I've been considering saving up for a twin turbo kit over this winter but just had a few questions.

I'm moving into the city this fall and its unreasonable to have a car there.
But I love my 07 Z too much to sell it so I'd like to garage it and drive it now and then in the summer. Its a 32,000 miles and that numbers not going anywhere fast.

But going FI would depend on the long term cost for me. Really want to spend around $10,000. I think a couple things decide how realistic that is. Such as, I have an HKS Hi Power Exhaust and HFCs on now, but obviously a 3 inch exhaust would be more beneficial but could I run it TT with that exhaust for say, a few months? And luckily, I've already upgraded to a JWT clutch and flywheel.

For kits, I'm interested in the GTM Turn Key Turbo kit because of its cost. It also has an ECU re-flash included for engine management. But I already have an Uprev tune so I would probably get it tuned again with the same licensee.

So that brings me to my real question, is it worth it? For me, it'd be more than worth it to be up at around 500whp, but on a stock HR? I've seen people run more reliable setups at 450hp but for a car that is driven sparingly but still maintained, is 500 realistic?

On the forum, those initial stock HR Z's running 500 seemed to hold up well. But that was 09/10' anyone know how are they running now?

Sorry for such a roundabout way of asking that question, but hope it gives people an idea of what I'm trying to do.

 

Best plan for TT is to talk yourself out of it. Especially with a "small" budget like you have proposed. Factor in the cost to slap the kit on, and the cost to fix it when it blows up which can easily be double.

Now prepare for all the grandma drivers to chime in and day their 500+whp stock block HR's hold up well, I dont believe that BS for a second. I myself wouldnt run more than 450whp on a daily basis. I know for a fact GTM has dyno'd tested HR's and 3.7's to over 600whp then tell the customers not to do it on the street.

 

Thanks Alberto. I hear ya. I can't imagine the cost of fixing one after it blows up. I can install it and get it tuned for about $1,000 - Lots of friends who are mechanics. But I'd for sure have it tuned by a good shop, another few hundred. But as for reliability, I'm not looking for a daily driver, just something to drive probably every other week. It'll be in a friends garage about an hour away from Boston. I don't race it either. But I'd like to upgrade the engine in the future, rods first.

But I agree with you in being skeptical of those 500whp HRs. And certainly don't want to blow a motor. But you said you'd run 450whp on a daily driver would that be realistic? At least until engine upgrades? Also, Are there hidden costs at that level i'm not seeing?

 

Just based on the questions you're asking, I don't think you really understand what all goes into it.

 

Just because you can afford to buy a turbo kit doesn't mean you can afford to drive a turbo'd car.

There is a LOT of things you need to factor in when going FI and I would not recommend it unless you have a deep wallet and a lot of patience.

 

It's a waste of money. Don't do it.

 

Listen to the vets posting.

 

don't do it. My car has never left me stranded, but its not worth it. Save up some more and buy a nicer car in a few yrs.

I love my boosted Z, but for the money it isn't 'that' much better than less modified car.

Better yet, buy an evo and throw 10 grand at that, and see what kind of fun you can have

 

I can pay for it, its just a question of if its worth it. I'm aware of how much money it costs (kit, timer, gauges, etc) and I'm not pushing for some kind of insane build. Twin turbos and eventually some supporting engine mods. A 10k budget is more of an initial investment. Much more money to make it reliable over the course of many miles.

The question of 500 hp is really more about the limits on the HR. Where it'll bust and whats reliable - Something thats been hotly debated on this site.

Money aside, its not worth it for me to keep the Z but only drive it once every other week if its no longer exciting to drive. If I thought I could just order a twin turbo kit and slap it on, I wouldn't be here asking questions.

Edit:Can't help but see the consensus though.

 

ok lets see:

6k for the GTM kit
$300 for wideband
$450 for an oil cooler
$400 for boost controller
$900 for rfs
$750 for gauges
$900 for clutch
$3500 for install


= $13,200

Plus you need to budget in some unexpected costs so add another $1000

 

OP mentioned a turbo timer in the first three items needed...

 

^ another $100 for a turbo timer

 

don't even fool yourself with words like 'reliable' or 'investment'

you will basically be throwing money at your car to likely make it faster...yes, but no such thing as an investment into parts or reliability. You will be making your car less reliable. No other way to spin it. You boost it, you are basically playing with fire. You will eventually get burned. It may take time, but it is inevitable

 

lol among other things.

Thanks everyone. You guys are right, its a ton of money. I'm not an idiot. And everything is more expensive for the HR. I'll have to wait till the spring and see if I still have the money or patience to do it, or just buy another car. But I can see its clear that the overall consensus is don't do it and I respect that.

 

just going to throw this out there that you may want to have the capability of keeping the car in a garage of your owns before throwing good money at a turbo kit....

 

i only did it as i was forced into it w a blown engine NA.
when you have to spend 8 k, why not spend 15 and be FI.
But i have a differnet kind of deal going.. sounds like its not your daily driver, sounds like a better idea than most ppl w FI dreams.

Also sounds like youre not being a juice bag about it, can afford at least to start playing.. and are aware you will be married to a car that will require more money as it goes along.. if you are cool w that, do it man.

F it, youre gna die someday, who cares man.

Its like ppl who hold off getting tattoos until they find something super duper important to get inked.. find something you like now, do it, and live w it w a smile for the time being I say..

edit:
the posts above are all made my experienced FI guys those, kind of a whos who of Fi.. so take my comments w a grain of salt OP.

 

The hidden costs are what add up quick... trust me. If you enjoy worrying every time the car makes a new noise or throws some random cel then F/I is awesome. You mentioned a couple hundred for a tune by a good shop... you might want to multiply that by 4 or 5.

I don't see spending that money on something that you only use every once in a while, but I just thought of my R1 in the garage not being touched for almost a year and realize that I'm "that guy"

 

makes a ton of sense Cass.. i see why you went the ls route

"luckily" for me, i work 5 miles from Intense and dont have to pay for tuning.
But i am certainly going to plan on quickly buying an old Corolla on Honda hatch when im done paying for this build.

 

or do what i did and get married and have her work, extra money plus she will have her own car to drive you around in =P of course i also live on base when im not deployed sooooooooo i guess i can walk most places lol

 

Here's my experience on someone who has a TT kit sitting in my garage:

Do it only its something that you really won't regret andyou can live with downtime and the cost of it. I'm waiting on new manifolds to come in. Then I gotta rebuild the snails.

I've read all the horror stories and personally it hasn't changed my mind. Im not fond of buying another car cause I know I'd end up down this road before. I used to have other cars that I sold before finishing my plans, only to come back to modding trucks. Now I'm back to cars. I'm not delusional to the fact that it'll crap out one day. But I'm doing it more to learn to wrench and hopefully pass it to my son-he's been asking me to "fix my car and paint it read"; that right there is the investment and worth more than money for me.

Simply put, I guess if there's something beyond "boosting a car" then by all means go for it.

John