Quote from jibber :

Depends on the engine and the stock intercooler. It could add something, it could add nothing... but on a 170HP engine, it won't add 11HP (again, that's what i think), ever!

The tuning world is full of people who will tell you how much HP you will gain with all kind of mods, while in reality, you won't gain much at all. Unless you invest some serious money. It's all lies (mostly).

If you increase boost, then it will add more HP, definately. The other question is if your engine will handle it... and the answer to that one is: If you're lucky and got an engine that's been built strong enough from the factory, then yes. If that's not the case (which chances are high), then it won't.

Call me an idiot, but i've seen too much bullshit from the tuning industry to still believe in most of those fairytales.

An intercooler (not stock) does add HP

Quote from jibber :

Depends on the engine and the stock intercooler. It could add something, it could add nothing... but on a 170HP engine, it won't add 11HP (again, that's what i think), ever!

The tuning world is full of people who will tell you how much HP you will gain with all kind of mods, while in reality, you won't gain much at all. Unless you invest some serious money. It's all lies (mostly).

If you increase boost, then it will add more HP, definately. The other question is if your engine will handle it... and the answer to that one is: If you're lucky and got an engine that's been built strong enough from the factory, then yes. If that's not the case (which chances are high), then it won't.

Call me an idiot, but i've seen too much bullshit from the tuning industry to still believe in most of those fairytales.

I can see what your saying. It is true that it does depend from car to car. Im not much of a nissan guy, so i dont know much about them stock. But some cars can benefit extremely from a bigger intercooler. For example, the sierra sapphire cosworth has the most ridicoulous intercooler ever. Its very small, and sits on top of the radiator, so its also getting heat from that. My dad fitted a Radtec one to his (cant remember the size, but it was absolutely huge) and once it was setup, it was dyno'd, and got a decent hp increase.

Same with the early impreza's. They had a intercooler at the back of the engine, and it was very poor. Thats why you see alot of people fit front mount's nowadays.

Either way, its down to what you think. As for me, i believe he could get a decent hp increase with an uprated intercooler. I personally would'nt fit one for performance though. I've recently bought one for my RST, purely for the fact that it will help with the cooling.

@ Gripdriver. He got 25hp with an uprated intake?! I think that may be bending the truth a little. It's highly unlikely you will get 25hp from just an uprated intake, even with a tune.

Quote from tristancliffe :

If you do turbocharge it, make sure you buy a new crank, rods, pistons, block, head, cams, fasteners, gaskets, water pumps, oil pumps, radiators (oil and water) and so on to make sure the change is reliable and working properly.

A little over the top don't you think? He didn't say he wanted to run 40psi or anything. You can run a 1.8 Miata with 12psi (260rwhp) on completely stock internals. Yes, he did put a lot of money into the turbo setup, but you don't always needs engine internals.

Sure, it may be able to do 260hp on stock internals, but for how long?
Being an N/A car, im guessing it would'nt have forged internals. So therefore, the engine is'nt going to be no where near as reliable compared to if you fitted forged internals, which are made to take the extra strain that a turbo brings. Its completely upto the owner of course. He could either turbo the tired, old engine and drive around or he could do it properly, without cutting any corners. It would take longer, and more money but in the end, he would end up with a nice, powerful, reliable engine.

Imo, tristan is right. If you want to turbo a stock N/A engine, then a rebuild would be best.

What would be the best performance upgrade for mine as it's practicly stock except the things i mentioned?

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Sure, it may be able to do 260hp on stock internals, but for how long?

Actually they are driven daily. The 1.8 Miata has a BP engine, which includes a forged crankshaft, piston oil squirters, and an aluminum baffled oil pan. It is not uncommon for NA and properly turboed motors to last 250K.

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

I can see what your saying. It is true that it does depend from car to car. Im not much of a nissan guy, so i dont know much about them stock. But some cars can benefit extremely from a bigger intercooler. For example, the sierra sapphire cosworth has the most ridicoulous intercooler ever. Its very small, and sits on top of the radiator, so its also getting heat from that. My dad fitted a Radtec one to his (cant remember the size, but it was absolutely huge) and once it was setup, it was dyno'd, and got a decent hp increase.

Same with the early impreza's. They had a intercooler at the back of the engine, and it was very poor. Thats why you see alot of people fit front mount's nowadays.

Either way, its down to what you think. As for me, i believe he could get a decent hp increase with an uprated intercooler. I personally would'nt fit one for performance though. I've recently bought one for my RST, purely for the fact that it will help with the cooling.

@ Gripdriver. He got 25hp with an uprated intake?! I think that may be bending the truth a little. It's highly unlikely you will get 25hp from just an uprated intake, even with a tune.

but it is a 350 LT1 in his T/A. Besides, it's a VERY rare '93 T/A GT (okay, maybe that doesn't matter), and he just rebuilt the heads and got some headers and other stuff for it and got 400 hp in the end. Also, it can do significant numbers since he got a K&N intake for $300. Check this link out. http://www.knfilters.com/kits.htm It even says a 2003 Mustang Cobra got an extra 30hp just for this intake. But, if I did get a Nissan 240SX, I can make the KA24DE engine stronger for a turbo, correct?

Quote from GrIp DrIvEr :

but it is a 350 LT1 in his T/A. Besides, it's a VERY rare '93 T/A GT (okay, maybe that doesn't matter), and he just rebuilt the heads and got some headers and other stuff for it and got 400 hp in the end. Also, it can do significant numbers since he got a K&N intake for $300. Check this link out. http://www.knfilters.com/kits.htm It even says a 2003 Mustang Cobra got an extra 30hp just for this intake. But, if I did get a Nissan 240SX, I can make the KA24DE engine stronger for a turbo, correct?

I wouldn't use the manufacture's test as proof for your argument. Odds are those results are exaggerated and are purely for marketing.

I have a 96 Miata; they say I can gain 6 hp. I know for a fact that is not possible. It would take me removing my AFM and a Megasquirt standalone (with tuning) just to see a 10hp gain.

I'm not saying you won't see a gain, but odds are they are being extremely generous with their results.

ka24de is ass why bother? get an SR20DE-T or ca18DE-T (sr has rocker arms so roller rockers are a wise investment from what i'm told)
Plus both these engines came with turbo's so they are a better start point than an NA motor, and at least where i come from are readily available. Or if you're really power hungry, RB20DET (inline 2litres 6 cyl) or any of the other RB variants, RB25 rb26 etc. All have been done before.

What NOT to do

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v ... next_from=PL&index=25

why use a nissan lump ?


toyota do many a fine turbo lump...


you dont Always has to be loyal to a badge...


i persoanlly think Small displacement - Turbo it...


mid size displacement - turbo or s/c... you can go wrong either way depending on application of the car itself


Big size displacement - S/c... Whine baby whine.

Quote from theirishnoob :

i persoanlly think Small displacement - Turbo it...

Even a 650cc v-twin?

Quote from Forbin :

Even a 650cc v-twin?

1300 busa baby

Quote from theirishnoob :

i persoanlly think Small displacement - Turbo it...


mid size displacement - turbo or s/c... you can go wrong either way depending on application of the car itself

Or go for them both http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tglw5Vg86kA&fmt=18

Quote from Nathan_French_14 :

Sure, it may be able to do 260hp on stock internals, but for how long?
Being an N/A car, im guessing it would'nt have forged internals. So therefore, the engine is'nt going to be no where near as reliable compared to if you fitted forged internals, which are made to take the extra strain that a turbo brings. Its completely upto the owner of course. He could either turbo the tired, old engine and drive around or he could do it properly, without cutting any corners. It would take longer, and more money but in the end, he would end up with a nice, powerful, reliable engine.

Imo, tristan is right. If you want to turbo a stock N/A engine, then a rebuild would be best.

bollocks. I suggest you read some in-depth books about turbocharging instead of watching FnF. I can not believe how much crap and scare mongering has been posted here

No need for forged internals really. But low compression pistons and stronger con-rods are a must. And that'll mean the camshafts will be wrong. Which will mean the valves are wrong. Which'll mean the head is wrong. And chances are the crank will be too weak or whippy. And maybe the bearings won't be strong enough. And various fasteners will need to be upgraded and retorqued to avoid fatigue problems. And so on...

Sure, you can bodge with a 'kit'. And you might even get 10% extra power. But if you want to turbocharge effectively you need to do it properly.

for a race engine perhaps. I know at least 10 people running 220-250 rwhp on a turbocharged B6 or BP (stock) longblock and reliable at that. If your tune is good you can go forever like that. If your tune is shit, not even a prepped block with unobtanium parts is going to survive some harsh ping

Reliable as in "runs 200-400k kilometers with just regular maintenance and oil changes"?

they usually start boosting between 60 and 80k miles and indeed with proper maintenance they will last 150k miles at least

Wuhuhu, that's why shitty Impreza has such a short km life.

Quote from PioneerLv :

Wuhuhu, that's why shitty Impreza has such a short km life.

haha! poor Impreza's. Anyway, just like 75 (which is about 125 kilometers) miles from me, there is a 240SX with an RB26 engine swap, and it's selling for 8K (in dollars). So, I think if I do get a 240SX, I will either try an RB engine, or SR engine. I will also proove my brothers wrong about turbocharged engines!

if i went to the trouble of doing such a large conversion like an RB, i'd actually go a JZ series engine.


but..thats just me

Quote from Osco :

for a race engine perhaps. I know at least 10 people running 220-250 rwhp on a turbocharged B6 or BP (stock) longblock and reliable at that. If your tune is good you can go forever like that. If your tune is shit, not even a prepped block with unobtanium parts is going to survive some harsh ping

The starting engine had 140bhp, a rolling road can easily invent 25bhp plus a bit of exaggeration from owners and the actual output is more likely to be under 190bhp which is easily obtainable by building a nice naturally aspirated engine. Presumably some of the internals of the turbocharged variant of the same engine were used and the compression ratio must have been reduced.

Quote from Becky Rose :

meh, I has had turbo charged cars before (factory fitted) and big normally aspirated engines and out of choice i'd rather have a bigger normally aspirated engine than a turbo charged one. Turbo lag is a pain in the exhaust pipe, it's one thing when racing but when on the roads it's just nice to put your foot down and find that the power is just there instead of thinking about it for a while before it arrives.

Give me a 3-5 litre petrol engine with lots of those valve thingies and a balanced number of cylinders in a nice V configuration that doesnt have a hugely weighted cam shaft thingamy to balance it (Tristan will explain that better, 4 cylinder engines are 'meh') over a little 2 litre turbo charged car anyday.

I've had 3 or 4 turbocharged cars, and they where all a bit 'meh'.

Turbo lag is pretty much a thing of the past on modern cars. It's more a sense of blunting of throttle sharpness these days. But even then only really at low revs when the Turbo isn't really spinning up properly.

In the most part gone are the days when you floor it and nothing happens for a second or two. As long as you're in the right gear for your speed, (which you should be anyway), then a modern turbo engine is more like a slightly elastic surge when you plant your foot. They just require a slightly different driving technique IME.

But if sharp throttle response is your "thang" then fair enough.

Quote from jibber :

Unless there have been changes in the ECU (increased boost pressure for example), those mods will hardly add 11HP.... IMO!

+1 that. Those changes aren't going to make any difference. Might help the car maintain power and prevent heat soak but otherwise no real power gained from them. Methinks someones been blinded by sales hype.