not boosting you're not using extra fuel. So if you can keep it out of boost when you accelerate your gas mileage won't suffer much at all. Also, the engine won’t use any extra fuel when cruising. That is one of the many beauties of a turbo-charger.

I wouldn't begin with a turbo. Intake and exhaust are good places to begin and will help the turbo run better when you do put it on. Buy a couple books and read the stickies at the top of this forum. What kind of transmission do you have? If its an auto, you might need to modify it to handle the extra power. Good luck.

Also, if you want (someone correct me if i'm wrong) you can get an electronic boost controller. Boost controllers, I hear, help stop exhaust gas creeping (when the exhaust leaks through a partially open wastegate) and you can adjust how much boost you want to run. I think you can wire it into your console and change it from there but I'm not sure. Definately upgrade you intake and exhaust, they will help you turbo spool-up quicker, increase your horsepower, and they will help your gas mileage because of the lower resistance.

I'm sure Polygon will clear-up any mistakes (he's very knowledgeable on the subject of forced induction)

ya poly has one bad ass GTC from what i hear and is like a guru when it comes to FI, turbo in particular. cat back exaust is a good place to start, but if you know you are deff going FI then intake will be a waste of cash because your intake wont work after you get your turbo or w/e FI you are using. if going turbo on a car with that many miles i reccomend a complete engine overhaul. new piston rings and cylender honeing will do wonders for it... you can do it yourself (bad idea if your even a semi-noob) or take it to a shop or dealer. if you take it to a shop it may even be a good idea to have new pistons and bottom end intalled if eventually looking for lots of performance. and if the cylender walls are scored boreing will probably be nesisary if going FI...

"ya poly has one bad ass GTC from what i hear and is like a guru when it comes to FI, turbo in particular. cat back exaust is a good place to start, but if you know you are deff going FI then intake will be a waste of cash because your intake wont work after you get your turbo or w/e FI you are using. if going turbo on a car with that many miles i reccomend a complete engine overhaul. new piston rings and cylender honeing will do wonders for it... you can do it yourself (bad idea if your even a semi-noob) or take it to a shop or dealer. if you take it to a shop it may even be a good idea to have new pistons and bottom end intalled if eventually looking for lots of performance. and if the cylender walls are scored boreing will probably be nesisary if going FI..."

For GOD'S SAKE! Translate this into ENGLISH!!!

"ya poly has one bad ass GTC from what i hear and is like a guru when it comes to FI, turbo in particular. cat back exaust is a good place to start, but if you know you are deff going FI then intake will be a waste of cash because your intake wont work after you get your turbo or w/e FI you are using. if going turbo on a car with that many miles i reccomend a complete engine overhaul. new piston rings and cylender honeing will do wonders for it... you can do it yourself (bad idea if your even a semi-noob) or take it to a shop or dealer. if you take it to a shop it may even be a good idea to have new pistons and bottom end intalled if eventually looking for lots of performance. and if the cylender walls are scored boreing will probably be nesisary if going FI..."

For GOD'S SAKE! Translate this into ENGLISH!!!

:disappoin
ok here we go:
Yes,
Polygon has one bad ass GTC from what I hear; and is like a Guru when it comes to FI (Forced Induction), turbocharging in particular. Cat (catalytic converter) back exaust is a good place to start, but if you know you are deffanitly going FI then Intake will ba a waste of money; this is because your intake most likely will not work with your turbo or what ever FI you are using. If the car you are planing on turbocharging has many miles on it my reccomendation is to have it completely overhauled. New piston rings and cylender honeing will do your engine good. You can do the overhaul yourself, which is a bad idea of you are a even semi-new to car performance and working on cars, or you can take it to a shop or a dealer. If you take it to a shop it may end up being a good idea to have new pistons and a new bottom end installed in your motor if you are eventually going to be looking for lots of performance. If your cylender walls are scored boreing them out will probably be nesicary to make the engine work corectly after going turbocharged.

happy? mr. i dont know how to use the quote feature but i can try and correct someone for typeing some things short hand and making a few grammar and spelling errors. :icon16:

I know how to use the Quote feature, I'm just too lazy to use it.
I'm usually too busy jumping around this site correcting all the morons dishing out bad advice and incorrect info...

i dished out neither bad advice nor incorrect info. a few things shor hand. and how is the quote feature any harder than copying and pasteing? i mean all you do is click a button.

I wasn't saying that you were dishing it out, I was just saying that I've found that it's just faster to copy and paste into the quick reply, instead of waiting for the page to load, speak my piece, wait for the page to load again, then go back to the forum page....
I didn't mean for it to sound like a personal attack, sorry...

A K&N Filtercharger intake isn't a waste of money when going FI. I'm using one right now on my car. An intake doesn't necessarily mean a CAI. And yes a CAI is basically a waste of money on a turbocharged or supercharged car. And you don't necessarily have to have an engine rebuilt just because it has a lot of miles. Do a compression check and take a look at the oil the next time you change it. Basically you should be able to tell if the enigne is good or if it is crap. Does it still run good? Any drop in performance since you got the car? Burn oil? 5psi is pretty much safe on a good condition engine and provides very good performance gains over stock. Most wastegates come with a few springs so a boost controller may not be necessary. I am running 5psi with no boost controller. The wastegate is directly controlled by manifold pressure via a vaccum hose.

i didnt say it was required. it was my reccomendation. a head gasket may be about to go or a piston ring may have just started to stop retaining compression. you will still get near what they are sapposed to be somewhat level compressions....add .5 atmospheres to it and it is soon to go.

A K&N Filtercharger intake isn't a waste of money when going FI. I'm using one right now on my car. An intake doesn't necessarily mean a CAI. And yes a CAI is basically a waste of money on a turbocharged or supercharged car. And you don't necessarily have to have an engine rebuilt just because it has a lot of miles. Do a compression check and take a look at the oil the next time you change it. Basically you should be able to tell if the enigne is good or if it is crap. Does it still run good? Any drop in performance since you got the car? Burn oil? 5psi is pretty much safe on a good condition engine and provides very good performance gains over stock. Most wastegates come with a few springs so a boost controller may not be necessary. I am running 5psi with no boost controller. The wastegate is directly controlled by manifold pressure via a vaccum hose.


Oh yeah, the engine runs smooth. Like I said, its mostly highway miles. The oil is changed regulary. But, I suppose its always a good idea to have a professional check it out, just in case.