whiteTeaseC

Hello everyone. I need some advice on whether I shud put turbo on my car or not. I have $4000 saved up but I'm not sure if I shud use it for performance mods or body/aero mods. Here's my dilemma on getting a turbo: it's not healthy for the car since I'll be driving it daily. I have the $$$ for turbo but not the knowledge and I'm serious. I mean I can't even do my own oil change =[. I'm a busy college student who also works so I can't invest too much time into maintaining the car. I'm looking to boost conservatively to avoid problems. So pretty much the bottom line question is, is it possible have a reliable turbo tC without the knowledge of a mechanic?

p.s. is $4000 even enuff to get my tC turboed? how much will turbo maintenance run up within later years?

Turbo junkies plz help! tell me your experiences good and bad. I need your advice!

recliner15

$4000 is enough to boost your car, but time is just as importaint. I would say go for it if you have the time. The only meintance change is synthetic oil and checking it often. premium gas. if you have a rock solid installation then meintenance is not as big of a deal as its hyped up to be

You need to find a turbo kit including injectors, management, and a harness for $3000. Tuning and gauges is another $500 if you shop around for used parts. Installation will make or break you. But boosting on a budget is not easy so take your time and shop around. wait for a good deal

but again, if you dont have the time dont do it. and I dont see you getting the true benefit of a performance car if you have no interest in doing the work (thats half the fun)

save your money

Haro287

I would never boost a daily driver, but I know a lot of people on here have.

I just wouldn't feel comfortable knowing that I could potentially harm my only form of transportation, no matter how much time I spent researching a good turbo set up and getting a professional tune. There are also a lot of hidden costs that people forget to budget in when they start planning their FI set up and this can leave you up a creek if you don't plan correctly.

That's just my .02 though. With 4K you could get a nice lip kit (RS1 or OEM), a nice set of wheels, coilovers, and some little things like HID's, fogs, stubby antenna, etc. I'd rather do that any day.

Just really depends on if you want more "show" or more "go"

cwayne

are you willing to use premium fuel all the time?

Premium gas in So Cali is approaching $3.50/gallon

Butane

Throw that money into a Roth account and actually put that money to good use instead of wasting it on a car that is worthless to turbo.

captainlaziness

Worthless to turbo?

whiteTeaseC

yea gas isn't much of a problem to me. although i'm a daily driver I drive 1k miles a month.

yamaha16bw

If I were to give advice to a tC owner looking to boost I wouldnt even think about it unless you have at least 6g's ready to spend on a turbo setup. Turbo kit, gauges, clutch, and enough to cover a disaster.

Never know.....something could go wrong then your in deep.

For that money I'd supercharge it. Turbo's are addicting and a money pits!

yamaha16bw

Worth every penny to me

whiteTeaseC

$6k??! damn, even if I'm just going for about ~250whp?

captainlaziness

Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Right?

olaHalo

wtf?


go for it dude. turbo it and dont look back

whiteTeaseC

I think s/c is a waste of money. TRD sc really sux, if I spend that much $$ on a sc and still can't keep up with a civic si I'm not gonna bother.

olaHalo

without a supercharger you should be able to keep up with a civic si.
with a supercharger you would kill it.
im guessing you watched that youtube vid of a SC tC racing a civic?
that vid is BS or terrible driving.

whiteTeaseC

No, on edmunds.com they compared the TRD s/c tC vs the civic si. they put out about the same power but the si still got better track times. the reason is because the tC wheelspins way too much. they needed to add LSD to the tC in order to match with the si's track time. Lsd cost an addition $1500 which added with the trd tC is more than the tested si. I've seen the new 2007 si's in action, it's anything but slow.

olaHalo

to each his own LOL!

well you got 4000 dollars. trade the tC in and get an si

whiteTeaseC

I don't like the new si's cuz they're ugly. plus my car's already paid off so I can't trade it in. anyways I was just putting my 2 cents into what I think about supercharging. that's why im considering turbo. now....back on topic....bump! plz help

olaHalo

gotcha.
well with 4000 your really cutting it close.
have you considered a used kit?
most of the better kits run between 3000-4000 new,
and your going to need management, gauges, tune, install, new oil, uh, patience too lol.
what do u think?

whiteTeaseC

that is a consideration but I'm a bit iffy on used things. if it's a used exhaust or something I wudn't care too much becuz how much can go wrong with an exhaust? on the other hand haveing a used turbo gives me a bad sensation.

aen

6 k is ALOT for a turbo kit.

i just bareeeeely hit 3500 and i ran into my share of problems.