WhiteStallion06

The last few weeks ive been researching turbo kits and i kinda scratched off the granatelli because of the bad expierence i had with the CAI so i though no .... i went on turbo horsepower site and it looks like that got a good set up and hellion of course ive heard great things about it ...

To me the sts set up looked a little weak and didnt show great power numbers but i was just looking at the single turbo kit ... i love just watching the videos turbo cars sound amazing

fordfanboy

Just food for thought...


It is a fact that the most catastrophic failures on S197 motors with FI have been with turbos.

It is also a fact that turbos are the current fewest number of FI kits currently running on S197's.

I don't want to get into a debate about it right now - just giving you the facts to think about.

I would be concerned about buying a kit that has the least corner of the market yet the most catastrophic failures.

There are a lot of issues with turbos (ESPECIALLY on autos) that is being kept hush hush for some reason. My guess is a lot of the people who are windowing blocks don't want to step forward (understandably so) and no way the kit makers are going to tell you about the failures...lol

Yes, I had a turbo on my car and yes, I also blew a motor with it - a rebuilt motor at that. 2 actually...[:@]

baha

That's exactly why sometimes I think of supercharging, as much as I love turbos. If I choose to go the supercharger route I'll go with Saleen for two reasons:
1) Quality. these guys sell vehicles with 3 year warranty! I can trust them for sure!
2) I noticed the popularity of this supercharger among S197s, it must be that good!

06SaLeEn

I think one reason why the Turbo have higher failuer rate. Is because like you said there are very few people who put use them on the S197, so in turn I think tuners are having a hard time with them because lack info out there. I know it took my guy, owner of sniper tuning and AMP racing to finally get it right.Lucky for me, but not so much for other people. Hopefully over the next couple of years more people will do them and more people will be able to give turbo's a better name on these cars.

baha

Only one more reason for me to think about supercharging.

06SaLeEn

Why is that?

I am glad they took there time and go this perfect. Its not like my tuner didn't know what he was doing. He uses Sniper Tuning to do his tuning and is very close to the owner. 95% of other tuners what have rushed me out the door regardless if it was done right. This was his first tubro tuning on a S197 but had done alot others. I like the fact that he got Amp racing involved. They had just done one and added some good info. I am not regreting my choice, the car's drivablity is top notch and the overall performance of my car is awesome. Since they did the tuning I have had ZERO issues and have run her hard and often in the last month. As long as you got a great tuner and a shop you can trust I think the turbo is a great choice and you would not be unhappy.

fordfanboy

Like I said, I don't feel like getting into a debate about it at the moment but maybe I'll start a thread when I have time to get all the info together but it's NOT JUST THE TUNING.

That's the scary part. There are a lot of other issues and not with turbos in general, but in relation to how turbos work specfically on THESE motors. The way they come on, how they hit, etc. etc.

These modular motors do not work like an inline 6 or like anything else really. And there are specific bad issues encountered with autos.

I will say that if people get turbos with plans on turning them up - you are in for a rude awakening. The manufacterers out there spend a lot of time and money to perfect their kits in the psi range they sell them in which is the 9-12 range. Most all the kits work GREAT in those ranges. The trouble is hardly nobody ever buys a FI kit and expects to say at 9-12 psi forever. If you are one of those guys who will never want more thanwhat the kit comes with, then a turbo is a good choice.

But if you are planning on being fast and turning it up, you are going to find that 14+ psi and a turbo on this motor = by-by street car. It will have to be a track only car...period. And even then - it's going to take a lot of other mods to get it work well.

More information is starting to come in regarding Twin Turbo set-ups and I beleive that they are going to end up being the best turbo set-up for the street.

baha

My problem exactly

That's why asupercharger kit with a canned tune is trouble free (I think)

fordfanboy

In that case I would say to get a KB hands down. The Saleen is a good choice but the KB comes with the most powerful and best included tunes out of all the FI kits out there IMO. It's one of the only kits out there that I know of that many owners never get a custom tune - they just run with the KB tune right out of the box.

Saleen will need a custom tune to make good power out of it.

carmanwelder

I'll 2nd that! I am completely stock except the KB blower.