Are Turbos realistic for daily driver?

[Hatched1]

I have been reading these forums since last October when I bought my car and have been listening to what you all have going on with your cars as far as turbos go and just have a few questions. My main focus is reliability but I do wish it had more power. I was originally considering buying a WRX but decided on the hatch for $10K less and knowing its a Honda.

I am not trying to be the fastest car out there and really do not care for street racing. The turbo would be just for me to enjoy my little egg that much more. I would just love having an extra surge of power available in every gear when needed.

1. My car is my daily driver and first new car. Would I be making a mistake messing around putting a turbo on there?

2. I would probably go with greddy since I have a shop down here in Tucson that works with greddy and has already done some EP3s. Probably a good choice because of the turbo size for minumal lag?

3. I have a seven year extended warranty, I read that they can't just void it for a turbo being on there but has anyone had any issues yet?

4. Last, daily driving impessions...was it worth it?

Thanks for any replies, sorry its kind of long. -James



BTW- I live like 3 miles from work and since October I have not even put 2400 miles on my car. So I drive it daily but not really very far.

[andy]

Originally posted by Hatched1

1. My car is my daily driver and first new car. Would I be making a mistake messing around putting a turbo on there?



A properly tuned (and cared for) turbo kit shouldn't be much different
than an n/a car. You'll need/want some extra electronics (turbo timer,
perhaps) and gauges to keep your eye on, but nothing major. Read threads
from US_Si or esmith13 or any of the guys with turbo kits on here for
more "first hand experience". Also, keep in mind how many factory
turbo'd vehicles we are seeing these days (Protege, SRT-4, WRX, etc).



2. I would probably go with greddy since I have a shop down here in Tucson that works with greddy and has already done some EP3s. Probably a good choice because of the turbo size for minumal lag?


Not really my area of expertise, but if you're only boosting 5-7psi,
I wouldn't think you'd get that much turbo lag anyway. There are a
couple guys with GReddy kits on here, look around for their previous
posts.



3. I have a seven year extended warranty, I read that they can't just void it for a turbo being on there but has anyone had any issues yet?


Unless you have an *extremely* mod friendly dealer, you're probably
going to catch a little flak. I doubt they'd warrany anything on your
engine (i.e. you float a valve somehow, don't think they'd warranty
it), but the rest of your car should still be covered. i.e. you blow
your shocks, they should still replace them.
In my case, the Honda dealer I go to once had a guy come in with a
cracked block (bad turbo install) and they gave him a new engine, but
he had to pay the cost of labor/install.



4. Last, daily driving impessions...was it worth it?


Can't answer personally, but my WRX was very, very fun to drive.
I havne't seen anyone say "man, I hate this turbo kit on my Si"
though, either. :)

[chet]

Originally posted by Hatched1
I have been reading these forums since last October when I bought my car and have been listening to what you all have going on with your cars as far as turbos go and just have a few questions. My main focus is reliability but I do wish it had more power. I was originally considering buying a WRX but decided on the hatch for $10K less and knowing its a Honda.

I am not trying to be the fastest car out there and really do not care for street racing. The turbo would be just for me to enjoy my little egg that much more. I would just love having an extra surge of power available in every gear when needed.

1. My car is my daily driver and first new car. Would I be making a mistake messing around putting a turbo on there?

2. I would probably go with greddy since I have a shop down here in Tucson that works with greddy and has already done some EP3s. Probably a good choice because of the turbo size for minumal lag?

3. I have a seven year extended warranty, I read that they can't just void it for a turbo being on there but has anyone had any issues yet?

4. Last, daily driving impessions...was it worth it?

Thanks for any replies, sorry its kind of long. -James



BTW- I live like 3 miles from work and since October I have not even put 2400 miles on my car. So I drive it daily but not really very far.

My impressions on this situation: I drive mine daily (unless there's friggin snow everywhere. I've had my turbo for a couple months and have run into to NO serious problems. What you have to be careful w/is overboosting. Just be careful and don't blow your engine. I'm driving my first Honda. . .my first car w/ F.I. I think its great. BUT, for the $$$ I wish I would have did an engine swap instead and stayed NA. Just my opinion. BTW, I'm running the RevHard turbo kit.

[sniperSI]

Originally posted by chet
BUT, for the $$$ I wish I would have did an engine swap instead and stayed NA. Just my opinion. BTW, I'm running the RevHard turbo kit.

Why would you of perfered the swap over the turbo chet?

[chet]

Originally posted by sniperSI
Why would you of perfered the swap over the turbo chet?

Well, its a little hard to explain. . .I guess the easiest way to describe it is, I'm lazy. The turbo seems like a delicate piece of machinery sometimes. You have to make sure you're not overboosting. . .Watch out for the turbo timer working correctly. . .I can't just shut the car off and lock when I run to the store. I have to wait (if I want the car to be safe). I'm not at all dissappointed in the performance of the turbo. I LOVE IT. RevHard didn't include everything that was supposed to be w/in the kit, but they're fixing that.

Plus, I think in the future, there will be more options for those w/ an A2 as far as engine internals, etc. The A3 is a completely different monster. Especially w/ the i-vtec. I don't know, its just something I have been contemplating lately.

I'm sure when auto-x gets here in a couple weeks and I start whippin up on the other SM dudes, I'll be happier :D :D ;) :cool: :cool:

[Hatched1]

Thanks for the info there,
I was considering NA engine swap but for my needs I don't think I would be happy with it. With the turbo you have something that a NA car will never match and that is torque. Being just a 2 liter motor to get power you still have to rev the heck out of it which just wouldnt do it for me. I know it would be fun at times but I just think that turbo would be more useful for daily driver.

I have a lot of hills around my area as well and thats when it really becomes more noticable that its still just a little 4.
Don't get me wrong though, I really think we DO have a great engine. Especially for the money most of us payed for these little cars. I love mine anyway. 27-30MPG:cool:

Heck, I have owned quite a few cars before and all were NA, including a 65 Vette with a built 400 small block and I don't know, there is just something about have that extra power that comes on with turbo spool that I like. I guess I dont like one smooth seamless powerband :) whatever now I am rambling... any other thoughts out there?

[Btrthnezr3]

Like Andy was saying...talk to Eric (ESmith13), he'd be happy to tell you about his car and discuss the pros and cons of boosting a daily driver. Good Luck man! :D

[weltall]

been driving mine 54 miles each way to work and no probs yet just be sure to bend that brake line by the down pipe

[RockEP_SS**]

I kinda agree with Chet on this one. I LOVE TURBO, but it is kinda like a delicate piece of machinery. I try to baby my car as much as possible, but I do gun it a lot.

Rocky
Showstoppers USA