I understand there are alot of idiots out there running around turning up their boost because they are power junkies. I definitely want to boost my car and it’s going to have an LS motor in next summer. I am willing to spend the money to make it as reliable as possible but still keep up with cobras. It seems like the most important part of boosting a car is a good tune and it seems like that’ll be covered at hybrid. I don’t know much about tuning or electronic boost controllers but I was hoping I could have a daily driving setting with low boost for reliability and one for racing but they both need to be safe because this is my daily driver and I’m hoping it will be for many years. All I ever hear about is 300whp at whatever PSI but I never hear “this car runs 11’s and has done so for 4 years.” Can I safely boost my daily driver??!
I’m not running gobs of boost (22psi), but in my application I have a very reliable car that can hang with many N/A V8’s that think they are going to smoke me.
The kit I’m using doesn’t run stand-alone, so I think that may be where you find the difference in those cars that drive well in traffic and every-day stuff as well as they can at the track. Having a reliable tuner who knows what they are doing is key, and recognizing that sometimes tweaking for an extra half-second just isn’t worth it once you reach a certain point, if you still want something that drives well as your DD.
I’m happy in the low to mid 12 range. I’m happy being able to smoke 1/4 mile cars the minute there is a turn involved. I’m happy to be able to take most stock V8’s and some modded ones, too.
And I still can sit in traffic and drive it like it’s not modded at all.
It’s the TUNE!!! Let them know what you want and I’m sure they can do the tune to give you the best of both worlds.
On mine, as long as I’m not in high rev bands, the car is still quite tame. The boost lays on very smooth, but if I drive in traffic staying below 4k on shifts, it drives no different than stock. If I go WOT and rev out a gear past 3500-4000rpm, then boost will max at 22-ish by 4k and it’s “hoy shit” time.
So yeah, I can’t speak for all cars, but yes, to answer your question, it is possible to have both a tame daily driver that is reliable and a monster when you want it.
Hmm this topic i have alot of time invested in sorting out what works and what does not work… LS-T’s are my shit…
1st thing your motor Does it burn any oil? if it does it will mutiply when you add boost.
2nd thing Dont buy a junk turbo kit or whatever…get a Turbo that is way to big for what your trying to do (like a 60mm plus) it will not be at full boost till like 5000 but trust me making 300whp with that turbo will be alot better for your motor on such a large turbo (9-10psi)
3rd the Main issue that i have ran into with the the LS’s Head gasket and Spun rod bearings.
solution OEM gasket and Head studs…and keeping the RPMs under 7100rpm Also rod bolts would be something to look into for higher reving…
ls turbos can take abuse alot I would say you could take it out and crush it everyday for 4 hours…something in time will let go
As for keeping up with cobra’s a few years ago at flash light drags i raced “gotSVT” on here and beat him by a bumper this was on BFG drag radials and at that time he was around 500+whp and 11.9X
but I was out for blood then… that was reving to 7600rpm powershifting every gear i mean totally crushing them i went threw 3 ls motors that summer (most of them had 150K+ on them)
so the answer is yes if you took care of the ls-t and Dident Drag race everyday always put 93 octane and changed your oil every 2000 miles it will last for years to come…
And yes you are right the tune is very important
http://www.honda-tech.com/zerosearch
there are 73 hits on daily driving turbo cars at that link…the answer is yes however things always happen. Thing to consider is do you have the money to fix it when something breaks? How much of a bind is it going to put you in if it does break and you don’t have a ride?
Like Joe said above if your motor has any issues what so ever, boosts is going to multiply it. I think the main thing with boost is to not half ass anything.
EDIT: http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread/1323059
thats an all ls-t link its almost 500 pages long if you have time to read
The LS is going to be JDM with somewhere around 35,000 miles. It should be in top shape when I get it. I’m also swapping in the 5sp that’ll come with it. I drive very conservatively usually and I will def keep up on maintenance. I’ve been looking at some turbo setups online and I think I like the sound of a Garrett GT30 or GT35. I’ve heard those kick ass and i’d be willing to spend 1500 on the turbo itself. I’m not getting a kit because I don’t want any junk. I’m going to piece together my setup because I want the best I can afford and I’m not wasting my money on shitty parts. I’ll build up the engine a little to make it more reliable but since it’s my DD i’m not keen on ripping apart the block. I would baby the car and it’s going to look completely stock on the outside sp any homo with a fartcan attached to his 1-1/2" stock exhaust or rich bitch with an srt4 he got for graduation needs to be destroyed. I CAN’T WAIT!
Listen to this guy, he’s done pretty much everything that can be done with an LS.
From what I’ve read and heard, reliability is definitely in the quality of parts you use.
I’d think at a minimum…
You need to freshen up and break in the motor properly (even if it’s just new bearings and rings).
I think (if you’re not replacing the LS rods) that balancing the motor and shot-peening LS rods is valuable if you want to spin it up to 8200. Past that and it’s forged rods and piston time, IMO.
ARP rod bolts are required as far as many people are concerned.
Many people like ARP head studs.
Honda headgaskets should be OK for low boost, but I am considering o-ringing my block if I blow out headgaskets frequently on my setup.
And, have a spare D15B8 laying around to DD when it finally blows up and you got too greedy on the wastegate release pressure :o)
at a minumum studs and head gasket. if you are conservative you can get a lot of miles out of it. What is compression on JDM motor? i know sometimes they are higher than USDM
ya the motor i have now has 142000 and it runs awesome. my auto tranny also only has like 75,000 on it so i’m def gonna keep them. I’m spending alot on a low mileage swap so that I don’t have to replace the motor. Blowing my $2500 investment would not please me. My philosophy is spend more money on good stuff so you don’t have to replace it.
JDM is 9.4:1, USDM is 9.2:1
http://www.hmotorsonline.com/shop/sc2000search.cgi?what=category&keyword=JDM%20USDM%20Engines&hit=5
http://www.hmotorsonline.com/shop/sc2000search.cgi?what=page&item=30007
I have a Sick ass turbo kit for a ls forsale…
had it on all my setups has gone 11.87 on bfgs and 11.88 on slicks this year
9.4 is Fine for boost your good!
I agree 100% that starting with good stuff and not complete garbage is important.
i’m not done after i turbo it so i want a turbo that’ll be flexible to go higher when i start building the engine. how much am i looking at for rod bolts, head studs, etc? anything that doesn’t involve having my car ripped apart for days on end cuz i gotta make the money to make the car go vroom. and how come i see some people with turbo LS going 13.5 and fmfkid going 11.8??? btw so pissed they cancelled import tuner night. the weather was fucking beautiful that night!
Arp studs are like 100
Rod bolts i wouldent worry about just keep the RPMS below 7200
Gasket is like 50
I would replace before i do the swap…
and to go from auto to stick to auto would suck!
go with a smaller 35R can handle 600+
with a good tune and not being greedy with the boost, i think a FI car can be as reliable as a NA
If your buying another swap buy mine!
the auto tranny is goin to come apart at 300whp without a doubt. I dont care what the mileage is. honda autos suck. they cant handle factory power let alone boosted.
Ohhh and why dont you buy FMFkids kit that will make 300whp and invest in pistons and rods. you will save over a 1000 with buying joes kit and a good set of pistons and rods are about 1000. piston and rod motors with stock sleeves have been known to go over 600whp
well, mine has been reliable for the past 6 months at my power levels but i have an ecotec engine so not sure how much that helps you.
He does plan on converting