How to turbo your NA for $2000.

[NitroDann]

So I opened my mouth and said in the open forum that it could be done for $2000 and then I said that I would do it.

The Pms came into my inbox and one bloke put the deposit down so here we go.

This is for everyone who is wondering, and all of the blokes who swear black and blue its impossible.

This is for everyone who says you cannot do it 'right' for under 5000 etc etc

In this thread I will go through all the steps to build a basic, Greddy style system, done properly, with no corners cut for a 50% improvement in power and more than that in torque. It will be updated as the progress happens.

It will use a Log manifold for reliability, spool, its small size and price. It will use a Garrett T02, which owes me about 80 dollars, and has a brand new never used CHRA (Centre housing, rotating assembly) so its vital moving parts are brand spankers. A used T25 or t28 or TD04 from a wrx could be used, all of these are available used for a couple of hundred dollars in good nick from ebay and the forums.
It will use good quality oil feed and return, and a 2.5" downpipe that will bolt to a stock exhaust, although this car has a 2" straight through SS system already. It will not have an intercooler or blow off valve, and as a result boost will be kept sensible, and expect a little turbo flutter (also known as 'dose') on throttle lift off.
Top these basic reliable parts off with a brand new MegaSquirt Plug and Play 2 and you have a very quick, completely lag free daily, thats quiet, great value, OEM reliable and can be reverted to stock in an hour.

Upgrade path is intercooler, injectors, clutch, T25 or T28, and 3" exhaust, all the way up to 300whp.

Lets get into it.


Here is the engine bay, the car already has a Works Engineering universal intake system and a nice stainless crossover pipe, and a full 2" mandrel SS exhaust and Wozzahs excellent headers.


This is an SE stock turbo, the Garrett T02 being used, and a Garrett GT2560r (AKA T28, stock SP, japspec S14 and all S15 turbo).


Remove the intake.




Remove the headers, These are from Warren Heath Performance (username here Wozzah1975), these are about a year old, and still look great, in coated mild steel these wont crack like stainless headers are so well known for, and fit perfectly every time, they also work great through the mid range and top end with stock or near stock cams.


Here is the first little bit of money saving, this is a stock header exhaust flange, cut from an OEM na6 header and cleaned up, given a coat of paint a year ago to protect it. This saves over $100, its not bling bling but thats not the point here.


To be continued.

Dann

[NitroDann]

So I opened my mouth and said in the open forum that it could be done for $2000 and then I said that I would do it.

The Pms came into my inbox and one bloke put the deposit down so here we go.

This is for everyone who is wondering, and all of the blokes who swear black and blue its impossible.

This is for everyone who says you cannot do it 'right' for under 5000 etc etc

This car is absolutely stock standard as it left Mazda apart from a 2" exhaust, rather than the stock 1.75

In this thread I will go through all the steps to build a basic, Greddy style system, done properly, with no corners cut for a 50% improvement in power and more than that in torque. It will be updated as the progress happens.

It will use a Log manifold for reliability, spool, its small size and price. It will use a Garrett T02, which owes me about 80 dollars, and has a brand new never used CHRA (Centre housing, rotating assembly) so its vital moving parts are brand spankers. A used T25 or t28 or TD04 from a wrx could be used, all of these are available used for a couple of hundred dollars in good nick from ebay and the forums.
It will use good quality oil feed and return, and a 2.5" downpipe that will bolt to a stock exhaust, although this car has a 2" straight through SS system already. It will not have an intercooler or blow off valve, and as a result boost will be kept sensible, and expect a little turbo flutter (also known as 'dose') on throttle lift off.
Top these basic reliable parts off with a brand new MegaSquirt Plug and Play 2 and you have a very quick, completely lag free daily, thats quiet, great value, OEM reliable and can be reverted to stock in an hour.

Upgrade path is intercooler, injectors, clutch, T25 or T28, and 3" exhaust, all the way up to 300whp.

Lets get into it.


Here is the engine bay, the car already has a Works Engineering universal intake system and a nice stainless crossover pipe, and a full 2" mandrel SS exhaust and Wozzahs excellent headers.


This is an SE stock turbo, the Garrett T02 being used, and a Garrett GT2560r (AKA T28, stock SP, japspec S14 and all S15 turbo).


Remove the intake.




Remove the headers, These are from Warren Heath Performance (username here Wozzah1975), these are about a year old, and still look great, in coated mild steel these wont crack like stainless headers are so well known for, and fit perfectly every time, they also work great through the mid range and top end with stock or near stock cams.


Here is the first little bit of money saving, this is a stock header exhaust flange, cut from an OEM na6 header and cleaned up, given a coat of paint a year ago to protect it. This saves over $100, its not bling bling but thats not the point here.


To be continued.

Dann

[SlugRacer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFc8pybkxwk&sns=em

I think you should start a YouTube channel

[NitroDann]

Don't forget to head over to DIYautotune and order your megasquirt.

This is a full standalone ECU, out of the box it will plug straight in where the stock ecu was and run a stock car, however it will need tuning to get the most from it on a stock car and should at least do a run or 2 on a dyno with a wideband to ensure the tune is safe. In this case we also ordered the AIT (Air Intake temperature) sensor, so we can delete the stock air flow meter.

A good ecu is the difference between a car that is 100% bulletproof reliable, or not.
Its the difference between getting stock economy, or not.
Its the difference between great driveability or a lumpy flatspot filled experience (just ask the intake/exhaust/boost stock ecu SE owners)
Its the difference between having a future upgrade path and proper tyre shredding torque, or not.



This will allow us to get away with no intercooler for now, and still make good power safely, using bandaids alone you are stuck with a very weak, very poor very low boost tune, this is why the greddy system uses 4psi only. Once this gets on the dyno we will know, it may well be happy to run 10psi, with a very conservative tune, despite not having an intercooler. Without a good tuneable ecu you are stuck with bandaids like rising rate fuel pressure regs, running super low boost for safety, and a car that drives rubbish.

Dann

[Sean]

Nice topic.

I'm sure people will argue about the definition of 'doing it properly', but I think we should all put that aside and watch as the topic develops.

For some level of comparison, what's a greddy kit retail for? I know there are differences in what you will present vs a Greddy, but for similar power goals it'd be an interesting comparison.

[NitroDann]

Properly means no corners cut in terms of reliability, economy and driveability. It will be oem quality, however lack horsepower compared to if it had an intercooler and bigger injectors, $1000 dollar tubular manifold, Ferrari V12 swap etc etc.

Dann

[MrRevhead]

The only drawback is legality, otherwise a great power to cost modification that you can't beat kw to $ wise

[NitroDann]

It could be engineered easily, with an airbox.

Dann

[Sean]

Properly means no corners cut in terms of reliability, economy and driveability. It will be oem quality, however lack horsepower compared to if it had an intercooler and bigger injectors, $1000 dollar tubular manifold, Ferrari V12 swap etc etc.

Dann

OEM quality is a big call, although again open to interpretation.
Your definition of properly may be different to other people's was more my point.

Either way, the interesting point will be to watch how you end up stacking it up against other similar kits, most likely the Greddy, or new base model AVO-S.

[MrRevhead]

Next challenge, prove legality for that budget, if so, you have have another deposit waiting....I think you're downplaying the easiness of getting it EPA legal (IM240) with just an airbox. With megasquirt, it's much easier running e85 and properly get it engineered, but it will be interesting to see if you can do out just with 'an air box' (engineering costs alone are 500-1000)

[NitroDann]

There will be so few parts there isnt much to engineer, apart from the intake airbox and a tune that passes IM240. Which on E85 is easy peasy.

To Sean,
This was never intended to be a 'kit' Ive designed, I just put my foot in it and decided stuff it, ill do it

But with 1 moving part (the new OEM turbo) and a good tune it will be oem fitting and oem reliable, and similar performance to oem, so call that what you want to call it.

Dann

[plohl]

Will you be keeping track of the amount of hours going into the build? Not hating, just curious.

Keen to see how it goes!

[NitroDann]

It will be done between other things over the next week, if that gives you an idea.

It will have so few parts its ridiculous, so its not a big job.

Ill keep track of it if I can remember.

Dann

[mazdaz]

Great stuff Dann, keep it up, watching with interest

[emily_mx5]

So if someone wanted to do this, a list of everything required would be:

ex Manifold
ex manifold gasket
turbo
turbo gasket
dump
dump to stock cat gasket
oil feel lines
coolant feed lines
pod filter
several sillicone joiners and hose clamps
metal cross over pipe (or would the stock plastic one suffice?)
ecu (such as a MSPNP2) + map sensor?

boost gauge?

anything else?