Is the alero worth it?

[spc2125]

Since the nice weather is coming around and I got a job (finally), im looking to do more things performance wise with my car.
First, im a little hesitant to do anything because im very cautious with my money and i dont want to put in all these performance mods and then in a year my car shits the bed.
So in your opinion would you put the time and money into my car.
Its a 2002 alero, 2.2l 140k
pretty much stock, except for a short ram
i live in mass, so the car will see the winter every year for a few months
i got the car with around 120k on it, and i have no idea about how the previous owner maintained the car.
In the time that ive owned it, ive changed the oil a multiple times, replaced the ignition module, and it currently needs a wheel alignment.
i seafoamed it yesterday and noticed a significant difference in the rpm level at idle-ing
it runs more smoothly
Also, im starting to notice the brake are starting to squeak a little bit so ill most likely have to change my brake pads ( since ill be working on my brake pads ill most likely paint my calipers while im at it, any ideas on a color, i have a silver alero)
Anyway, Im just wondering if its too late to start putting money into this car and get good use out of it.
All opinions welcome.
Thanks

[JLw7123]

you can do some mods to the engine with that many miles

[AZFire316]

the ecotec is a great engine for mods, and 140K isnt anything to this motor. S/C or turbo that animal, good times!

[alero_bmxer]

hell I didn't do my intake, Accel coils and muffler till 185k on my 2.4 and the thing runs like a champ to this day

[spc2125]

if im going to stick with it, im going to go all out. this will be my car for awhile.

[AZFire316]

lol, guys he said 2.2...which is Ecotec, but yea, even better :D

[[ion] C2]

unless you total it, anything that happens can reasonably easily be repaired

[spc2125]

alrighty then. i have a full exhaust system set up. but other than that give me some performance mods
(ive had trouble finding a CAI for the 2.2L anybody have a link)

[JLw7123]

cosmo intake

[sleepyalero]

I did Mods on mine at 140k and have 164 now but I got The v6 as long as you take care of it it will be good. And when it blows either fix it or new motor or rebuild depending on the damage. Lol

[AZFire316]

is it different than my car? (Cobalt) as far as intake? im pretty sure it is as its obviously different car, but same engine. that 2.2 is a beast though dude, you can S/C or Turbocharge it pretty inexpensively.

[spc2125]

is it different than my car? (Cobalt) as far as intake? im pretty sure it is as its obviously different car, but same engine. that 2.2 is a beast though dude, you can S/C or Turbocharge it pretty inexpensively.

links?

[heineck]

i have a CAI for an ecotec just sitting in my garage. its a cosmo lemme kno

[spc2125]

i have a CAI for an ecotec just sitting in my garage. its a cosmo lemme kno

im def interested but i live on the total opposite side of the country, so shipping would be a mess....

[Chris2000]

im def interested but i live on the total opposite side of the country, so shipping would be a mess....

Not really. I shipped an intake to heineck for like 10$.

[JLw7123]

the supercharger kits for the ecotec a not hard to find.
http://www.chevypartsplus.com/product_info.php/supercharger-p-4090?osCsid=8e300f4bf211042bd0bd93f44ea68905

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/COBALT-LSJ-LE5-SUPERCHARGER-INTERCOOLER-PUMP-SETUP-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem27b9deec88QQitemZ17062 2119048QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccesso ries

[spc2125]

might sound dumb, but can you supercharge and turbo?

[Alerojester]

i think its possible

[03Sleepr]

might sound dumb, but can you supercharge and turbo?

yea but why would you want to? seems kinda redundant. I'm not any kind of expert in forced induction but if your running a turbo at 8 psi then a SC at 10 psi then your turbo would be doing little to nothing because your SC is only going to push 10psi regardless...

[JLw7123]

i have seen it but mostly on bigger engines but i bet u could twincharge the ecotec. but a sleeper said it is usually a good choice to choose one.

[kwhauck]

yea but why would you want to? seems kinda redundant. I'm not any kind of expert in forced induction but if your running a turbo at 8 psi then a SC at 10 psi then your turbo would be doing little to nothing because your SC is only going to push 10psi regardless...

Not really, typically they have a very large turbo with huge lag, the supercharger helps you get past the lag, and then there is a type of bleeder valve that closes off the SC boost and brings on the T-boost.....that is the basics without getting too much into detail....

[03Sleepr]

Not really, typically they have a very large turbo with huge lag, the supercharger helps you get past the lag, and then there is a type of bleeder valve that closes off the SC boost and brings on the T-boost.....that is the basics without getting too much into detail....

I see, so the same basics as a sequential turbo system? thanks for pointing that out.

[AZFire316]

yes you can, a few people over on Cobaltss have done it with their LSJs. Basically its what Kwhauck said. However with a stock L61 I really would not recommend it. I have the MP62 S/C kit on my ecotec, and it made a HUGE difference in performance, and didnt cost an arm and a leg. Now later if you build up your transmission and engine, you can twincharge your ecotec and have big boost without the nasty lag the big turbo alone would give you.

Edit: I plan to run a twin charge setup later on when I build my engine. ZZP sells a kit to do it on the ecotec, bypass is set at 2500RPM.

[spc2125]

yes you can, a few people over on Cobaltss have done it with their LSJs. Basically its what Kwhauck said. However with a stock L61 I really would not recommend it. I have the MP62 S/C kit on my ecotec, and it made a HUGE difference in performance, and didnt cost an arm and a leg. Now later if you build up your transmission and engine, you can twincharge your ecotec and have big boost without the nasty lag the big turbo alone would give you.

Edit: I plan to run a twin charge setup later on when I build my engine. ZZP sells a kit to do it on the ecotec, bypass is set at 2500RPM.

how much did you pay for your supercharger and whered you get it?

ive thinking supercharged is the way to go because it fits what im looking for.
its basically instant response, where as the turbo doesnt really "kick it" till around 2500 rpm. and there is a lag with the turbo

[AZFire316]

I got it off a junked 06 Cobalt SS S/C bought an aftermarket heat exchanger from ZZP. got the LSJ injectors from the junk car too, only had like 15K on it.

[spc2125]

smarttt. how much did you pay altogether?

[AZFire316]

altogether about 1K, thats all the parts, and the tune, Trifecta, but I dont think the tune part would work for you, but you have the ability to tune with HPTuners I dont, so I had a Trifecta tuner do mine for me.

[Cliff8928]

Not really, typically they have a very large turbo with huge lag, the supercharger helps you get past the lag, and then there is a type of bleeder valve that closes off the SC boost and brings on the T-boost.....that is the basics without getting too much into detail....

mmmm... twincharging....

http://www.hilmersson-racing.com/bilder/Bildgalleri/Manta_galleri11.jpg

[kwhauck]

I just knew you were gonna post that picture!

[AZFire316]

love that timing belt all out there in the open like that.

[Vic28]

Not worth it lol..

[AZFire316]

Not worth it lol..

what the Alero or twincharging? Twincharging is for people that want to make 500+ hp and want instant response from a low displacement engine.

[Vic28]

Was an ironic response to the OP question. If you want to s/c let me know, you live not to far state wise.

Fire how come you havent posted pics of your alero. I havent been on lately so maybe thats why im not aware of it.

[AZFire316]

the point of twincharging and yes its done on the ecotec, go check out cobaltss.net if you want to see it, is because a low displacement motor, i.e. our 2.2s have trouble spooling a massive turbo, causing a major lag, what twincharging does is give you the low end power which helps with the lag, and also the roots blower is positive displacment which will help spool said turbo quicker. No you wont see the boost from the s/c at higher RPMs as it has a bypass valve that engages at a certain rpm, but your massive turbo will more than make up for it, the S/C just gets you into that power faster, eliminating the lag.

Edit: My Alero is a 3400 which has a bad headgasket, the car im referring to is actually my Balt, same engine, so im helping out with ecotecs. Most of what we can do with our engines you can do, plus you can use HPTuners, we cant, damn ECM :(

[kwhauck]

Bad headgasket? that's an easy fix!

[AZFire316]

Yeah it is, but I have no motivation to do it right now, the car just sits in my garage, I'll do it eventually, just need the motivation to do it.

[kwhauck]

coupe or sedan?

[AZFire316]

Cobalt=Sedan Alero=Coupe

[kwhauck]

want some space in your garage?

[AZFire316]

my Alero looks just like the one in your sig, and na man I have plans for her.

[kwhauck]

just thought I would check, i've been looking for a spare.....

[AZFire316]

It looks like the one in your sig, down to the wheels, do you have a sunroof and rear fin too?

[kwhauck]

yes....except those wheels are long gone.....

[xXManwhoreXx]

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g115/31337_tom/3291570028_large.jpg

This one is from a time attack civic on a site I frequent. it runs with the AWD time attack evo's and porsches. Car is SICK

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f171/bsclywilly/Car%20Pics/IMG_9452crop.jpg

[Lucalare]

Intercooler in the engine bay, dirty engine...how is that car sick?

[AZFire316]

probably because it will smoke us all!

[Lucalare]

Yes, but having a side mounted intercooler, that air is still going to be pretty hot going into the engine. I know a guy who had a Talon TSi that got an upgraded turbo. It could easily have handled it, but the stock intercooler was retained, and all that extra hot air cooked out the rings, and the thing burnt through 4 quarts of oil in 3 blocks.

[AZFire316]

DSMs have a habit of destroying themselves anyway, lol, yeah I dont get the SMIC either, but hey if it works for that car it works! Until im faster than him/her I cant really judge it

[kwhauck]

i can almost guarantee that is a w2a intercooler in which case they are almost always in the engine bay, and who cares if the engine is dirty? My engine was always dirty, that just means it actually gets driven and isn't a showqueen...

[Lucalare]

i can almost guarantee that is a w2a intercooler in which case they are almost always in the engine bay, and who cares if the engine is dirty? My engine was always dirty, that just means it actually gets driven and isn't a showqueen...

Didn't think of that one, makes sense. In that case I understand how that can compete with Evos and such.

[xXManwhoreXx]

Yea its water to air. And who cares if its dirty its crushed every fwd open wheel track record its been on it now competes in awd class whenever its able to plus its daily driven.

[AZFire316]

Damn hondas...lol

[xXManwhoreXx]

I hate hondas other than mine. the owners think they all drive racecars

[kwhauck]

I hate hondas other than mine. the owners think they all drive racecars

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n3waon7x6D8/S1i5jEWPQzI/AAAAAAAABfw/mFAfp7qpv2g/S220/Leaf+Blower+Ban.jpg

[JLw7123]

:haha::haha::haha::haha::haha::haha::haha::haha:

[xXManwhoreXx]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrDe1md6AWg just sayin LOL

[AZFire316]

that leaf blower and that honda share the same engine... :D