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View Poll Results: Choose your kit:
Intercooled / better gains / more costly 25 59.52%
Non-intercooled / lower gains / very affordable 18 42.86%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 42. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 09-20-2006, 03:14 PM   #1
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I nearly turbo charged my Miata before I decided to just get 250 HP by buying a BoxsterS. Recovering the money to go with FI on a Miata would have meant probably owning the Miata forever or selling at a big ole' loss. and the other thing was that I honestly never fel that my Miata really needed more than the 150 HP. it accelerated to 60 mph in what a mere second or two slower than my BoxsterS? And as far as handling well a lowered Miata on sticky tires really lessened the urgency for FI.

Now many of the same things apply to the Boxster. It handles superbly without the extra ponies of FI. and the big BUT againgst FI:
The Boxster engine is expensive to repair in the even of engine failure due to FI. No one wants to deal with that no matter how much more power you'll get. Fixing a blown Mazda or Toyota engine is one thing but the cost of specialized labor to fix a Porsche engine is a deal breaker for most.

I know allot of guys who have owned many Porsches and (everal at one time)and they absolutely will not touch even a FACTORY Turbo'd Porsche engine. You simply can't talk them into it.
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Old 09-20-2006, 10:37 PM   #2
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Lets all remember engine displacement.

The MR2 and Miata have a few good things going for them, however, engine size isnt one of them. I am a firm believer in engine displacement being a good thing, especially when you have a nicely designed set of 4 valve heads to go with it.

A 1.6/1.8 miata will dyno 98-115 horsepower at the wheels depending on year. The MR2 spyder's 1.8 puts out 125 at the wheels on a good day stock. I wont compare the other MR2's just for sake of simplicity. For these engines to put out real power (to compete with the big dogs), you have to push 7-12 psi. The Miata with a BRP air-to-air intercooler and approx 9 psi pushes about 225 whp, the MR2 needs a bit less due to higher compression but is also more fragile.

If a 2.5 boxster puts out 150 at the wheels (just pulling this figure out of the air), you would need a 50% increase to match them in power alone. This could be done with about 4 or 5 psi and a liquid-to-air intercooler and a very small turbo which would have almost no boost lag. Due to its un-boosted size, even a 2.5 Boxster would have tons more torque so the difference in weight would be insignificant. Add in the fact that most of you are running rubber that you couldnt fit in a Miata's driver seat.

So yes, in a word I wouldnt push 10 psi with a rough tune at a Boxster. It's too much liability unless your sponsored and get free motors in the mail. However, at 4 psi I believe it would actually live much longer than being strung out at redline to eek all the power out of it. Start playing with hot cams, computer tuning, and increased redlines and the wear really beings. The real factor is keeping oil clean, pressurized, and cool but you have to do this with even a NA engine.

Our Project Focus SVT with 5 psi of boost on a MP62 blower (no intercooler and 10.2:1 compression) puts out more power and torque at 5,500 rpm than at 7,200 stock. The strange thing that even at 3,000 rpm it has more spunk than it ever did, so we tend to beat on it less just driving around.

I work at a service department so I know what you mean about servicing things that are "tweaked" and most people shy away. Warranty work is always tricky so I dont believe in trying to cheat the system. However, I think that people with chopped up wiring from poor stereo/alarm installs are just as bad. The only difference is that aftermarket superchargers/turbo's burn up O2 sensors instead of your windows randomly working or frying an odometer cluster (not joking here /hug Car Toys trainee).

The main boon of a turbo system is holding back the urge to turn up the boost. There is no such thing as free horsepower.

Once again, great feedback. Your all true professionals.
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Old 09-21-2006, 03:30 AM   #3
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I agree with the above statements, not to beat a dead horse but my 4.5 psi makes my car feel like a totally different car. Yes, I want to change pulleys and take it to 6 6.5 psi but common sense tells me not a good idea. Just my random thoughts....
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Old 09-21-2006, 08:01 AM   #4
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There you go, Ohioboxster is living testement to what a little boost can do (albeit, not too much).

I believe that turbochargers/superchargers get a bad rap in the tuner world for reliability because people are constantly pushing the bounderies or not tuning them appropriately (or both).

The first thing they do with a supercharged vehicle is figure out where to get a pulley the size of a coke bottle cap and overclock the blower. Turbo owners purchase an aquarium bleeder valve or M.B.C. and basically run closed wastegate until they melt something. I did it once years back, its part of growing up.

If there are companies like Comptech offering supercharger kits for the S2000 (with and w/o intercoolers) that has 11.1:1 compression and a 9k redline I think anything can take a *little* boost.
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Old 09-21-2006, 08:51 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ohioboxster
I agree with the above statements, not to beat a dead horse but my 4.5 psi makes my car feel like a totally different car. Yes, I want to change pulleys and take it to 6 6.5 psi but common sense tells me not a good idea. Just my random thoughts....
Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with that statement and that's why these forums are valuable... if Ohoiboxster has been running his engine reliably with 5psi... I want to know this as it will help me decide which way to go...

What I would also like to know is what sort real world performance is the car doing now? 0-60 in ??? engine still smooth in normal use???

and i want to know same for turbowerx or TTP...

Like Ohioboxster, I dont wnat to push the envelope... I just wnat to purchase a kit that has been well engineered. Therefore if it's 5psi and no engine mods (7K) or 10psi and lowered compression (20k) I would like options...
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Old 09-22-2006, 07:05 AM   #6
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I am gonna throw in my $.02 here as well. I come in with the majority on this thread. I enjoying reading the discussions and different points of view on putting a turbo on the Boxster. After doing my first DE last month I am convinced that the Boxster could use more power. The car chewed up the corners but by the end of every straight there was that Carrera right on my ass again. I think that depending on the cost of the kit it may be better to swap the motor or trade up to a newer S though. Of course if you don't want to invest that much and only need a small bump in HP I can see where a turbo may be the way to go. I am not an expert on turbo units by any means but from what I have read so far I would be really concerned about using a unit without an intercooler on an engine that wasn't designed for a turbo in the first place.

On a side note-one of the main reasons that I joined this forum was to find about about new products, vendors etc. I have learned an awful lot from this board in the short time I have been reading it and I hope to see more posts from new and potentially new vendors.
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Old 09-25-2006, 08:30 PM   #7
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Quick brief update:

Still waiting for more tangible data: numbers, pricing, timeframe, etc.
Things we do know:

*we have officially paid for 12 months of 986forum sponsorship. We dont have a banner at the moment because our website is being totally redesigned and is currently quite embarassing.

*we are looking at production of a minimum of 25 kits for the first wave. I will be actively contacting other vendors I am in connection with to help buy-down this order.

*A second batch of kits might/might not happen depending on response.

*It will be utilizing a very trick, custom designed high flow water-to-air intercooler.

*boost will be in the 4.5-6psi range with about a .5 psi reduction from the intercooler. (this is very efficient, most air to air intercoolers sap 1.5-2psi).

*boost will be as linear as possible while still giving great top end gains.

*It will cost less than the Imagine Auto SC kit (this is not a slam on them, their product, or their company).

*This should be available for the 2.7 and 3.2 as well (yes...3.2+ boost = :troll: ).
The great thing about a turbo system will be ease of operation. While even 6 psi is very safe with this type of intercooling system (since its the only I.C. unit on the market), you can also run less psi with a flick of a switch. This makes seamless reliability possible even in enduro races.

Please spread the word to your other Boxster communities to help spread the interest. We are not at the point of taking deposits but if this kit goes into production, chances are we will do one batch of kits. This thread will be followed with extensive details when they become available to us.

As it has been mentioned in the past, there are very few forced induction Boxsters in the world. We can extend this number past 25 kits with additional interest but will probably not be putting out another batch each year (unless the feedback is surreal).

Thanks again for your terrific feedback and questions.

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