Naturally aspirated vs. turbo- LONG
01-04-2005, 03:25 AM
#1
Naturally aspirated vs. turbo- LONG If you want, ignore this story and write your reasoning/pro's and con's of all-motor vs. turbo.
I tried this in the forced induction section and it turned into a 12-page, "who's dick is bigger" contest. I should have known they would be biased anyway so I am going to try this question here- Why did you go all motor and if you could afford to go turbo would you?
So here is the deal. A good friend of mine is trying to convince me to buy his QMP turbo kit. He is selling it to me for an awesome price and it will include everything I need from A to Z so that it will operate properly including installation from him (he used to work at QMP) and tuning by Rob Raymor himself; so, I know it will work flawlessly when its finished. It has already put down 525/610 on his car at 11lbs of boost and 625/710 on 14lbs with methanol. And this in on a stock engine (Comp 918 valvesprings only) with 85k miles on it.
I know it will work perfectly and I WILL see a safe 525rwhp/600rwtq dyno. I am a little concerned that I won't like the way the turbo delivers power. I just finished putting my car together (cam, exhaust, intake, TB) but I still have to get it tuned. So far I like the power and I love the sound but I hate the fuel smell and idle quality; although I know it will be alot better once it is tuned. I rode in my friends turbo car twice but never drove it. It was fast, it drove like stock, and it sounded badass with the whirring of the turbo and the blow-off-valve, but it didn't have that muscle car sound and feel that you get from a big cam and exhaust (especially when you have dual cutous, damn they are fun!) The main difference from what I could tell, I could be wrong, is that you really don't have any part-throttle action. You are either in stock mode or under boost and when you are in boost, your tires are up in smoke unless you have on ET Streets or going 75+mph. My friend could never hook in first or second gear on 305/18 nitto drag radials! Bottom line, I like controlling the throttle.
My other main concern is I won't enjoy driving my car as much as I do now. Many many people have told me that I have the best looking camaro they have ever seen and some people have told me they don't even like camaro's but they do like mine. The look and the sound combined gets ALOT of attention and makes the car fun to drive. The turbo and BOV sounds great but it is not obvious to most people. I like going fast and I would like more power but I think the power is useless 99.9% of the time since I hardly ever street race from 75 to 150- my wife won't let me get away to race on the weekends. And I think I will like driving my car even more once it is tuned and especially after I get some 4.11's in the rear.
Finally, I don't like the idea of worrying about the engine detonating and upkeep. The engine will have to use methanol or alcohol but it can't sit for longer than a week I think. Sometimes I don't drive the car for days and I don't want to have to worry about draining and refilling it everytime I drive. That would be annoying and a little expensive, not much but not free. So the turbo will be awesome for speed and embarassing the **** out of 99% of the cars who will race me but it won't have the fun of an all-motor car or the sound.
If I'm wrong, PLEASE tell me. I would love to hear that alot of you guys prefer turbo's over your cam and heads. I wish my friends car was still up and running. If I could drive it that would make my decision right there. So what do you guys think?
BTW: The whole thing will only cost me about $3000 after I sell my stuff and not changing my rear gear. It's a pretty good deal.
Here is what I am getting:
-QMP Turbo kit with 67mm turbo
-LS1 Intake plumbed for Alcohol injection
-Alcohol injection in Ford windshield wiper fluid reservoir container where batery goes
-Battery relocation in spare-tire well with custom bracket and lightwieght dynabatt battery
-42# fuel injectors (I think there 42#)
-SPEC Stage 4 clutch- no chatter.
-Autometer Cobalt Fuel, Boost and ? gauges with tripple-pod pillar
-Manual Boost control
-Installed by him
-Tuned by Rob Raymor
I tried this in the forced induction section and it turned into a 12-page, "who's dick is bigger" contest. I should have known they would be biased anyway so I am going to try this question here- Why did you go all motor and if you could afford to go turbo would you?
So here is the deal. A good friend of mine is trying to convince me to buy his QMP turbo kit. He is selling it to me for an awesome price and it will include everything I need from A to Z so that it will operate properly including installation from him (he used to work at QMP) and tuning by Rob Raymor himself; so, I know it will work flawlessly when its finished. It has already put down 525/610 on his car at 11lbs of boost and 625/710 on 14lbs with methanol. And this in on a stock engine (Comp 918 valvesprings only) with 85k miles on it.
I know it will work perfectly and I WILL see a safe 525rwhp/600rwtq dyno. I am a little concerned that I won't like the way the turbo delivers power. I just finished putting my car together (cam, exhaust, intake, TB) but I still have to get it tuned. So far I like the power and I love the sound but I hate the fuel smell and idle quality; although I know it will be alot better once it is tuned. I rode in my friends turbo car twice but never drove it. It was fast, it drove like stock, and it sounded badass with the whirring of the turbo and the blow-off-valve, but it didn't have that muscle car sound and feel that you get from a big cam and exhaust (especially when you have dual cutous, damn they are fun!) The main difference from what I could tell, I could be wrong, is that you really don't have any part-throttle action. You are either in stock mode or under boost and when you are in boost, your tires are up in smoke unless you have on ET Streets or going 75+mph. My friend could never hook in first or second gear on 305/18 nitto drag radials! Bottom line, I like controlling the throttle.
My other main concern is I won't enjoy driving my car as much as I do now. Many many people have told me that I have the best looking camaro they have ever seen and some people have told me they don't even like camaro's but they do like mine. The look and the sound combined gets ALOT of attention and makes the car fun to drive. The turbo and BOV sounds great but it is not obvious to most people. I like going fast and I would like more power but I think the power is useless 99.9% of the time since I hardly ever street race from 75 to 150- my wife won't let me get away to race on the weekends. And I think I will like driving my car even more once it is tuned and especially after I get some 4.11's in the rear.
Finally, I don't like the idea of worrying about the engine detonating and upkeep. The engine will have to use methanol or alcohol but it can't sit for longer than a week I think. Sometimes I don't drive the car for days and I don't want to have to worry about draining and refilling it everytime I drive. That would be annoying and a little expensive, not much but not free. So the turbo will be awesome for speed and embarassing the **** out of 99% of the cars who will race me but it won't have the fun of an all-motor car or the sound.
If I'm wrong, PLEASE tell me. I would love to hear that alot of you guys prefer turbo's over your cam and heads. I wish my friends car was still up and running. If I could drive it that would make my decision right there. So what do you guys think?
BTW: The whole thing will only cost me about $3000 after I sell my stuff and not changing my rear gear. It's a pretty good deal.
Here is what I am getting:
-QMP Turbo kit with 67mm turbo
-LS1 Intake plumbed for Alcohol injection
-Alcohol injection in Ford windshield wiper fluid reservoir container where batery goes
-Battery relocation in spare-tire well with custom bracket and lightwieght dynabatt battery
-42# fuel injectors (I think there 42#)
-SPEC Stage 4 clutch- no chatter.
-Autometer Cobalt Fuel, Boost and ? gauges with tripple-pod pillar
-Manual Boost control
-Installed by him
-Tuned by Rob Raymor
Last edited by SStolen; 01-04-2005 at 03:34 AM.
01-04-2005, 12:03 PM
#3
TECH Senior Member
iTrader: (10)
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: North Texas
Posts: 8,009
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sounds to me like you've already made up your mind in a way, if you aren't going to enjoy the sound/feel of turbos, why spend that much money on them? I personally enjoy the thought of a near-stock behaving car during normal putzing around and a BEAST when I stab the throttle good and hard. To each their own, you have to decide what is best for you. Good luck either way you choose!
01-04-2005, 12:06 PM
#4
TECH Enthusiast
iTrader: (12)
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: N.E. GA
Posts: 578
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You can get more pwr and tq out of the same displacement with a F/I configuration w/o the driveability issues associated with the cam overlap required to make big N/A pwr. With that being said, I'm an N/A guy myself. To each his own...
If you lack the ability to make your own decision, flip a coin...The opinions of others make no nevermind with a combo only you will drive. All you'll get are 'who's **** is bigger' arguments anyway-no matter which section of this site you stick this in...
Just some constructive critisism. The best of luck to ya
If you lack the ability to make your own decision, flip a coin...The opinions of others make no nevermind with a combo only you will drive. All you'll get are 'who's **** is bigger' arguments anyway-no matter which section of this site you stick this in...
Just some constructive critisism. The best of luck to ya
Last edited by NoseUp; 01-04-2005 at 12:17 PM.
01-04-2005, 12:53 PM
#5
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,123
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
While I will be going N/A, if I had this option, I would go with the turbo kit. I mean, with a boost controller, you could dial in the boost to give you the power you want on the street and turn it up for the track. And great drivability. But that's just me. I can't afford to go turbo now, so I'm going N/A. Plus, I will probably be tuning myself, but if I could have Raymer tune a kit he produced, I would seriously consider it.
However, it sounds like you really don't care about the power that much. Only the sound, look, drivability, etc. So maybe we are different.
Sorry, I probably just confused you, but think it through. Good luck!
However, it sounds like you really don't care about the power that much. Only the sound, look, drivability, etc. So maybe we are different.
Sorry, I probably just confused you, but think it through. Good luck!
01-04-2005, 02:07 PM
#6
TECH Junkie
iTrader: (28)
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Houston
Posts: 3,250
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I've driven a lot of N/A and F/I automobiles.
I chose N/A for 1 reason. Linear driving
Centrifical blowers (turbo or super chargers) drive like rubber bands to me. You step on the gas (strech the rubber band) then BANG! (release the rubber band). I have driven some nice F/I setups that didn't show too much lag, but end the end, a N/A car feels the best to me.
That being said, The only F/I cars I have liked and owned used positive displacement blowers (read root's type). Roots type blowers are a trade off because of he heat they generate, but otherwise they drive very similar to a N/A car.
If there was an Eaton blower kit (not willing to fund the R&D to develop my own kit) that was readily available for the F-Bod I probably would have put my money there instead of building the 383.
I chose N/A for 1 reason. Linear driving
Centrifical blowers (turbo or super chargers) drive like rubber bands to me. You step on the gas (strech the rubber band) then BANG! (release the rubber band). I have driven some nice F/I setups that didn't show too much lag, but end the end, a N/A car feels the best to me.
That being said, The only F/I cars I have liked and owned used positive displacement blowers (read root's type). Roots type blowers are a trade off because of he heat they generate, but otherwise they drive very similar to a N/A car.
If there was an Eaton blower kit (not willing to fund the R&D to develop my own kit) that was readily available for the F-Bod I probably would have put my money there instead of building the 383.
Trending Topics
01-04-2005, 02:33 PM
#8
Launching!
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 228
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Since you are getting such a great deal, I would totally go for it.
Give it a year, if for some reason you dislike it, you could always remove, and sell the kit for (most likely) the price you bought it for, if not more.
Give it a year, if for some reason you dislike it, you could always remove, and sell the kit for (most likely) the price you bought it for, if not more.
01-05-2005, 08:07 AM
#10
TECH Fanatic
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Apopka, Fl
Posts: 1,197
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Huge fan of N/A here. Nothing against turbos and blowers...but I enjoy the longer power band of a strong N/A car. I love the sound....and the shifter/mirrors/seats/everything shaking when a lumpy cam is doing its thing!!! 
For $3000....I would buy a set of heads...do some valvetrain work...maybe some suspension...and have a 400+ hp car that gives you the best of both worlds. A car that makes power everywhere, and gives you the badass head turning sound that you are looking for!
Just my opinion
For $3000....I would buy a set of heads...do some valvetrain work...maybe some suspension...and have a 400+ hp car that gives you the best of both worlds. A car that makes power everywhere, and gives you the badass head turning sound that you are looking for!
Just my opinion
