Darrytello

Ok, I'm looking to buy a new XB within about 6 months. The car looks great, but I noticed it's not very powerful off the bat, but I also see there are many mods to work with, including Supercharger and Turbo kits. It's going to be a big difference from my car, a V6 3.8L Grand Prix GT, so I'm interested in boosting the power, but only one step at a time because I don't have all the funds at once.

If I bought a turbo kit, what else would I have to buy in addition to the kit, and can I possibly do the install myself? I am semi-knowledgable with cars, and a friend of mine is more knowledgable and he knows a little bit about turbo's. What's the total cost of a turbo kit or a s/c kit going to turn me? A few grand I'm thinking.

But first, before the turbo, should I invest in other things such as headers, exhaust, intakes, etc. which would help my turbo work more efficiently, without causing damage to the XB? Thank you for your time and responses. I really appreciate it.

Prototype_xB

Depends on what the kit comes with. Look at the a Greddy kit if you're wanting a quality kit with EVERYTHING you need.
Knowledge is one thing and tools are another. If you have sufficent tools available, then i would say yes. I installed a TSI kit on my civic in my garage using basic sockets/wrenches/rachets/Tap and Die (for oil pan return), etc.
Depends on what type of kit you want. Blitz (eaton roots type s/c) and other centrifical s/c kits will beat you down for no less than $3000. Greddy's non-intercooled turbo kit will run you around $2500. Only advice i have is to avoid TSI's T20 kit for the xB. TSI isn't all that bad, but their fuel system is flawed. I ran their "injector block" setup on my civic and hated it. (2 additional injectored mounted inside of a caged spacer between the throttle body and intake mani spraying additional fuel into the runners under boost to compensate for the small stock injectors) In theory it worked perfectly, but in practicality, it was flawed. The problem with this setup was the programing. You manually programed the injectors by boost level how long they stayed open in miliseconds, ex--> T-ms. Then again this was flawed because it did not adjust to compensate for barometric pressure changes, tempurature changes, etc etc. So you would need to constanly adjust fuel rates. Other fuel setups such as the E-manage included in Greddy's kit are much more practical and accruate. Also, this kit includes (to my knowlege) larger injectors so you would be tuning the actual injectors themselves rather than a piggyback parasite.

All i'm trying to say is that you get what you pay for.
I would recommend a larger diameter catback exhaust pluming. 2.25", no more, to eliminate restrictive backpressure resulting in quicker spooling.


As for a header and intake..............A turbo runs off exhaust, thus using a "turbo manifold" or "turbo header", whichever you prefer. So buying a header would be pointless. As for an intake, the intake on a turbocharged vehicle comes in to the compressor side of the turbo, which will now be located on the same side of the head as the exhaust. Buying an intake would be okay in my opinion. Here's why. You could have an intake on ur car until you boosted, which would be a plus for all the times you drove it before you installed a turbo. ALSO, because most kits, excluding the greddy kit, have a flexible rubber hose that acts as the intake for the turbo. These are restrictive and do not supply ample air velocity as metal intakes do. So in turn you can cut the intake designed for the throttle body and use on the turbo. This will provide quicker spooling. I did this with an AEM SRI on my civic. Want any pics and i can post them up.



Hopefully i've helped, and if you have anymore questions, let me know

-Matt