I have a breakdown of a turbo kit and was wondering if its too high or too low. It seems kind of high to me but I have never done anything turbo related before.

Garret Turbo Dual ball bearing 1,400.00
Turbo manifold 800.00
Front mount intercooler 1,200.00
Piping kit in aluminum 1,500.00
Computer chip from renntech 1,060.00
Down pipe 350.00
Air intake for turbo 300.00
Tune Setup & Dyno 1,400.00
Fuel pressure regulator 345.00
Fuel lines and fittings 1,200.00
Labor 28 hours@150.00 4,200.00
Exhaust 950.00
Heat shield wrap 120.00
Catch can and fittings 550.00
Fuel Pump 350.00
Polishing pipes and jet hot 1,500.00

Total 17,200.00

Are any of these prices a little high?

 

dude, 17k for the kit plus installation?

this isn’t a Viper dude, that’s too expensive.

 

you could probably get it done for about 6. you could buy an amg crate motor for about half what you listed, which could probably handle about 600 horses.

 

my comments in black.

~ Jess

 

17k!! that’s crazy, buy an srt-6. and take the extra 7 or so grand and mod that, or go on a nice vacation. or even better invest in something that doesn't depreciate. or 17k can get u a used srt-4, or how about a nice down payment on the new z06 or cobra.

 

Don't even know where to begin.

That's a really odd combo of parts that are either not needed or just oddly priced. Of course the question of why comes to mind since lets say you do all that, what are you looking for h.p. range? maybe SRT-6 range IF you get everything to play together the way it's suppose to?...not to mention the other nifty details like the suspension, exterior, etc. upgrades along with the warranty of the factory SRT.


Some of you guys def. get an "A" for effort but unless your holding that winning $340 million powerball ticket and money is no concern...it's not worth the time or money to take on a project of that magnitude...

 

exterior upgrades?? a lip, an ugly wing and rims that cost no more than the stock ones??

 

Yep...that's the exterior upgrades. Is there a point to your post or is it just a lame attempt at trying to knock it?

 

OK, b4 w have to get in the octagon...looking at most of the people that own X-fires, we are all mostly over 30 less than 60 (a few exceptions). Most of this era (me included) grew up behind the "fat fender" crowd (only fat fendered cars were TRUE hotrods). For those of us that want more performance without the Fast and Furious wing, fascia, etc some of us like turbo boost.

I have owned three turbo'd vehicles and one supercharged vehicle. My last two were turbo VW's (GTI and GLI). Turbo upgrades are unique in that they make big power all at once. It is like NOS without the ill effects that NOS can provide. It is addicting and you NEVER get enough...(primary reason I went away from a turbo).

Turbo's are very easy to upgrade once the foundation is in place. the first step is to lower the compression. 8.5 to 1 is ideal. 10 to 1 (like the stock 3.2) is excessive and has to be addressed either through a double head gasket or re-ring. the next thing that this price list fails to realize is that this is a V-6 implying that there are two of everything unless you want to get REALLY exotic (ill advised). You will need two exh. mani's, two turbos, two downpipes, etc. European vehicles typically have a one size fits all fuel pump (with the exception of the new Audi that uses a Very High Pressure direct inject). Your volume of fuel is controlled by a fuel pressure regulator just prior to the fuel rail(s).

The biggest threat that a turbo poses is detonation caused by a lack of fuel combined with excess oxygen. This is why the "chip" is so important.

I can go on for another hour but most will not want to read.

My point is that not everyone wants what an SRT offers. I personally do not want an automatic, big wing, chrome/silver windshield trim (also on limited). I have plans of an all (triple) black roadster with wheels similar to your new ones.

Thoughts and comments are welcome as always.

~ Jess

PS: It is easy to lose intent in a forum. Your emotions do not always equal those of whom you are reading. Just a thought.

 

just don't understand what that had to do with the topic.

 

Turbo's for the most part are not instant. There is almost always some turbo lag. The larger the turbo the more lag. Of course ball bearing turbo's can reduce the turbo lag. Positive displacement Super Chargers provide instant boost (for all intents and purposes).

Your comment on the compression ratio is old school. There is no need to run such low compression on a turbocharged motor. Unless you are running crazy boost. Low compression ratio's result in greater turbo lag.

$4,200 for labor??
$1,200 for fuel lines and fittings??

Some of the prices are right in line (depending on specific part numbers). Some of the prices are very high.

 

I am with you on the dislike of the F+F wing but the STI/EVO type styling is what comes to my mind for the definition and is one based on their extreme height. If anything, when I had a limited coupe for a short time as a loaner car, I felt the limited's wing looked higher and more obstructive to my rear-view then the SRT's.

Turbo's do offer a viable option in most vehicles but, as with most mod's for the M.B. engines, it's going to take a far amount of tuning, time and money to get to work properly. There's also the issue of turbo lag as could be felt in the '05 STI and Legacy GT I drove some time ago just for kicks.

So, as for the topic post, 17k in mods on a car that now you can get for what new ? low to mid $20's ? doesn't make much sense for what your true net outcome in terms of power and performance would be. My point is the SRT comes with the h.p. numbers they would be getting with the conversion, additional upgraded standard features ( bigger brakes, upgraded suspension, body upgrades (like them or not), is for the most part easily modifiable, and has that good old factory warranty for the occasional part failure.

 

My comment on the turbo needs to be clarified. Yes there is lag, but once the turbo spools, there is a lot of power at once (typically all the way to red line). Superchargers are linear and provide boost all the way through the RPM range; no lag.

Old school? Not unless we are running forged pistons, heavy rods, and main bearings...but what do I know? I would be very surprised if Mercedes uses a Pauter comparable piston and rod in the 3.2 Liter. I did not comment on labor because his list was incomplete. I stated no need for fuel line and fittings because they were not needed (but larger injectors were)...ties back into the one fuel pump fits all (from 4 cyl to 8 cyl) regulated by the FPR.



A turbo doesn't necessarily void the entire warranty. Obviously it effects the engine. At some point most of us are going to become tired with the HP numbers that we have regardless of the model. Superchargers are difficult to upgrade and are mechanically limited to the amount of boost they can provide (governed by the size of the pulley on the front). In comparison, turbos can be easily swapped for more boost.

Personally I LOVE THIS CAR!! But I know that I am a car wh*re and will become eventually bored with it. I may twin turbo it out of spite. Why? Because the thought of a supra similar 1,000 horse power street legal X-fire would be ridiculous. :-) I guess I would not be able to Auto-X anymore though. LOL Maybe drifting??

Cheers and thanks for the comments/observations.

~ Jess

 

Get the new 6.1 hemi and drop that in there. There’s some power for ya. But don't forget to upgrade the tranny.

 

AMEN BROTHER!!! That thing is pure sex!!!

 

Well, the prices and parts are off of the quote sheet of a local race shop. I will not disclose their name because I don't know if I can.

The comments with the dual turbo thing are a little off. You can run dual turbos but it is far easier to do a single, thus the one turbo and other piping.

The fuel line prices I think are insanely high for some braided line and Earl's fittings.

The labor costs also seems a bit high, but it is completely custom and some stuff has to be relocated. I don't think its that bad considering it will take over 28 hours.

I know it makes no sense at all to spend the price of the car on mods, but that's why I wanted your opinions and where out of that list of parts money could be saved. Because after going through the list there doesn't seem to be too many useless parts, if any.

If anyone with some actual turbo knowledge and not just "My friend had a ..." experience would like to chime in I would appreciate it.

I'm getting an exhaust put on by them and it will be done on Wednesday or Thursday of next week, so I'll let everyone know the quality of their work.

If I do end up getting this done it won't be until at least January or February as right now I'm in school, and its hard to justify dropping that kind of cash.

 

My thoughts! Before I spent $17K on a turbo, I would look at Kleemans Super charger for $9K and get 350 hp with the chip, warranty and dependability. They do not run more than 7 lbs and keep all the stock internals. Our little Benz engines can handle 400 ft lbs of continuous torque and they have had zero failures on the SLKs according to Kleemans shop manager.
Just my 2 cents.

 

Other then the power gain for the turbo the main reason to get it would be upgradeability and exclusiveness. Does anyone agree with me on this?

 

No, It's more about the power than anything else. I just wish rear tires and clutches weren't so expensive!

 

For 17k I would do a motor swap instead...