A couple of questions

This may be a stupid question but do I need to buy an exhaust for my civic for my turbo kit?
And can someone clarify and explain the psi calculations....I con't know what psi's mean...

Thanks a bunch,

Kool-Aid

[thermal]

PSI stands for pounds per square inch. This is a standard measurement of pressure. In regards to turbo, psi is also referred to as "boost".

Rule of thumb:
1 PSI boost (pressure) produced by a turbo compressor is equal to 10 +2 horsepower gain. This is directly proportional to a few aspects. The number one being the fuel management combination and it's tunability. The atmospheric pressure at sea level and ambient temperature (in other words, the location of the car) is also significant, performance wise.

An example:
To maintain optimum performance, if a car is tuned in Florida and made 400 HP and the same car and engine is relocated to Colorado, the tuning must be redone. Again, this is for optimum performance. Oxygen levels and temperature in general can easily affect a highly tuned race car. This same car may or may not make the same 400 HP if relocated in Colorado. The density of air greatly affects performance of any internal combustion engines and gas turbine engines. The lower the temperature of air, the more dense it is.....

Ok...so what about the exhaust...should I get an exhaust with the turbo kit?

[thermal]

get a high flow cat, if you dont care about emission. Any 2.5 inch cat-back system will work.

Ok. Thanks.

[Sivik]

thermal is so nice in his answers... i need to think of a question to stump his ass.

yea definitly get exhaust for turbo. 2.5-3" for a street car is acceptable, and if you live in a non-emission testing state like me, CAT = DEVIL! get rid of the cat and use a test pipe (straight pipe). if you have OBD II then o2 simulator will be in the works as well.

plus, rarely will a turbo sound raspy so any exhaust system will sound good. just don't do the autozone ricer style... please!

Thanks for the help.

[thermal]

93 is OBD I. That eliminates the secondary O2 sensor, meaning you will not need an O2 simulator..........

thermal is so nice in his answers... i need to think of a question to stump his ass....

ha ha ha..... i dont know everything mang. i just try to be brief and simple... he he

That's good. I just bought a DC sport catback for my honda...about 500 dollaz...everything is all good. I still need to get the missing link though...is there anywhere else other than ebay where you can get one?

[thermal]

yep, try www.importparts.com or make your own. My website has it under tech, entitled "the check valve method".

Thanks.

[ebpda9]

well what about the afc hack ? i like it a lot better than the missing link method.

[thermal]

She can do that too. The only problem I'm seeing is that each car reacts different to the AFC hack. It will be hard to tune it without actually seeing and hearing how the car sounds. Even performance shops are not into doing the "hack". I was fortunate to not have too much problems. I'm sure that for the low boost application, she will be fine with the FMU set-up. This will prevent her intial set-up to be less stressful until she demands more power and have a more thorough understading on tuning with electronic fuel management.........

So what's the deal with this hacking thing? I just wanna know about it. I've already bought that FMU 12:1

[thermal]

The AFC Hack:
http://www.geocities.com/thermalfid16/VAFChack1.html

let me know if you get confused. i will further explain..........

[Sivik]

afc hack for me... good cept check engine light on constantly... stupid BARO code... obd 2

About the intercooler, there are two different sizes for an intercooler...standard and large...which size is needed for the turbo kit?

[ebpda9]

depends on the boost levels. i think a standard one is good till up to 12-15psi

[thermal]

Originally posted by Kool-Aid
About the intercooler, there are two different sizes for an intercooler...standard and large...which size is needed for the turbo kit?

I believe that GReddy redesigned the Type31 intercooler now, which is the small one. I saw the one for the 96+ civics and it looks awesome! The small one will be efficient enough for your application, IMO....

Is it the intercooler kit or just the intercooler by itself I need?

[thermal]

You need the kit. The kit comes with the piping that's applicable for your set-up...

Ok...so I should just get the standard intercooler kit? Koo.

[thermal]

Originally posted by Kool-Aid
Ok...so I should just get the standard intercooler kit? Koo.

There should be 2 versions:
-Type 31
-Type 24

Type 31 is smaller and sufficient enough for ya'

Ok...thanks. I think that's about all the questions I have. Thanks guys!!

[thermal]

Originally posted by Kool-Aid
Ok...thanks. I think that's about all the questions I have. Thanks guys!!

Anytime.....

Ok...so what are the negatives/warnings about the turbo kit? What are the "dont's" for the turbo kit as far as driving my car?

[thermal]

Always change your oil in time and use synthetic like Mobil 1.

"upping the boost" does not necessarily mean more HP. It has to give it fuel as well. Use premium gas to avoid the possibilities of detonation. .....

Ok...so as far as maintenance..just the oil and "not upping the boost", and using premium gas...is all that I have to worry about then?

What would "up" my horsepower if boosting it won't?

[thermal]

If you increase boost, it must have a relative increase in fuel and spark as well. The only thing is, to get the optimum efficiency is through a dyno tune with a wide band O2 analyzer.

Dont get me wrong, yes increasing boost will increase HP. But the "real" question is........ was the set-up adding ample fuel with the increased boost? It is not safe to do that. It could blow up your motor. When you get back. Catch me on AIM and I will discuss thermo dynamics and turboed motor with you. It's not really that hard. I will cover some tuning applications as well....

Ok...I'll hit you up when I get back...Im gonna have to get ejumucated...

Ok, so you honestly and truly think that my Civic DX 1.5 can be turbo'd without any complications? I guess I keep listening to people, especially people who don't even own Honda's, and they keep saying that I should get an engine swap because I'll burn my engine out if I turbo what I have now...

[Sivik]

you can turbo anything... really. how many miles are on the motor? if its above 70K then i would do a compression/leakdown test to see if the motor is still holding strong. after that, if you piece a turbo kit together then it will be harder and more probable you will run into problems. my advice is to go with a kit that is made for your motor and you won't have problems. i've had my turbo for almost 3 yrs no and no problems at all, cept for head lift which is my fault for running too much boost while racing...

i would go with the Greddy kit for reliability purposes. if you want the most power then get the edelbrock kit, but your paying more money for that. but even if you go with the greddy one, you still have to buy intercooler and BOV, and when you add that into the price its not that much less expensive than the edelbrock.

I was going to get the GReddy kit...I have the BOV already...I just need the kit and the intercooler...Im just scared that I'll end up wasting my money and my car if things don't go right.
As far as that test is concerned, I was told that my engine is fine...

[Sivik]

you wont waste your money with the greddy kit... turbos are a blast even if your not running insane amounts of boost. trust me, if your engine is fine then go for it. you'll never want to drive NA again.

with the greddy kit, nothin should go wrong. install is simple as well.

question... manual or auto?

Manual...why do you ask?

[Sivik]

i honestly don't remember...

ha ha ha ha....you are too funny...

[Sivik]

yea i try... so when do you plan on getting the kit? if you need help on pricing i can try to hook ya up or if not then no worries.

How much of a deal can you hook me up with? I could better save for the kit if I know how much to save...I need the GReddy kit and the intercooler...