WRCGooseS2K

Hi guys,

Was speaking to a mate of mine who has a snail'd MX-5 and we were talking about how you go about selecting the relevant turbo setup and component parts.

My question is, upon deciding that you wanted the turbo your S2000, how did you arrive at the setup you ended up having and why? What was your criteria?

I'm interested as I've begun gathering a parts list but I'd appreciate peoples conclusions for their own needs.

Thanks.

mattie170

For me it was I wanted a turbo that came to life quick and still gave power through out. I was also going to use it for track days so the turbo had to be able to deal with that. With advice from my tuner we went for the gt3076hta from Owens with there mspec parts so it can deal with motorsport use. Since upping the boost I have had to swap to the largest turbine housing for flow but a .82 is good to about 1.2 bar boost(perfect for a stock engine). For example now at 1.7 bar boost my car made 380lbft tq at 4600rpm. Even when it was a stock engine it made about 310lbft with 1-1.1 bar boost at 4200rpm.

Most people will say go for a gt35 but it is laggy unless you have a stroked engine. There is no point going for a big turbo that makes 700bhp but only 2500rpm powerband as a smaller turbo'ed car would be gone before you could get on boost.

Main things after the turbo choice is a good rad, good oil cooling and the best ecu you can afford. I run a pace products dual pass rad, 25row oil cooler and a Motec m800 ecu. All works spot on(it's taken a lot of money, effort, failures and research to get to this point)

Good luck.

U9aXy6Dn

Mattie, can you describe which features within the MoTeC m800 you specifically use that give a tangible advantage over the next most popular system (say an AEM). I appreciate the MoTeC unit is a superior product, I'm simply interested in which bits are most valuable.

mr-pitts

A couple of things that need to be asked,what sort of power are you looking for?and how much you going to spend.Its been said before but around 500 hp,3-350 tq is the tipping point.Once you go over that things will start to break.You could probably throw a setup together for around £5k,do it properly and it coud be 10x that.£10k is probably more realistic.

I set out to build a 1000hp car,I bought a load of parts all in one go,Built engine,Turbo kit,Fuel system,Aem ecuRad, Top wishbones ect ect,By the time I'd paid duty and shipping,I didn't get any change out of $30.000.

You need to separate the 4-5 main components....

Fuel system,which includes injectors and fuel rail,and replacement full length fuel lines.

Cooling system,Which would include Rad,oil cooler,Vented bonnet ect,

Turbo system,which would be the unit itself,inlet manifold,intercooler and pipe work,dump and blow off valves.

Other sundry items,like Oil relocation kit,ecu,A good full length exhaust,Good clutch,other bits I cannot think of.

Toys,which can include any and everything....such as Fancy dash,posh seats,Big brakes,uprated suspension,and whatever else you fancy.

My own experience with my car is 500 hp plus is no longer a usable comfortable everyday car.Ive been in the company of Mattys and Frankies car and both are a lot more than a turbo kit bolted to a car,I know from my own car what a massive amount of work has gone into both of them.I haven't driven or been pasinger in either of them so can't really judge them,but my own car is an animal,my gearbox doesn't make it a nice car around town.I would stick my neck out and say that the kind of power they are running changes the car from being a "nice little sports car",To being a rather noisy uncomfortable brute.....that's not to say thats a bad thing,but refined and comfortable and 500+ hp don't really fit in the same sentence.

In addition to the normal noise of a stock car I've got twin 44 Bosch pumps running,which are quite noisy,I've got a compressor in the boot which runs the geartronics,that's noisy aswell,and I've got straight cut gears which are so noisy that they blank out all the other noises.All these extra bits make you realise you are in something a bit different.I built mine to go fast,which it does,it doesn't really like doing anything other than that.Im not bothered about going fast but I think all of the above add something to my car which keeps me interested.

I'm not really sure if you can get 500hp and still have a nice car,Mattys is pretty close but I think even he will admit it gets a bit manic in there.

Think about your targets power and money wise and buy the best that's available,anything short of that and you will be upgrading at a later date.Ive had 4 engines 2 gearboxes,4 clutches 3 ecu's,4 different fuel systems.If I'd got the final one of all of these I would have saved a fortune.

My biggest expenses were building the car for huge power, then deciding it's neither practical or to be honest needed.Im still going to wind the thing up on the dyno to see what it puts out just for fun.

I will probably down size the turbo next winter for the reasons Matty stated above...to make the car more lively and easier to use,but still capable of putting out big power.Mine runs 508/330 tq at 12 psi,the minimum it will run at.it doesn't get full boost untill 5k rpm which makes it a miserable pig to drive on the road.Its so tempting to put a big turbo and get big power, that's easy making it refined and usable is the art to getting it right.

Mattys car would run rings around mine on a race track,but mine wouldn't even break sweat shutting him down on the drag strip,that's not to say Mattys car won't be fast down the strip,it will be seriously fast,but my diff, Paddleshifter and huge turbo would be more suited.All things being equal of course...you pays your money and makes your choice.

Getting your ass in a 500hp s2000 has got to be on your bucket list.Its brilliant and apart from the obvious warts that come with my car,I love the sound,smell,noise and thrill of being in it.

Carl Bourbon

My college engineering maths teacher used to say that a lot.
Weirdly glen, if you were a bit taller you'd be the exact spit of him!

Nicely made points, it's all well and good having a huge turbo but what's the point when it doesn't spool up until 6-7k?
I'd take a middle sized turbo over large any day.
Unless I had a supercharger to cover the low end

U9aXy6Dn

MrPitts - I appreciate your reply.

The best objective from my perspective, would be to create the most efficient and effective road car with the ability to keep up with most fairly quick other things on the road.

mattie170

Knock control, speed it works at and the fact on the same boost when supercharged we could get 4 degs more timing without knock. As I've said before I am now in the process of changing to the Motec M150 as its the newest version out. With what we know so far on my mates evo is its a lot faster, you can monitor knock on multiple frequencies and more stuff I don't understand yet. He is still learning so I have no chance till I get one and start playing.

steveSC2

Agree with glen,choose your turbo kit wisely.it seems a lot of the American kits are based on big hp 1/4 mile racing.
I ended up with a similiar kit to glen,Infact i asked for a 6262 presicion turbo and ended up with a 62/66,the 62/66 made it hard work down the twisties,I've since dropped down two exhaust housing sizes.and it has noticely improved the power band..for the better of course.

Make sure your manifolds a t3 as it gives more choice when it comes to choosing a turbo.

Toms1989

Anyone ever gone for a 28 sized turbo? Haven't seen much of HTA's or GTX's with S2000s.

Quite like the idea of Max boost by 2,5-3k rpm holding very well up in the rev range.

If I were to go down boost route I'd want t maximum response. None of this lag lag lag 900bhp with 1000rpm use of this power and oodles of wheel spin.

mattie170

Gt28 is too small. Frankie had one to start with and it ran out of puff at something like 6500-7000rpm. Gt30 is as small as you'll want to go.