Mods with stock turbo
- Thread starter steve1963
- Start date
UNDER-PRESSURE
..... Member .....
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2006
Here would be my choices for a stock turbo combo. Just the basics.
Scan tool & boost gauge
340 fuel pump hotwired, Adjustable regulator, 36 lbs injectors
Dump pipe or Hooker exhaust
K & N air filter
160 thermostat
RJC Power Plate
Duttweiler neck on stock intercooler, remove intercooler screen
If high mileage fresh valve springs & timing chain
Turbo Tweak chip
Alkycontrol alky kit
Stick tires
And my secret weapon............. a pinion snubber :biggrin:
Good luck & have fun!!
Scan tool & boost gauge
340 fuel pump hotwired, Adjustable regulator, 36 lbs injectors
Dump pipe or Hooker exhaust
K & N air filter
160 thermostat
RJC Power Plate
Duttweiler neck on stock intercooler, remove intercooler screen
If high mileage fresh valve springs & timing chain
Turbo Tweak chip
Alkycontrol alky kit
Stick tires
And my secret weapon............. a pinion snubber :biggrin:
Good luck & have fun!!
probably the ....
most bang for the buck is the alchy kit w/the TT chip, as SGRIM stated. As far as the inj.'s go, might consider the more popular 60's. I understand they are very streetable w/plenty of room to grow. Agree w/ the other items mentioned including the exhaust. The only other item might be a KB neck to the stock IC. these mod's should make a big difference in the seat-o-the-pants dyno!:biggrin:
most bang for the buck is the alchy kit w/the TT chip, as SGRIM stated. As far as the inj.'s go, might consider the more popular 60's. I understand they are very streetable w/plenty of room to grow. Agree w/ the other items mentioned including the exhaust. The only other item might be a KB neck to the stock IC. these mod's should make a big difference in the seat-o-the-pants dyno!:biggrin:
50 lb injectors with a stock turbo is a worthless mod, unless your injectors are bad. The stock injectors will outflow the stock turbo, especially with a 93 chip.
A downpipe is very close to worthless with stock turbo.
If the car is stone stock, your best mods are new fuel pump (or atleast make sure the pump has been replaced), a test pipe, free flowing exhaust, a cone K&N, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, transmission shift kit, right side airbag, sticky tires and most important a scan tool.
Do these free/cheap mods if they haven't been done:
Remove the inercooler screen
put in a 160 degree thermostat
Port the stock turbo elbow
make an adjustable wastegate actuator
clean up and line up the intercooler openings and replace the hoses/clamp as required.
make a torque converter lock up switch for the track
A downpipe is very close to worthless with stock turbo.
If the car is stone stock, your best mods are new fuel pump (or atleast make sure the pump has been replaced), a test pipe, free flowing exhaust, a cone K&N, adjustable fuel pressure regulator, transmission shift kit, right side airbag, sticky tires and most important a scan tool.
Do these free/cheap mods if they haven't been done:
Remove the inercooler screen
put in a 160 degree thermostat
Port the stock turbo elbow
make an adjustable wastegate actuator
clean up and line up the intercooler openings and replace the hoses/clamp as required.
make a torque converter lock up switch for the track
Chrisk
TurboTransAm.com
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2005
http://www.gnttype.org/tech area/images/adj_wastegate
Best bang for the buck with exhaust would be a dump pipe instead of a test pipe or a catalytic converter. You won't gain much from an expensive downpipe (with a stock combo) and the dump would take care of everything behind it. Combine with an electric cutout that you can partially open and you're golden, but you won't be saving much money that way. 
I maxed out my 30lb injectors on two cars with stock turbos pretty easily (one on 93 octane) but combined with alky they are fine. If you intend to use race gas instead of alky the 50lbers have worked fine for me and I would probably get 42lbers or above as they would be more than you need and are easy to find.
Even after the 160 degree thermostat, you need to make sure the cooling system is in good condition and temps stay reasonable in hot weather. RMI and distilled water in the summer can help. New radiator and/or dual fans may be needed. Good baffling around the radiator helps.
A good fuel pump, adj fuel reg, scan tool, etc are all basic mods that probably should just be considered standard upkeep before any kind of racing is considered.
If you want to save money on the suspension, you can start out almost stock except for an airbag and see what happens. Removing the front sway bar will probably help, but you may not like the feel of the car on the road without it. Upgraded lower control arms and/or uppers may be needed, but upgrading the bushings and/or a boxing kit would be the cheapest route and might be all you ever need.
A power plate and the dutt neck are good upgrades. I also use the RJC boost controller on my cars. Easy to control boost and helps spool up. If you have poor brakes and can't hold any boost at the starting line, this helps overcome it since the spoolup is so fast once you leave.
Having a car in good running condition as above, I'd say the best performance mods would be alky, Mickey Thompson drag radials, a current turbotweak chip, and Directscan. Close behind is a good rear sway bar like the H&R bar for consistent 60ft times but alot of people have success with various bars so it depends. I used to think Directscan was more of a luxury but since things happen so fast at the track it has proved invaluable as a tuning device/logger. I still keep a scanmaster in the car as I don't always have the laptop in the car and its difficult to watch the laptop in real time.
I didn't even mention gauges, but I consider a boost, knock, water temp, and oil press gauges a must. I always keep an eye on the water and oil gauges for preventive measures and a knock gauge is nice to see because of its fast response rate and visually its easy to see trends such as leaning out vs false knock, etc. A fuel pressure gauge should be available to verify fuel pressure under load occasionally and especially when anything is amiss.
Should be no problem getting a car to run low to mid 12s on a stock turbo with the above mods. Already did it on my white T on both 30lb and 50lb injectors and should be doing it soon on my 87 Regal on 30lbers and alky. I also know of three other stock turbo cars running mid to low 12s with similar combos. The only question is the tranny. If its slipping it will need to be rebuilt, if not then enjoy it while you can!
I maxed out my 30lb injectors on two cars with stock turbos pretty easily (one on 93 octane) but combined with alky they are fine. If you intend to use race gas instead of alky the 50lbers have worked fine for me and I would probably get 42lbers or above as they would be more than you need and are easy to find.
Even after the 160 degree thermostat, you need to make sure the cooling system is in good condition and temps stay reasonable in hot weather. RMI and distilled water in the summer can help. New radiator and/or dual fans may be needed. Good baffling around the radiator helps.
A good fuel pump, adj fuel reg, scan tool, etc are all basic mods that probably should just be considered standard upkeep before any kind of racing is considered.
If you want to save money on the suspension, you can start out almost stock except for an airbag and see what happens. Removing the front sway bar will probably help, but you may not like the feel of the car on the road without it. Upgraded lower control arms and/or uppers may be needed, but upgrading the bushings and/or a boxing kit would be the cheapest route and might be all you ever need.
A power plate and the dutt neck are good upgrades. I also use the RJC boost controller on my cars. Easy to control boost and helps spool up. If you have poor brakes and can't hold any boost at the starting line, this helps overcome it since the spoolup is so fast once you leave.
Having a car in good running condition as above, I'd say the best performance mods would be alky, Mickey Thompson drag radials, a current turbotweak chip, and Directscan. Close behind is a good rear sway bar like the H&R bar for consistent 60ft times but alot of people have success with various bars so it depends. I used to think Directscan was more of a luxury but since things happen so fast at the track it has proved invaluable as a tuning device/logger. I still keep a scanmaster in the car as I don't always have the laptop in the car and its difficult to watch the laptop in real time.
I didn't even mention gauges, but I consider a boost, knock, water temp, and oil press gauges a must. I always keep an eye on the water and oil gauges for preventive measures and a knock gauge is nice to see because of its fast response rate and visually its easy to see trends such as leaning out vs false knock, etc. A fuel pressure gauge should be available to verify fuel pressure under load occasionally and especially when anything is amiss.
Should be no problem getting a car to run low to mid 12s on a stock turbo with the above mods. Already did it on my white T on both 30lb and 50lb injectors and should be doing it soon on my 87 Regal on 30lbers and alky. I also know of three other stock turbo cars running mid to low 12s with similar combos. The only question is the tranny. If its slipping it will need to be rebuilt, if not then enjoy it while you can!
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2001
I would box the upper and lower control arms, get a ATR style rear swaybar, a TT chip and methanol kit. A downpipe will help a little, and a used front mount will help a little too.
Thats what i did in the car in my sig.
The hooker cat back exhaust system is a good upgrade, i have it on a few cars and it sounds great.
Details of the run:
60' 1.624
330' 4.799
1/8 7.483
MPH 91.27
1000' 9.80
1/4 11.767
MPH 114.62
RACE WEIGHT: 3595 WITH ME
BLOCK: Stock 109 Motor never been out of car
HEADS: Stock 8445
CAM: Stock
TRANSMISSION: Stock 2004R
TORQUE CONVERTER: Stock D5
DIFFERENTIAL: Stock 8.5 3:42 gears and stock axles
INTERCOOLER: Kenne bell http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m...n/100_0874.jpg
THROTTLE BODY: Stock, not even semi ported
RJC POWER PLATE: YYYYEEEEESSSSS!!!!
INJECTORS: Stock 90,000 originals
THERMOSTAT: ATR 160°
TURBOCHARGER: Stock 87 turbo regal, portmatched compressor housing to inlet bell
VALVE SPRINGS: Stock 90K originals
MAF: LS1 3.5 with Mark Hueffman cold air kit
DOWN PIPE: MPE Keith Mease 3" S.S. downpipe
EXHAUST: Nonexistant, just downpipe
FUEL PUMP: 340m with Kenne Bell hotwire relay
FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR: Stock TTA 237, non adjustable
FUEL PRESSURE: 47psi
ALCHOHOL INJECTION: Yes, writeup about it here DIY- Junk drawer DIY kit, SMC controller, Sureflow pump,m-10, 1/8th ss line...
PROPAIN INJECTION: NO
NITROUS: NO
AIR FILTER AND AIR INTAKE: Mark Hueffman 4" to 3.5 at MAF
TIRE DESIGN, SIZE & AIR PRESSURE: M/T 28x9.0 ET drags at 12.0 psi cold
AIR BAG(s): 1 on pass side rear, 20psi
SUSPENSION: Missing front swaybar and endlinks, boxed rear uppers and lowers, air bag 20psi and ATR rear 1 3/8 sway bar
SCAN TOOL: Scanmaster 2.1
FUEL: Either 110 Turbo blue OR some type of Blue 112???
CHIP: TT Eric Marshall TT chip made at the nats for my grey car in 03?
CHIP TIMING: 27° in first and second 25° in third
KNOCK RETARD: .5 or 1.0 MAX entire run
OXYGEN SENSOR VOLTAGE: With SMC controller at 4, its 760's at 22-23psi
EXHAUST GAS TEMPERATURE: NO EGT
TRACK ELEVATION: LESS THAN 800 feet
TEMPERATURE: 55°
PEAK BOOST: 23
BOOST AT LAUNCH: 10psi foot brake
MILES ON THE CAR/ENGINE: 90,150 ish
silverT-PA
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2004
mods
you must first decide how far are you going to go with the car?
we all start out just wanting alittle bit more and after we get it WE WANT EVEN MORE!!!! decide where you want to go for you dont buy stuff twice.
i did the same as you,wanted to keep it mostly stock with a little extra power.
i'am now buying my 3rd set of injestors and second intercooler and restalling my converter.they say you don't need big injectors or down pipe but if you are like 90% of the people on this board YOU WILL !
be honest with your self and it will save you alot of time and money.
just my opinion,we will try to help as much as possible mike
you must first decide how far are you going to go with the car?
we all start out just wanting alittle bit more and after we get it WE WANT EVEN MORE!!!! decide where you want to go for you dont buy stuff twice.
i did the same as you,wanted to keep it mostly stock with a little extra power.
i'am now buying my 3rd set of injestors and second intercooler and restalling my converter.they say you don't need big injectors or down pipe but if you are like 90% of the people on this board YOU WILL !
be honest with your self and it will save you alot of time and money.
just my opinion,we will try to help as much as possible mike
