Turbo'ing costs

[gavin.starr]

Just a quick question to see what a good set up would cost to turbo the g40 engine, I looked into doing a single turbo conversion on my supra but when I realised it was going to cost me more than what I paid for the car in parts I thought sod it (£8500).

So for a descent set up what are the costs likely to be on the G. Im just curious as i may go down this route later on through the build in a year or so.

Gav

[xandyx]

if you buy used parts from ebay or private sellers and build by yourself you can get the job done for about 500£.

search for saab turbos on ebay in case that you want a garrett or for vw 20v turbo or 1.8t in case you want to go for kkk03.

you can get a turbo in good shape for about 150£

[dub-disaster]

Depends on how far you go with it but basic hardware can be bought for the same sort of price you would get for a r1 charger and toothies set if you have a 4 branch aswell to flog your pretty much on track for getting straight swap rough costs
turbo £80
manifold £200
downpipe £150
boost (silicone),pipework  £100
intercooler £50
turbo water and oil lines and fittings £100

that's most of what you'd need asa minimum but as I said depends on how far you go, as it can snowball easily, like oh I'll just rebuild this and oh mayaswell do that before you know it the engines out so on and so on. But it can be done pretty cheaply and effectivley on a small budget if your the sort of person that can stick to one !

[gavin.starr]

I cant do things by halves so it would prob's cost me a small fortune.

I have already set aside a fair wedge for doing my Bready conversion, so to turbo it doesn't sound to bad to me, so I can see me doing it sooner than later. I cant see me keeping my Supra much longer as its doing my tits in. I have just replaced all the rear suspension arms at a cost of £1500, and the bloody thing still doesn't drive the way I want it to.

Thats why I love to polo because things are so cheap for them.

Gav

[vwmk3jon]

parts can be cheap(ish) if you can find them second hand (like i did   ) otherwise its on the phone to Rothe in germany to order one of their kits!

[cheys03]

Unexpected things like oil coolers, gauges etc. can bite you in the ass. You'll need a map too @~£80 for an 'off the shelf'.

[vwmk3jon]

or £40 as ive got one for sale 

[gavin.starr]

What are these engine like for reliability once they are turbo'd I presume they don't need to be serviced as often as the charger does.

I would probably start from the ground up and give the engine a load of new parts first before I start putting more power to it.

[vwmk3jon]

The turbo would need servicing once in a while but not as often as a G-lader.

I'm sure Hayesey, Yoof or Robin will appear and let you know about reliability but tuned right, should give you problem free motoring.

[Ä‘uro]

Depends on how far you go with it but basic hardware can be bought for the same sort of price you would get for a r1 charger and toothies set if you have a 4 branch aswell to flog your pretty much on track for getting straight swap rough costs
turbo £80
manifold £200
downpipe £150
boost (silicone),pipework  £100
intercooler £50
turbo water and oil lines and fittings £100

that's most of what you'd need asa minimum but as I said depends on how far you go, as it can snowball easily, like oh I'll just rebuild this and oh mayaswell do that before you know it the engines out so on and so on. But it can be done pretty cheaply and effectivley on a small budget if your the sort of person that can stick to one !

I think you forgot cam for turbo - app 120£ 

[hayesey]

I wouldn't say a turbo conversion will be more reliable than an original g40 at all really.  The reliability will be down to how well the conversion is done, how well it's remapped, how many parts you replace and perhaps most importantly, how much boost you decide to run.  You just can't slap a turbo on, set boost to 21psi and expect the car to be as reliable as a standard g40 running about 7 psi.

However, the turbo is more progressive than the supercharger in the way is delivers boost so this is a bit more forgiving than running equivalent power with a supercharger on the drivetrain components. 

I would also factor in £500+ for a proper custom remap.

[Max]

Best advice I think is as hayesey says, all depends how well the conversion is done, which will of course alter the cost.

Out of curiosity, is anyone running a ~150bhp turbo G40, instead of the full fat ~200bhp ones.

[hayesey]

Not sure, that's half the problem, once you go turbo it's far too easy to turn the boost up!

[gavin.starr]

I might even buy another polo to start getting on with, I love the idea of having a turbo'd one 

[Yoof]

A few other 'hidden' costs to consider:

Injectors (250cc or 310cc dependant on power)

Fuel Pumps (replace/ uprate dependant on power)

Rad fan- stock item isn't really up to the job with the extra heat from the turbo into the
cooling circuit.

Forge Actuator (K03)- Adjustable boost levels

Camshaft- Newman/Schrick etc to suit capacity and turbo

Oil drain fittings

Silicone hose (don't underestimate the cost of doing this properly!)

Dump valve

Map to suit (or custom remap)

Clutch

Chassis/brake mods to cope with power! 

It all depends how far you want to take things, for a good budget 170bhp that's reliable I'd run the following spec:

250cc injectors, stock map sensor, K03 with either forge actuator and 15psi spring, or stock with bleed valve (not ideal), large front mount intercooler, and a 63mm downpipe to a 2.5" system, rothe cast manifold (flow 220bhp+ and won't crack!) and an organic clutch.

That's a turbo setup, that with an injector/map and boost increase will make 190bhp+

I.e spend money early and make it 170bhp, get used to it, then upgrade for a few hundred to 190bhp+