Unlimited

Hey guys, I have been doing alot of reading/researching here and am now contemplating on getting a setup of my own for my ls1. I have been looking at either getting an STS turbo kit, or doing a heads/cam combo. I have always wanted an STS kit ever since it was introduced to the market, and have heard several clips of the kit and it just sounds flat out AMAZING. The heads/cam combo setups I have heard sound pretty beefy as well, but I would like to retain my gas mileage and reliability where it stands now when and where I want it. I know alot of you are opposed to the STS kit/idea, but I have always wanted one, and the majority of the people that have one that I talked to were more then happy with it.

I have had my 02 t/a for a little over a year now with 48k miles on it, and I literally baby it more than anything I have ever owned. As it stands, I am looking at getting the stage 2 kit trtturbo.com sells. It seems to be the best deal that I can find, being that I am not looking at ever making over 500 hp(seriously!). I'm in school at the moment living with a friend, and I am only bringing in roughly $1800 a month($1250 of that being all of my expenses). So realistically, I don't want something expensive, and absolutely DO NOT want nitrous.

So what would you guys suggest? I value everyones wisdom and knowledge of ls1tech.com, and am very open to other affordable ideas with *****!

Thanks in advance!

Unlimited

Anyone care to chime in?

Unlimited

lol bump

Striped02WS6

iTrader: (6)

the route im going is i have a ls1 longblock in my garage thats getting spruced up with some factory style forged internals....then a small cam and maybe a set of very mild heads....then add all the supporting mods and swap it into my car and all the pieces its missing im going to get from the LS1 thats in it...then a couple months down the road add a STS kit with a moderate ammount of boost and look for around 450-500 to the wheels..

im scared to run boost on a stock motor...just a thought

Unlimited

Yeah, as was I before I did alot of reasearch on it. I don't plan on ever exceeding 7psi due to that reason, that and I don't have the mechanical tools, time, or money to remove the engine and forge it. Having said that, i'm hoping that STS is right as to running their setup on a stock ls1 with a good tune is "A ok". I would never do it if the feedback on it from this site was negative towards the whole idea though, given that I actually get some.

I never drive the car hard(most of the time), feed it 0w-30 GC every 3k miles or 3 months, and change the radiator fluid every year. So hopefully that will play an important role in the longetivity/reliability of the car if I go with the given setup. I hope...

SHINER

iTrader: (18)

STS kits are nice, the only cons i can think of regarding turbos is that they need to be rebuilt from time to time. But If you had the STS kit as opposed to the front mount system it would be really easy to rebuild.

The only thing about the STS system is that id be paranoid about driving in the rain and running over some dirt, becuase they are so pretty to look out under the car.

Unlimited

But as far as reliability, would this route be a good choice? Given that I keep the psi under 7? and not drive it like I stole it?

Ericbigmac83

iTrader: (19)

If youre not gonna drive it like you stole it dont waste your time turbo'ing it

Unlimited

Since when did beating the **** out of your car become a prerequisite for getting a turbo?

01sscam

I think you're better of going the heads/cam route, more reliable and cheaper.

Unlimited

out of curiousity, wouldn't that destroy the very little gas mileage I get now? how would that make a DD street car reliable & cheaper in the long run? just looking for information on the matter, thats all...

verve_v

It shouldn't kill your mileage too bad, if at all. A ton of guys run h/c packages on there cars and still hit the mid 20mpg's. Don't forget either, you have a muscle car, if you want mileage and power you may want to rethink.

Ericbigmac83

iTrader: (19)

Just saying dont bother bumping up the power if youre not going to use it. And a turbo would be more economical and more reliable then a heads cam as long as the boost was kept between 5-7. With a turbo youre just cramming more air in there. With a heads cam package you have to find stuff that works well together and you'll usually have higher lift and springs wear out faster and on and on.

So i think you should be happy with a turbo, it will keep reliability as well as keep your mpg relatively unchanged.

300bhp/ton

I've looked at the STS kits several times including conversation with some of the distributors. And each time I've come to the same conclusion

"Buy a ProCharger or front mount!"

Sure there are some successful installs of STS kits but they all run risks the others types of FI don't and are all limited due to inherant design.

As either a very mild street setup (6psi) or a 100% drag strip setup I can see them working. But as a serious street machine they are flawed in concept.

Check out the FI forum there's a lot of good info about all the FI setups.

GMR and TTI both offer front mount kits for similar money as the STS. EPP and several others offer D1SC Procharger kits for similar money to a STS. All of these can realibaly offer 650rwhp+ as a DD running pump fuel. With critically far superior power delivery than the STS.

Allergik2dyin

I'm with 300bhp/ton, I think a procharger is your best bet. They're very reliable,fairly simply to install, and seem to meet the goals that you want. You can just cruise around and get normal mgp but once you get on it you'll be getting great power. And, even tho you said 500hp is your max, you have a great platform to build off of. Basically, procharger is tried and true.

Unlimited

GREAT information guys, thanks alot! So are you saying that the procharger is nearly just as cheap as the sts, just as easy to install, and far more reliable? Looks like I will be looking more into the procharger then(centrifugal I suppose). I wonder if the procharger kit comes with the intercooler like the trtturbo stage 2 sts does, or at that...sound nearly as MEAN as the sts kits I have recently heard.

Unlimited

I still drive it pretty hard when racing or what not, I just keep it responsible so to say(90mph on city roads = no).... thanks!

Phynix

iTrader: (3)

you will get better gas milage with the h/c combo than you will boosting if your driving the car like a normal person,granted you don't go to big of a cam. Anyone that actually has a boosted car and has gone through the process of figuring out their gas milage will tell you that, when it flips around is when you start stroking and boring it out or using a hugh cam, then you really start using that gas up in the all motor part, you can get a good set of heads and cam package with all its suppoprting mods for about the same price as the charger itself, and it will be more reliable

Unlimited

I just don't have the tools or equipment to do a good heads/cam swap. So a low level forced induction seems to be the best route to go atm....

Allergik2dyin

Prochargers are great and reliable. I know that intercoolers are available, actually I'm shocked bob from epp (exotic performance plus, a sponser) hasn't gotten a word in yet. He's the guy I'm most familiar with when it comes to discussing prochargers on this site. He would be the main guy to talk to as far as purchasing and installation, obviously along with people on this site.