Ultimate Celica: 2ZZ-GE or 3S-GTE?

[Morpheus XIII]

Ahh, thanks for the info.

Yeah the Celica Turbo's engine seems to be the little brother 1.8L 1ZZ-FE. I wonder what was the reasoning for choosing that powerplant? Maybe that engine has a torquier nature than the 2ZZ-GE (and would yield better torque with the forced induction), or didn't need as much reinforcing as a 2ZZ would. Well, I for one, am glad they are working on something besides the same old stuff like the 2ZZ-GE.

Below--(from the same website) Damn that's a tight fit! You can barely see the turbine housing wedged in there, right up against the firewall. It's a good thing all Celicas have that functional hood scoop, so it can draw in cool air to force all that turbo heat out from underneat the car.

[Da Kine Guy]

Actually, the turbo is on the GT because of the compression ratio. The GT-S has an extremely high 11.5:1 ratio and the GT has either a 10:1 or 10.5:1 ratio. If you look at most stock turbo cars (Eclipse GS-X for example) the compression ratio is more around 8:1. This is the reason why the GT-S engine is so hard to develop a turbo for and the GT a little easier. However, hope is on the way for us GT-S owners, there are some companies that have turbos in the works for our cars, lets just see how reliable and stable they are. I don't want 220+HP at the expense of 10+ years of lost engine life.

[Morpheus XIII]

Originally posted by Da Kine Guy
I don't want 220+HP at the expense of 10+ years of lost engine life.

A better turbo doesn't mean longer engine life. It's the amount of boost you are constantly applying--weak turbos wear the engines a little, while powerful ones wear them a lot. Engine reliability concerning forced induction is directly related to the amount of buildup on the bottom end.

[Da Kine Guy]

Do you think that adding a proven turbo kit that runs 6-8 psi of boost would hurt the engine much? If adding a turbo doesn't speed the aging process of the engine by much then maybe I should look into it a bit more.

[Morpheus XIII]

6-8 psi isn't going to hurt much at all. That's the power rating of most superchargers--something that even factories are willing to have installed for you with no further reinforcements at the dealer (i.e. Toyota Solara and others). However there is one way to besure that you will have even more peace of mind: proper cooling. This includes intercoolers, oil coolers, turbo timers, and even blow-off valves, which are all win/win upgrades. Oh yeah and don't forget turbo cars need more oil changes than non-turbo cars, and also that it's not ideal to turbocharge a car that already has high compression, which may require at least flatter piston rings in a GT-S.