Hello all,

I have a 2003 G35 coupe that I want to turbo. The engine has 170,000 miles on it and I was a little hesitant on putting a turbo on with that many miles. I have had the car since about 36,000 miles and have not had any big engine issue. I take good car of my engine and try to maintain it as such. I've just always wanted to turbo it and since I'm not engaged anymore, I have the money to do it. I just don't want to blow my engine. I was looking into the turbonetics kit and adding bigger injectors, fuel pump, ECU flash, exhaust system, and having it all professionally installed and tuned at 6 or 7 PSI. Should I just buy a new motor first(didn't want to do this) or just turbo my motor and buy a new motor if mine goes?

 

Don't buy the turbonetics kit. Look into Boosted Performance.

A supercharger will put less stress on your engine due to the lack of torque. This means it will be safer. Look at vortech kits (since you only want to run low boost)

170k is a lot, but if it was well maintained it should (in theory) be okay with low boost. With that said I would boost your current motor, but have the mindset (and cash on hand) that it could blow at any second...

 

Before you even think about boosting your engine, find a shop that can perform both a compression and leak down test. If either test comes back with poor results, forget boosting your current engine. You can usually find a 30-60k engine for $1500. Or just sell your car and pick up much lower mileage engine and start from there. I would go the second route - and ask the owner if they'll let you take it to a shop to perform the 2 tests and see if it's a winner for your build.

 

I'd pick up a new motor, put it on a stand and build it from the ground up with a turbo kit. At 170k you have plenty of time left on that thing to take your time building the new motor right and the way you want it. By the time you run your current motor into the ground you'll have a crazy badass powerplant with which to replace it. If you finish your new motor before you blow your current one you can always try to sell your old motor for gas money...you'll need it. Haha

 

^ I completely agree with this strategy

 

I'm definitely going to get the leak down test done before I do anything. What's wrong with the Turbonetics kit vs. any other kit? I'm not looking for crazy gains guys, I just want more to have fun with. I think 6 PSI on my motor won't be too much for the mileage as long as the leak down test proves to be good.

 

And compression test. lol

 

What's the point then? That's a lot of money/time/effort for 45hp.

 

What's the budget for this project?

 

6psi is pretty much pointless. You will get maybe 50hp. Really have to plan on 10-12psi for any decent gains.

Is this just a weekend car and not your daily driver? Can you afford to be without it if engine fails? Do you have enough cash in reserve (at least 8-10k) to afford rebuilding the enigne if it fails? Unless the answers to all those questions are YES, then you should not even consider boosting your car.

 

Do we even know if this is an auto or manual yet?

Either way 6-8psi is about the limit of an unmodified DE and would yield reasonable gains above ACTUAL stock RWHP... Maybe 100hp. I think I popped at 400 (DJ) but there was a little more at play during that pull so I can't say for sure if that happened at 8psi. But my stock RWHP was about 224.

6-8psi would likely get you to 350... Eventually and safely if done right. I think 50 is calling it a wee bit low but hey I've been wrong about more important things before.

Might look at the SC route instead of turbo- generally more affordable for that range especially if you're an auto.

I think for every 1 guy in here with reasonably good things to say about the TN kit there are 10 who have had nothing but problems with it and move away from it or basically upgrade the entire setup as soon as they can.

There is always that one guy who needs to come in and say that TN is fine and they don't know what everyone else is talking about- so I have to account for that minority but suffice to say if TN is what you're eyeing up then I hope you fix cars as a hobby because you'll be messing with with it until debt do you part.

 

NEVER put forced induction on a car with over 100k miles without a complete rebuild... EVER. Do it right the first time, do it once