Ecotec Turbo

NOTE: These are general discussions on turbo for the ecotec transferred from the previous forum. Please feel free to begin your own thread regarding turbo for the ecotec

So I REALLY want a turbo. Bad. The only thing of course, is they are super expensive.

My question is, how hard would it be to put in a turbo kit made specifically for my engine, that includes all the parts? (RK sport offers a couple for the ecotec)

My engine experience consists of putting in my intake and thats about it besides electrical stuff.

Do you think this is something I could handle myself? or no way...

How long would my car be out of comission do you think?

If i can do this without paying for the install i would seriously consider..

Minimum for all parts needed will be at least ~$3k probably more. Difficulty if all you know how to do is minor mechanical stuff it could take you awhile.

if you have the 2.4L then exploited racing has a kit that supposedly gives you 50 hp for only $1800, but its not intercooled. its the stage zero.

what motor do you have?

if that is what your knowledge consists of then no you won't be able to do it yourself. Unless you had someone who did know what they were doing.

i would say your car would be down for a week. this is figuring in any custom stuff you might need to make and/or tuning.

Its the ecotec.

I wouldn't thnk too much custom work would be needed, since this kit is designed specifically for it. But i honestly have no idea..

But yeah.. i know the parts and what they do, but it would be my first time taking alot of this stuff off.

what do stage zero, one, etc, mean in relation to turbos?

whatever the maker of the kits feels like.Â;-) Obviously , the higher the number the more horsepower it makes. But the higher the number also means the more motor work you need to have done(usually)

For RK sport the stage 3 is intercooled, the stage 1 is not

Hahn Racecraft is coming out with a bitchin turbo kit for the ECOTEC, if you're really serious I'd look them up if you want one that has everything (its simpler for people who don't know what they're doing)

Thanks man. I'm trying to justify to myself blowing 3 or 4 G's.. if i can, its something i really want to do.

I guarantee you, once you save up enough and get a good turbo kit, you'll be happier than a pig in poop...

Turbo kits are built and tuned for the masses (and make less than peak HP and MPG, since they are tuned for reliability) does that kit include an ecu reprogram? The best bet is a custom setup. If you've never done anything like this before best to leave it to someone else (read expensive).

^^exactly. that is why i said what i did. it is always best to tune the setup for your car.

If you think it will have everything and won't have to fabercate something, well thing a again. Number one, the RK Sport kit is for a j-body not n-body. Most kits you find will be for a j-body, which will work fine with no probs. but plan on maybe haing to make a bracket or 2, maybe extending a pipe. expect the unexpected.

it was pain in the ass, but now looking back it couldof been a whole lot easier!!! Oh well but it was all worth it, pshhhh!!! Regardless it just takes time, and the Haynes manual!

Another thread posted on Wed Sep 03, 2003 3:23 pm started by MilzyZ34

we made a turbo kit for an Ecotec Cavi at work. we finished the project last week or the week before. we ran low boost b/c it wasn't tuned yet, but at 4 psi, it ran a 14.9 at 103 i think. now you guys might look at that and say "14.9? that's it?", but the 103 trap speed meant that he was spinning the tires big time. the fact is that he has a stage 3 clutch now, and is still getting used to that as well as all the extra power. this car is gonna scream when he finally gets some traction.

interested but still a skeptic

why are you such a skeptic? I would really like to see pictures of the kit actually... and would love to see the specs of the fuel system and turbo...

intercooled???

list exactly what you did? i'm kinda curious

14.9 and 103? That doesnt sound right at all, he'd have to be spinning hard all through first and into second or something, I can believe the traction problems but not THAT badly

^^ ud be surprised......kid with a J running the exploited kit @ 6-7psi on the 2.4 hit 13.69.....thats on stock internals too!

with mph i would say he had to have lost about a second due to wheel spin. Which that is a lot of wheel spin. But there a lot of unknown factors here, weather, elavation, whole time slip.

I know that exploited and johnny mack are also doing turbo kits for the eco.

Thats what I was gonna say Oldsman, a 103 trap sounded like it should be a high 13 second run, but since I never drag race I didnt wanna come off sounding like a retard

And yeah, losing a second to wheel spin is a helluva lot, also, someday I'd like to get the 2.4 tubular turbo mani from johnny mack, or possibly even from induction dynamics, depending on their price, and if they ever finish it , but I'd like to choose my own turbo, BOV, engine management, that sort of thing..... (sounds very expensive eh? Thats why it wont be a concern of mine for quite a while...)

spinning tires on a turbo alero is a huge biatch!!!

the other day i launched for fun is burned all the way thru 1st and almost the whole way thru 2nd hear!!!

again i agree that the other factors could easily play a major role in the times and mph!

regardless good work and good luck

yes, it's intercooled. the stage 2 kits are IC'd, stage 1 is not. it has a T3/T4 50 trim turbo, Deltagate Mach II wastegate, Turbosmart blow-off-valve, bar and plate intercooler, 3" mandrel exhaust, single stage boost controller (boost controller in the engine bay with a switch under the dash or wherever - OFF is low boost, whatever the wastegate is set for, ON is whatever you dial the boost to) all the piping from the turbo back was ceramic coated (the guy paid extra to get the exhaust done this way), stage 3 Spec clutch, RK Sport flywheel, etc. what else do you guys want to know

sorry for the skepticism, just ive heard too many ppl talking bout turbos that apparently never materialize, personal grudge i guess ... Anyhow, what sorta price range did you get this kit down for?

i'm sure there will be some pics of it sometime soon. i'll post them if i see any. i don't know the exact price off the top of my head, but comparing to our other kits, i would say 3k for stage 1 (t3 turbo, non-IC), 4k for stage 2.

i guess my turbo doesn't count!

how fast is your Alero now, by the way?

well i just posted about this on the GAGT forum, so i'll copy and paste some it over here.

"I know i don't have official track times, but to give you guys a rough, i repeat rough idea of what she can do, i raced a Integra GSR the other night, he averages around 14.5's, anywho, by the end of 3rd gear i had him soundly by about 1 car length. I was actually pulling away still, i guess Turbo beats VTec!!!

This is helping out my confidence in my car, cause again the other night i raced my bosses RSX-Type S with CAI and Catback exhaust, they usually average around 14.5's with those mods, that race we were pretty much dead even, i seriously seriously bogged at the light, but regardless.

I know this is not the most accurate, but its a pretty good reference point."

i hope that helps, i'm gonna quote myself a time, not even an estimated time, cause you really don't know til you take it to the tracks!!!

fair enough. good to see that there are still people out their that have morals about poop, and don't just make up times that their car runs. this one dude came into my shop one time, and they pulled me off a car to go talk to him, since i'm the one there that knows fwd gm stuff the best. he has a basically stock malibu (straight-piped muffler, and k&n drop-in), and he tried to convice me that his cars runs 14.5 in the 1/4. i had to bite my tongue and just smile and nod sicne i was on the clock. it took everything i had not to tell the dude something like "you know, my car runs 14.5, maybe we should line em up", or offer to bet him for a race, or whatever. i ended up talking to him for like an hour setting up a $14,000 list of mods that he can do to the malibu. but anyways, you need to take that beast to the track sometime.

oh, and i checked on the prices of the kit. it's $2695 for stage 1, $3995 for stage 2.

holy poop!!!! all that crazy money!!! i would rather put it into bolt on mod`s or something else then a turbo

Hey nugyen 187 where did you get your turbro from bro.. I have been looking to put a turbo on my 2.2. did you have any complications on the install or hokking everything up waste gate ect. If you could help me out bro that would be great I want to put a turbo on ASAP.

problems hell where do i begin!!!

manifold i got from Speedcraft , was designed for the Cavalier. All the other parts i just pieced together, the intercooler i'm doing this winter is gonna be bought and then i'll fabricate my own piping, i'm also making my own exhaust piping. Other than that everything else was basics. The wastegate did give me problems but luckily Tial is just outside my town so they helped me out a lot. ALso tapping the oil pan was a huge pain! PM Me if you want more details.

Nobody's stopping you or telling you otherwise. Don't have to announce the fact that you're not capable of sinking in real money into beefy engine enhancing mods.

Hahaha. 3000 in bolt ons is a lot of LEDs and neon. That will make you go fast. 3000 is not bad for boost. There are only so many Tornado Fuel Savers and Hairdryers you can hook up.

Discussion: Turbocharging the Alero

Has anyone turbo charged an Alero 4 cyl, and if so what works best? Any examples on this site?

Note: this post posted by nguyen187
Links provided: http://photos.yahoo.com/nguyen187
http://www.n-body.net/registry/nguyen187/

check out my links below, any questions just PM me!

how much would it cost to do this?

well i got hooked up on most of the parts so it only cost me around $1800 so far! but after the intercooler and a couple other things i'm looking around $3000-3500.

for the most basic and cheaper parts you'd be looking around what the exploited stage 0 would be!

Very nice, I remember when you started that, but I havent been on the board in a while. Have you been to the track or dyno yet?

na been to busy working out all the bugs in the system, school, but the other night i ran my bosses RSX Type-S which had the AEM cold air and Thermal Exhaust and we were pretty much dead even. From what i've seen the Type S with those mods usually pull in about 185-190 whp and 1/4 times of mid to low 14's. Considering that i only had 134whp to begin with! So thats not too bad, once i get some fuel outta the system and add the intercooler, and hopefully the reprogram from GM then we'll see!

hey borla how you liking the spec?

looking for an FMU? I got one for sale

which one?

already got one but its just dumping too much fuel!

what size do you have again???

You still going to get the cartech one?

i'm running a vortech 12:1, just way way too much fuel. When i bought mine the 12:1 was what all the J-Body people suggested, now everybody and their mom and dad are going with the Cartech, so we'll see. Hell i'm gonna look into the GM reprogram as well!

how about getting the recalibration deal junk and going to 10:1?

Spy i would do the different disk, but as i modify i will need a bit more fuel here and there, so that why i want the Cartech for its simple adjustability factor.

which FMU do you have?

cartech is much better than a 10:1 FMU

ECOTEC power from GM