Turbocharger gains?

[SpeedRacer]

If Toyota was to put on a turbo onto the ft86 what kind of gains would we expect to see? How big of a turbo charger would they use?

I don't know very much about this sort of stuff but I assume you can place a big aftermarket turbo on it right?

[Paul]

Turbo's obviously have a give great gain but it really depends on the turbo. It's not necessarily the bigger the turbo the faster you go either, it depends on the tuning and how the engine can perform with the turbo.

Average turbo gains could be from 30hp-50hp gain, so a very nice increase no matter what car!!

I'm sure an aftermarket turbo will be developed for the car, assuming it sells very well. As far as a factory option, your guess is as good as mine

[1203]

Turbo's obviously have a give great gain but it really depends on the turbo. It's not necessarily the bigger the turbo the faster you go either, it depends on the tuning and how the engine can perform with the turbo.

Average turbo gains could be from 30hp-50hp gain, so a very nice increase no matter what car!!

I'm sure an aftermarket turbo will be developed for the car, assuming it sells very well. As far as a factory option, your guess is as good as mine

I find it a little funny that someone with a screen name of speedracer wouldn't know that much about turbos and whatnot.

As far as turbos go, I think Toyota, like other manufactures, might give a few cars to aftermarket tuners and have them customize them for SEMA. I predict that an aftermarket turbo or two will be available for this car before it's available to the general public. If toyota is smart they will generate a huge buzz before the car's even available.

[SpeedRacer]

I find it a little funny that someone with a screen name of speedracer wouldn't know that much about turbos and whatnot.

I liked the cartoon growing up - the cartoon doesn't teach ya anything technical about cars

Thanks for the info all.

So assuming there is an aftermarket kit how much do they usually run, like $2000 dollars? Do you need to do engine upgrades or can you just bolt on the turbos. I suspect you would have way more engine wear with a stock engine that has a turbo.

[1203]

You can look up turbo kits for honda civics and figure they will be pretty close to the same for the FT86 when it comes out.

As far as just bolting on, you'd need to take a whole day to do it and even then you would need to know what you were doing.

The turbos you could buy and put on a stock engine will only raise output by maybe 40-75 hp then you are starting to damage the stock internals.

[roast123]

Very true 1203. To really run a lot of boost you'll need to do some work to the engine...especially since the car (from what we know) is not coming with a stock turbo. But just with an aftermarket turbo pushing an extra 40 - 50 hp you'll see extremely noticeable gains in this car.

[cbishop11]

I would not expect to only spend $2000 to turbocharge an N/A car (at least, not at worldwide debut, and definitely not if you want quality parts). Even if you are only going to kit a car with a small turbo for 50-75hp, you still have to source a lot of parts to convert it all to a turbo setup. Turbo, intake, BOV, intercooler and pipes, possible head gasket, exhaust manifold, external wastegate, downpipe, boost controller/gauge, and ECU upgrades for the tune.

My guess is that a turbo like the GT3076R would be a good match for this engine, and would net about 400whp. For that then you are talking about addressing considerably more on the car. Typically, when you are increasing air flow this much through the engine, now on top of the other items listed, now you need to address fuel, volumetric efficiency, ignition components, engine components (weak links), and better tuning options.

For fuel, you are talking about upgrading the fuel pump, injectors, and possibly the fuel lines/rail. You might be able to get away without upgrading the pump, but we really wont know this until someone starts modding these cars. The question is fuel flow and the flow capacity of fuel components as they come from Toyota/Subaru.

When you talk Volumetric Efficiency, you are looking at increasing air flow through the engine. This is accomplished by upgrading the cams, upgrading to adjustable cam gears, larger valves, springs, possible porting in the head, possibly upgrading or porting the intake manifold, and careful selection of a free flowing exhaust system (including the manifold).

Typically when increasing power by this much, you'll also need to consider aftermarket ECU, since your factory ECU will have limited tuning flexibility. This not only costs money for installation but also dyno time to properly tune the car.

Weak links can only be be discovered by experimentation, which can be costly. Even though this engine will be direct injection, I wouldnt expect the short block to be much different than the current 2.0 boxer engines out there. I havent yet read up too much on the boxer engine yet, but you may need to consider upgrading to stronger forged internals, like rods, pistons, high flow oil pumps, etc.

AND, as if that wasnt all, if you are putting down this much power and want to be safe about it, you'll want to address suspension and brakes.

Even if you are only upgrading to 250 hp, assuming 170hp stock, thats a 47% increase in power, and some of what I said about a 400hp build could still apply! My current car is a 91 Toyota MR2 putting down about 410whp on pump gas. ALL of this stuff had to be carefully considered and sorted in order to make it reliable and safe at the same time.

So I guess, in short, it all depends on the capabilities of the various systems on the car from the factory, and what your HP goals are. For instance with my MR2 they came with about 160whp stock. Up to around 300whp, not much needs to be done, other than a bigger turbo, bigger injectors, and turning up the boost. Past that you need to upgrade the fuel pump. Past 400 you absolutely must convert from the side mount intercooler to something that allows more cooling like air to water intercooling, regardless of your other mods. Past 600 you must upgrade the ignition and also need to upgrade the engine block to avoid cracking it.

The amount of money you spend will really depend on your goals and weak links in the car from the factory.

[Paul]

Wow, very informative post! Thanks.

[Junior]

Good thread read.

[cfrp]

most manufacturers put smaller turbos into their cars stock. You won't see large turbos going in stock. That is for us to do. The turbo lag on larger turbos is too much for most people to handle properly.

But for sure its more convenient when the manufacturer includes a turbo with the car. It is easier to squeeze more power out of already turboed cars. TO turn a n/a car to a turbo car properly requires time effort and alot of money.

[levin]

manufacturers wont put large turbos on their stock cars to prevent the insane turbo lag that comes with large turbos. They need to find power ful yet quick spooling turbos so the power delivery is smooth enough for daily driving.

[FR_S_Fan]

Small turbo's seem to be the new thing with manufactures these days. Since they put smaller engines in cars that don't have a lot of power, the addition of a turbo really helps give the car the extra kick it needs to get up to regular speeds, basically more low end power. So far these types of turbo's used in the way they are seem to be reliable. If Toyota can do the same with the FR-S but with performance in mind rather than fuel economy, the FR-S will change the game just with an "intelligent turbo".

[cfrp]

exactly. All we ask for is a small sized efficient reliable turbo inside our engine bays to make our cars get to the grocery store quicker. Toyota is that too much to ask?

[Driftr]

I heard you need lower compression pistons if your going to turbocharge a car can someone explain what lower compression pistons are exactly?

[import_nation]

Running high boost with high compression is a easy way to break something. The FR-S FT86 wont have compression high enough for you to worry about. Turbos compress air and jam it into your intake. A piston design that offers high compression + the compression increase from the turbo = too much compression for the engine sleeves or connecting rods to hold. Something will give up. But It all depends how much boost pressure you are planning to run.