Stories of turbocharging

Alex · Postby **Alex** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:00 am

This thread delivers
great reference for anyone thinking about getting a turbo put on

on my estimations
Juffa = ~$6000
UA = ~$4055
Bark = ~$7769

But if none of that is DIY than I would expect the budget to be quite a bit higher

yarnmx5 · Postby **yarnmx5** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 12:16 pm

Bark, are you still aiming for the IM240? Are you still confident? Have been keeping an eye out for your progress.

Good luck. Hope things go well.

EDIT: just re-read your post :oops:

...IM240 still to be done...

bark · Postby **bark** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 2:41 pm

I'm still confident of passing the IM240 test which will then hopefully set a precedent for others...

Tomorrow I'll begin work on intercooling piping, with the dump and front pipes to be made early next week. Hopefully I can get it in to the tuner before end of Jan and then I'll be off to Regency to seek approval!

yarnmx5 · Postby **yarnmx5** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 2:59 pm

just out of interest, who are you going to use for tuning. I have spoken to a few people and they recommend a place on main nth rd, steve bell? I think. He/they apprently have their own dyno and have had experience with emissions testing. I have not spoken to them so this is only here-say but was told by an engineer to contact them for this purpose.

Cheers

all the best.

Sean · Postby **Sean** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 6:41 pm

For a low budget I still say get the AVO stage 1 kit. It can be had for less than some of the DIY kits being mentioned, and is not overly difficult to self fit.

meanmx · Postby **meanmx** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 9:29 pm

Buying the avo kit and doing itself will not get you your epa certification. To get that you must have it fitted by them. It costs about $1300 all up for the installation which also includes dyno tuning. The stage 1 doesn't make the most power but it has most of the goodies to go alot higher.

Ben

sprx3 · Postby **sprx3** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 10:53 pm

meanmx wrote:Buying the avo kit and doing itself will not get you your epa certification. To get that you must have it fitted by them. It costs about $1300 all up for the installation which also includes dyno tuning. The stage 1 doesn't make the most power but it has most of the goodies to go alot higher.

Ben

yeh Ben is right on that one, the only reason i installed it myself was because A i could & B i wouldnt get the epa cert (as they dont have one for the NB) one advantage i do have though is that the kit is very simular to the SP/SE & if i do run into trouble i can reflash my factory ecu to the specs of either & it should pass, lets hope i dont have to worry about that though.

lowmiata · Postby **lowmiata** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:53 am

http://forums.sabretooth.id.au/viewtopic.php?t=46

my cost $6800 probably a bit more if you count the fittings etc

I bought a brand new turbo and manifold from AVO though so thats where a fair chunk of mula went!

Would I do it again? Yes
Would I do it differently? Yes

lots of things to be learned
definatly do as much research as you can and don't go buying the \"cheapest\" because its in your budget
spend that little bit more for reliability

FWIW Mia has just turned 295,000 and cassie and I flogged it round a race track week before last.

you wont regret it!

Sean · Postby **Sean** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 5:49 pm

meanmx wrote:Buying the avo kit and doing itself will not get you your epa certification. To get that you must have it fitted by them. It costs about $1300 all up for the installation which also includes dyno tuning. The stage 1 doesn't make the most power but it has most of the goodies to go alot higher.

Ben

I used to think that was the case too, however it's really a sales pitch to get you to have them install it. They generally will not give you the paperwork with an uninstalled kit as they have no way of knowing it is installed properly (though they also dont know that you wont change it once you drive off if they do install it).

If you have a legit AVO install (done yourself to full stage 1 spec) it is compliant, regardless of AVO giving you the paperwork.

I can supply details to demonstrate the compliance for anyone who needed it for a stage 1 NA. All it is is what AVO give you, it covers any stage 1 NA kit, and is not specific to each car or install - similarly to how Holden get a commodore complianced, but are not required to prove every single car passes the relevant tests, as long as they build them to the same spec you are covered.

Alex · Postby **Alex** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 5:52 pm

found another link going through the parts boags sourced for his install
http://www.hotkey.net.au/~gmarsh/my_mx5/

another one here
http://www.miataturbo.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4288

siu_loong_bao · Postby **siu_loong_bao** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 6:43 pm

A BIG BIG BIG thank you to all who have made comments to this thread.

There are no regrets in starting this thread also...

So, it seems that the general consensus is to go \"AVO\" stage 1. can I ask what the ballpark figure would be for a Stage 1 kit? I have searched their website and it has no price list.

\"Why don't you call?\" You may ask? well, I was hoping to get as much knowledge b4 I did ask...(And the fact that I am still in Dubai).

If the comments can continue flowing into this thread, it would be a very worthy exercise to share your stories with others...and for the novices (like me) to be persuaded or disuaded into going turbo...

A big thanks once again...

lowmiata · Postby **lowmiata** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 8:23 pm

siu_loong_bao wrote:A BIG BIG BIG thank you to all who have made comments to this thread.

There are no regrets in starting this thread also...

So, it seems that the general consensus is to go "AVO" stage 1. can I ask what the ballpark figure would be for a Stage 1 kit? I have searched their website and it has no price list.

"Why don't you call?" You may ask? well, I was hoping to get as much knowledge b4 I did ask...(And the fact that I am still in Dubai).

If the comments can continue flowing into this thread, it would be a very worthy exercise to share your stories with others...and for the novices (like me) to be persuaded or disuaded into going turbo...

A big thanks once again...

mania have a price list for all the avo stages on their website

there are probably a few other places that would distribute the product but you will probably find most come to the same price

failing all of that I contacted AVO directly with no dramas.

meanmx · Postby **meanmx** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:51 am

AVO kit only is about $4200 or $4500 and installation is around $1300. It will take a week to a week and a half to complete the installation and you will drive away a happy man. When you get closer to getting it done let me know and I will tell you exactly how much you should be paying and that will give you room to barter. On top of this if you are wanting good power you will have to look at your exhaust situation as stock size is quite restrictive, but they will tell you that anyway.

Ben

Matty · Postby **Matty** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 9:45 am

Keep in mind that for a 1.6 car, you will want to upgrade the clutch, brakes and diff. That alone will set you back a couple of thousand before you even get to the turbo gear.

If not said earlier, just sell yours and buy a car that someone else has already fitted a turbo to...