Ok, first of all please don't give me the "try searching" or "google it" because I spent the last 4 hours reading through threads trying to find the info I was looking for.

I have read mixed reviews of the turbo kit alone or with Scott's EMS. What I want to know is what kind of durability issues would come up with installing a turbo. Specifically the lifespan of the engine itself. For those with turbo'd cars how many miles have you put on them since the install? I don't want to spend thousands of dollars for extra power just to have it kill my car in 10K miles.

I can take an old (60's) chevy or pontiac down to nothing and build it back up, but when it comes to newer cars (rotaries in particular) I don't have a friggin clue. If I find the info I am looking for and its what I am hoping to hear I'll probably drive the 12 hrs down to Mazsport and have them do the complete install/dyno.

Thanks in advance to those who help.

 

Life of the car all depends on how you drive it after the turbo.
If your boosting from stop light to stop light its not gonna last very very long. If you just drive it like a normal car around town and most of the time you should get pretty much the same amount of life out of the motor as any normal Rx8 would get.

 

****, looks like I am going to have to change my driving habits!

thank you for the info sir!

 

It also depends on the tune. Higher leaner tune is going to cause more wear than a lower richer tune.

 

Any engine has a finite number of revolutions per unit of power.

 

thanks fellas! I'm kinda leaning towards the Zex setup instead now... at least untill the "issues" with the turbo systems are completely straightened out!

 

All of the issues are worked out. Honestly, my car drives perfectly, you'd think it was stock.

Keep in mind, most of your miles you won't be under boost, really you're only boosting a fraction of each mile driven. If you keep the boost moderate 6-8psi, I don't think you will have any problem getting 80-90k out of the motor. Of course, anyone can only guess since not many people have put a great deal of mileage on a turbo'd 8. If I get 70k out of the motor, then there is no doubt in my mind it was worth it. The Renesis is a relatively cheap motor ~$3k for a reman. Hell if I have to replace the motor every 50k its probably worth it. Just be careful with it, and take proper precautions.

One advantage is that once you boost you'll find yourself not reving it nearly as high. You have plenty of power available at 3k, so unless your racing you don't really need to take it over 6krpms. Keeping the revs down will definitely promote engine longevity.

 

This is a meaningless and completely uninformed statement.

 

So you're saying running 50 psi with a 12 AFR is not going to cause components to wear more than 5 psi and an 11 AFR?

 

I also had a question..I know its kind of dumb but since im here i might as well ask..

do boosted 8's still rev up to 9k?

 

it depends on the hardware and how it's configured. The greddy turbo can't blow enough air to the engine at high rpms, so it peaks around 7500 rpm instead of the stock 8500 rpm. You can still rev higher, but you're past your peak power levels.

 

First, your previous statement said nothing about PSI.

Second, richer or leaner referenced to what. You don't specify any particular AFR you're referencing to, could you be any more vague?

Third, running an AFR of 11.0 compared to 10.0 will not cause any significant additional wear on the engine, except from the additional wear caused by the slightly increased power levels. But, the marginally increased wear is caused from the increased power levels, not from the leaner mixture. In fact the richer mixture is more likely to cause accelerated wear and tear because the unburned fuel will wash oil from the chamber. The only disadvantage to running it leaner is the increased chance of ping. As long as your not pinging though, then there is nothing wrong with it.

 

The power drop off is not a limitation of the turbo, but rather a limitation of the engine. Look at PTP or SFR's dyno plot. The power drops off just like the Greddy kit, but the turbo's they're using are surely far from running out of steam!

 

this is sorta on the topic.
Anyone tried the turbo trader's greddy turbo upgrade?

 

I'm currently running NA -- wanna get boosted within 6 months. I enjoy so much revving the **** outta my engine, I redline my car at least a few times a day when im running around town just to make sure everything stays clean on the inside. Say I were to install a turbo and if i were to take your advice you semi said with "will rarely have a need to take it over 6K" that makes the last 3K of the powerband kinda sad (not in a performance way) but just in thinking that if I were to keep my usual driving habits and redline a few times every trip (from what ive read its "good" to rev the **** outta the engine in spirited driving) enjoying the upper rev's would in effect slowly be destroying my engine.

Would a supercharger be any different? Is there any way to change when the boost comes on in a system? Say you wanted boost to hit at 3K but say with MY driving habits you wanted the boost to hit at 6K, is something like that possible? Allowing me to stay in the upper rev range and not destroy my engine with my current driving style? I dont know too much about turbos and boost controllers yet, still reading my *** off.

It would just seem kinda depressing to have 9,000RPMs to play with but knowing you are killing your engine past 6000 or something.

 

rkostolni thanks for that info, decisions decisions lol.

I guess its all up to my checkbook now (and as a Police Officer its not very big)

 

What did you think I mean when I said higher, leaner? That's pressure and afr.

This guy doesn't know all the terms, so I put it in simple terms.


I could be a lot more specific, but it doesn't help someone who just wants the basics.


Of course not, 11 and 10 are rich as hell.

 

ok guys, I appreciate the help but lets not start a war here... You're right dude, I needed it in simple terms because I really don't know much about FI. What I am trying to do is figure out a good medium between bang-for-buck and longevity.

Like I said above it will be a while before I can do anything on a cop's salary anyway, I'm just trying to do my homework before I go spend 1/5 of my yearly salary on a turbo isntalled at Mazsport.

now... if anyone knows someone who wants to buy a 68 GTO...

 

When you're NA, you have to rev high on a daily basis just to have power. Once you're turbo'd that isn't necessary, but there's nothing saying you can't rev it to 9k if you want.

 

Revving to 9k even on an NA engine is somewhat dangerous. With your turbo you really wont feel the need to go to redline everytime you drive it, and when you are pushing it... as long as your car is tuned properly then you are still safe running it to redline.

 

oops, i didnt notice the post above said the same thing... my bad

 

Actually, maximum boosted power occurs around 11.5:1.
I actually shoot for 11:1 at 5100 RPM and 6200 RPM with 11.5:1 everywhere else that the PR is above 1.2.