Considering boost on my 09
 

Yo, guys, so I bought an 09 tC a while back as some may know, and I actually really like the car. There's been a big issue recently, though, in that I went on a road trip and didn't keep checking my oil. Poor thing went dry and destroyed itself. Flimsy metal chunks were in the oil pan and my 'master mechanic' brother doesn't deal with small car stuff, so he didn't know what to do with the balancing shafts if he were to go and try replacing the rod bearings.

Either way, I'm STILL paying for all of that mess, and I'll be saving up for another month before I can even go back up there, drop a new engine in it, and drive home. BUT, the whole ordeal got me upset that I traded my truck for the car, and then, I was honest with myself and admitted that it wasn't quite as fast as the truck used to be, either, sooo...

Despite the aftermarket for these seemingly being fairly dead, I thought, ____ it. Turbo time. And before you beat me with the search button, I HAVE done some of my own research. Just enough to make a thread asking what you guys think I should do, and the best way to go about it.

I want a really responsive turbo setup. I want it rear mounted. And I want it to be a custom kit. For now, it'll be stock motor, but in the future I wanna forge it, E153 swap, crank the RPM's up, and run flex fuel. I absolutely don't care for more than 500 wheel after "stage 2" ((Which is all of the aforementioned at once, plus a couple of extras)), and, in any case, I want the baseline setup to be all on pump gas.

I was thinking have a 5 pound wastegate spring and a boost dial onboard, and, if possible, basically have the ECU attempt to reach whatever boost setting I set it to with the available octane and a reasonable ignition timing. If it can't, then it would automatically dial itself back down regardless of my dial input, until I changed the fuel out and 'reset' the system by dialing back the boost, then turning it up again, or, more simply, when I restart the car.

But, again, that's "stage 2". Stage 1 is getting the car turbo'd period. Picking out the right one that'll be responsive enough on the low end, and just barely support my max power goals, making sure it's ball bearing with a strong thrust bearing, fabbing mounts, figuring out engine management, fabbing the exhaust and figuring out header design, buying parts, doing the RX8 throttle body(do I need an intake mani?) and a bunch of other stuff.

That's what I'm posting for. I need a checklist for "stage 1" and then some ideas on what else I can do to make "stage 2" better. BTW, I've already got a clutch in line for when the car is fixed. Clutch Master's FX300 and their lightweight steel flywheel(12 lbs). That's what they recommended based on my driving, and my desire for the car to be boosted. ((Obviously, the clutch will likely need to be replaced when I get "stage 2" finished.))

Anyway, thanks in advance for the help, I hope to be boosted within the next 6 months, and, if not, in another ride as good as the tC but RWD and around 1HP and TQ per 10 pounds.

Why rear mount? There's plenty of room up front, and parts are fairly easy to come by. Hit up treadstoneperformance.com they have a lot of spare turbonetics parts from the turbonetics kit. Manifold, IC piping, IC. Buy yourself a 50mm turbo, and get the car tuned. I recommend SPEC Stage 2+ clutch for daily driving. It's sprung & holds a decent amount of power

I want to rear mount for a few reasons. One is that there's no downside apart from a couple hundred RPM higher boost threshold, plumbing, and space for a varex muffler and a high flow cat. I mean, it'll look stock from the engine bay, it'll keep a lot of heat out of the engine bay, I can make whatever header I want, and therefore fine tune the exhaust note, despite your claim of space, it'll be much less jam-packed with a rear mount. I mean, literally aside from packaging the piping back and forth, I don't see much of an issue.

I'll check them out, but I'm still interested in at least deciding on my own turbo, blow off, wastegate, and the specific brands of other parts.

I know I'll need to get the car tuned, and, everything I've read is pointing towards needing a standalone ECU. So, I guess the question becomes "which one"? And also, what should I do about the intake manifold? When I installed my short-ram intake, I noticed the TB was a lot smaller than the pipe going in. Does TB and intake manifold size relate to power like header primary and collector sizes do? I'd assume so. And, just like the cylinder head, I'd assume more flow was better, soo....