so as it stands, i have my stock P5 2.0L engine, 5sp tranny, and it's good as you guys know, but... i'm looking into a turbo kit. Whilst looking into this turbo kit idea i also notice that our stock engines are capable of not much more than a few psi, i think if i'm saving up a few thousand dollars, I'd be interested in getting some kind of a crate engine or i hear much about JDM, how much fundage are we talking if i just had some help from a few guys on the board, and built an engine from the bottom up with all performance internals. doing all the work myself ofcourse, maybe a few guys would be interested in joining heads and feeding me ideas. anyway, just looking for a starting point, has anyone taken on a project like this and failed? perhaps your failures can help me find the right way to go, any suggestions and criticisms are very much appreciated. (many would say just buy a faster car, but i look around and see nothing that looks as cool/functional/original, as these wicked P5's!!!)

 

some good questions...here's the short answers

1. the engines dont handle boost well or long. If you want boost either keep it low or forge and standalone...

2. forged internals are a great place to start. HiBoost, MAM and protegegarage.com sell forged pistons and rods (from various manufacturers). If you are a CAPABLE engine builder you could easily by yourself some pistons and rods and swap them out yourself. I know Juan @ hiboost just swapped out rods on his 20psi race gas P5 and he ran a 12.5s quarter. Built shortblocks by professionals is THE way to go but plan on spending PLENTY of money in a car that is not going to re-sell for what you put in it.

3. Engine management. Gotta pay to play yet again in this catagory. If you go with something simple you can get by with an FMU and voltage clamp. If you want to get semi-serious you should invest in a Haltech/AEM/Ultimate and do it right the first time....

which brings me to my final thought....

Do your homework and do it all correctly the first time. Don't skimp out or it could cost you more in the long run.

 

^^what he said and, take a good, hard look at what you want your final "product" to be.
If you're trying to make a striaght-line racer out of it, I think you'll wish you had invested in a different car.
If you're looking for a good auto-x vehicle, you've got a good platform to play with but certainly won't need bundles of boost for it.
For me, personally, I am working toward some type of low-boost application in the future. I use it as a daily driver and I want something reliable that's got a little kick to it.
If you wanna go FI for street-racing, well, I'm not gonna go there...

 

I also use it daily, which is my main reason for looking into a more reliable boost, i dont want to have 50psi running through this kitten all the time, a fair 15-20 is at most what i'm looking for, i just dont want to bolt on a turbo kit for 4K and end up rebuilding the motor in a year because the engine can't handle the boost. Right now i'm easily frustrated at the fact that with all my suspension mods this car performs phenomenally, but lacks severely in horsepower, i plan on having the car for at least another four years or so, and as an enthusiast, dont want to be frustrated everytime i accelerate out of a well taken corner. bottom line, i want a reliable source of power, does anyone know how much boost our engines can take safely? same note, different option, i read on auto trader about an american P5 with a 6cylinder engine, could it have been a mistake in the posting, (was a stock P5 from a dealer in the US) or would i be able to upgrade to a V6, throw the usual intake/exhaust/fuel upgrades and score a descent horsepower?

 

reply in red.

 

MAM offers built motors for i THINK around 4K...hiboost has one of the best kits IMO...it's around 4K...if you plan on going with a built motor/turbo...be prepared to upgrade your tranny as well...there's someone on msprotege.com that has this for around 3K...

i plan on keeping my mp3 for a LONG time...which is why i bought it...hopefully one day it'll be built up how i want it...it's a ton of money to throw into a 8K car...but it will probably be the last car i mod (other than minor things here and there).

 

Anyone try throwing in one of those V6 engines out of a MX-3? I know nothing about them beyond they were a novelty, being such a small 6 cylinder.

 

Yeah, tiny...about 1900cc, right? The smallest V6 ever put into a production car, I believe.
I can't imagine it'd be worth the modifications needed to make the swap, plus there haven't been any made for what, about 11 years? I think parts would be hard to get, too.

 

it's a 1.8L V6...produced a whopping 130HP..same as the FS-DE...It's dimensionally the same size as a 2.5L.....hard fit, BIG waste of time