[Guest]

If I'm on a budget... and I buy just the turbo ...guage and controller HOW MUCH HP could i expect...im talkin without the turbo intake mani and exhaust mani....and without intercooler this will be just a quick cheap upgrade for my tight young budget thanks...

 

[Supraluva]

Slapping a turbo on a car isn't quite that easy. You will need an intercooler, pipes, blowoff valve, etc.......

 

[Guest]

I've heard you don't neccasarily need the intercooler and piping for low boost situations....?

 

[Norbie]

Depends if you expect your engine to last until the end of the week.

 

[Wade]

Actually, the intercooler has little to do with keeping the engine cool or extending it's life. It's just there to cool the hot and compressed turbo air before it reaches the intake which gives you more HP. It might run $1000 to $1500 to CT-26ize (with MKIII IC) your MKII.

 

[Norbie]

Actually, the intercooler has little to do with keeping the engine cool or extending it's life.

Not so. Ever heard of detonation? It's a condition which can dramatically reduce the life expectancy of your engine. If you bolt a turbo on to a 5M-GE, an engine which was not designed for forced induction (high compression ratio), detonation is a very real issue. One of the best ways of reducing detonation is to reduce the temperature of the inlet charge - can you say "intercooling"?

Of course there are other ways of reducing detonation (eg higher octane fuel, less ignition advance) but they are "band-aid" solutions at best. The real solution is intercooling. Increased HP is merely a secondary benefit!

Back to the original post - if you want your engine to live, intercool it. Melted pistons are not a pretty sight.

 

[Wade]

Not so. Ever heard of detonation? It's a condition which can dramatically reduce the life expectancy of your engine. If you bolt a turbo on to a 5M-GE, an engine which was not designed for forced induction (high compression ratio), detonation is a very real issue. One of the best ways of reducing detonation is to reduce the temperature of the inlet charge - can you say "intercooling"?

Of course there are other ways of reducing detonation (eg higher octane fuel, less ignition advance) but they are "band-aid" solutions at best. The real solution is intercooling. Increased HP is merely a secondary benefit!

Back to the original post - if you want your engine to live, intercool it. Melted pistons are not a pretty sight.

Doh! :doh: I ment to reply not edit!!!!! :doh:

I see your point but there are tons of high HP hot air engines around. The detonation has more to do with the air/fuel ratio...

 

[Norbie]

I see your point but there are tons of high HP hot air engines around. The detonation has more to do with the air/fuel ratio...

Sure you can make big numbers without an intercooler, provided your engine is designed with this in mind. A good example is the old-school V8 brigade with their non-intercooled roots blowers. They sure make some big numbers, but look at how much they have to lower the compression ratio! They also tend to have very little ignition advance, and most of them will only run on super-high octane fuels.

But since we're talking about a stocker 5M-GE and not some purpose-built monster, none of the above applies! You can make the A/F ratio as rich as you like, but it won't stop the onset of detonation if your inlet charge is too hot. The cast pistons won't take too much of a hammering before things go horribly wrong...

Anyway this is a non-issue really - intercooling is cheap, and extremely effective. I can't think of any reason not to use it in an application such as this.

 

[zank]

so if i were to put the CT-26 in my mk2 would i have to
upgrade my fuel pump or can i just run it stock just the
way it is. please shut me up if i say some thing stupid
at: im still learning

 

[Norbie]

That depends how much power your turbo engine is going to make. More power = more fuel. Also the boost pressure makes a difference - if you're running 10psi boost, the fuel pump needs to push the base fuel pressure (35psi?) plus 10psi. The flow rates of most fuel pumps drop sharply once you start cranking the fuel pressure up.

In short, the stock pump should be OK for a very mild setup. If you want to have any fun though, an upgrade is very much recommended. Remember that a turbo engine will self-destruct very quickly at the first sign of a lean mixture...

 

[zank]

well im not planning on boosting that much
just something small to get ahead.
like they say Power is nothing with
out control. and id just be
happy with knowing i have
a turbo in my mk2

i also have another question
if i do make my 5MGE to 5MGTE
how big would the
exhaust piping have to be
taking in consideration
i would have to convert it back to
the a 5MGE for smoging in California.
can this be done?

 

[Norbie]

There are no rules with exhaust piping - you can leave the stock system in if you want to. A turbo engine likes to breathe though - better breathing means quicker spooling and potentially higher boost (provided the rest of the engine can cope with it or course). That being the case I recommend you upgrade to a much better, free-flowing system. Personally I wouldn't go for anything less than a 3" pipe, from the turbo all the way to the outlet. Remember that a turbo is a very effective muffler, so it's still possible to have a quiet 3" system if that's what you prefer.

As for converting it back to NA for smog purposes, that should be simple enough - just tell the exhaust shop to weld in a flange just after the dump. Then you can have a matching flange welded on to your NA manifold, and swapping between turbo and NA will be as simple as removing three bolts.

 

[Santerianumero1]

Norbie....you are right....Detonation....Bad thing, but I have been running no IC for about 6 months on 6 psi, and the car is fine. I don't recommend it though, but my turbo is toast anyway so it's no big deal, but as a recommendation......just slap the IC in, it's not that hard anyway (for YoungNstupid)

7MGTE 85

 

[Malloy]

Well, I know a few guys who run 5mgtes with no IC and are doing just fine. They all run 8psi. Gets em into the 13s and they are happy. Of course, you need to pay attention to your guages as usual. These are street cars too. I wouldnt take a non intercooled car onto a road course

Im going to run a non IC-ed 5mgte to hold me off till I can afford the 7m swap. No need to waste $ on a POS mk3 IC and pipes this early in the game. I will of course run low boost and be very cautious.

 

[Guest]

Malloy,

Is it true that guys are running 13's with 5MGTE's? And only at 8 psi? That's crazy to me. I've got all that stuff, PLUS an intercooler on a 7MGTE in another car....maybe I should pull it off until I can afford the swap