STS turbo or Heads and cam?
 

i want to do something to my car but not sure what i want to do. just looking for some advice. i have a 1999 TA auto 2.73 with 120,000 miles. im just aming for 400rwhp cause i want it to be a everyday driver. im in the military so i move alot, so i need it to be able to drive cross country when needed. the fist set-up i was looking at was full bolt-ons, some type of 224cam, stall, and afr 205 heads. the next set up was a sts turbo kit and a stall. advice needed please :) so what do u guys think would be the best set up for my situation and car....thanks

heads and cam... hands down

with full bolt-ons and heads/cam you should be well over 400rwhp.... turbos are bad ass too though. Boost the turbo with a controller and instant power!... but i dunno, i think all motor set ups are more legit and are a more proven setup. Ive seen some bad ass turbos, but ive also seen turbo setups where i expected better performance.

+1 for heads and cam. STS Turbos are great, but it is always better to build up the motor before slapping some FI on there.

I did a budget H/C, cost me about $1200 for everything minus gaskets etc. I managed the numbers in the sig through a stalled auto and closed cutout. Basically all the car has is a TR 224, Stage II 241 LS1 heads, LS6 intake, LT's, ORY, 12inch bullet and a tune as far as the power mods go. Then I have a XP Stage II 4L60E, B&M Deep Pan, 24k cooler and a SSF 3500.

EDIT: Word of advice do not cam a car before a stall, trust me I did it for a year and it sucked. If your worried about stalling to high just get a 3000 stall, that will still get you right in the power band of a TR224, check out this graph, you can see where I get my power, my stall matches up well, but so woud a 3000 stall.
http://smc-us.com/images/392.jpg

thank for the advice guys...i really wanted to get the heads and cam...but when i added the price up for tr224 cam, afr205 heads, 90/90fast intake, qtp headers, ssf 3500 stall, slp pully, tune and to get it installed it was $6000+. is that wrong? do i even need a 90TB and the fast intake, or will the LS6 intake work?

If you go turbo you better have a huge amount of disposable income and zero bills. I guarantee it will be domino effect for a long time. I wonder how I know?:judge:

aww man turbo all the way! with the right tuning, it can surpass the horsepower of a heads/cam package while keeping stock driveability! it's not going to make your car uncomfortable to drive like a cam *CAN*, and will actually improve fuel mpg under normal driving whereas a cam will suck up a lot more fuel. not to mention blow off valves are sweet :drool:

the turbo is so much more adaptable. stock driveability, maintained or better fuel efficiency and a boost controller make the turbo able to make your setup whatever you want. want more power? just turn up the boost! then turn the boost down when you're stuck in traffic. you can't do that stuff with heads/cam.

this is, of course, if money is no issue :)

Dream on.

turbos can so add better fuel efficiency. it's all in the tuning. it's been done. it works off of exhaust gases and therefore recycles the engine's energy. obviously some big turbo beast will hurt you, but i've heard of smaller PSI setups helping improve overall engine efficiency enough to boost mpg. certainly they will maintain it better than a big cam.

mayeb theoretically but when you've got a turbo the right foot mod usually comes into full effect too....making for worse mileage

the ls6 intake from GMperformance is built to hold 450+ so if you plan on going outrageous along with the cam....(nos??!!) i'd get the fast intake.

well the cam i want to go with is the tr224/224 lsa 114

I would go heads and cam. More impressive if you ask me.

i'm assuming we're driving the same here of course :)

now, will it realistically happen? maybe, maybe not, but it surely won't cut your economy like a h/c package would. then again, you can't beat the sound of a h/c package. ah, hell, do 'em both!

Turbo, no contest. But I would look at the GMR speed kit rather than the STS.

I'm a newb too and I was wondering this same thing. I voted for turbo because I love the sound. I figure you could do a turbo kit and probably get close to 400 whp with everything else pretty much stock.(Am I way off there?) And then as you upgrade supporting parts (exhaust, injectors, intake, etc.) you can slowly turn up the boost and get huge gains. The biggest pain would be that it would mean constant tuning.

I would definitely say Heads/Cam, but a turbo setup can be more streetable. However, I don't think the 224/224 is a big enough cam to have to worry about drivability, so in your case, go h/c. In my opinion, a heads/cam car is much more of a monster then a simple turbo....And once it is tuned right, you shouldn't have to mess with it anymore, unlike a turbo...

i vote for both

I know you are an A4 but a buddy of mine slapped a STS kit on his M6 w/ no bolt ons what so ever and got 405RWHP. I got a Stalled A4 STS car and I love it. So my vote goes for the stalled A4 and STS. Not to mention that an sts kit is easier to put on than H/C.