Currently I own a 2003 2.2 Ecotec Cavalier and since I was given the car at the age of 16, I didn't know too much about performance and pretty much turned it into all show with little go. I've decided to go with a turbo as opposed to the GM supercharger so my plan is to install the stock Cobalt turbo since as far as i know the Cobalt and Cavalier virtually have the same engines (both Ecotec). I figure after the installation of the turbo (or during if the part is completely replaceable to the stock turbo set up) a couple parts to add would be to upgrade the turbo, intercool it, and buy a boost controller.
A couple long term effects I am wondering about now if anyone can help me out with is how this will affect the life of my engine. Currently no internal engine work has been done to the car (the whole engine is almost pretty stock) and the whole car only has about 40,000 miles on it. Im not planning on doing anything too huge horsepower wise, but I'm figuring if the stock Cobalt can push close to 260hp, I'm probably just aiming for a little over 300hp after upgrading the turbos, intercooling, and turning the boost up just a bit more than stock.
How will this affect the life of my engine in the long run? Are there any parts (necessary ones) for the engine recommended to avoid blowing the engine if needed?
The question you should be asking yourself is WWBJD, or What would baby jesus do? Now if baby jesus had your car, he'd do rods and pistons. Forged bottom end. He'd also want some head work done, some valves, some port and polish action. He'd have the three wise men do that. Next is going to be some fuel. We're not talking water into wine, but we are talking about some bigger injectors, probably a better fuel pump as well. Then you're going to need some exhaust love. Is it easier to poop thru a coffee stirrer, or poop into a garbage can? Garbage can of course. Others will come in and give more information, but baby jesus will spank them with the fury of 30 junior bacon cheeseburgers.
Your car may do 13 sec @ 103 mph, but my car does 146db @ 35 hz.
Look this all boils down to the set up, the amount of boost, the supporting mods (fuel, spark, tune, exhaust) and last but not least the driver. If you play on beating this thing like its your girlfriend and she just burnt the toast don't plan on the engine lasting long plain and simple.
With that said the cheaper route is by far not the most successful option in the performance/longevity game. Hope this helps.
Im not planing on beating the @!#$ out of it, probably wont take it to a drag strip more than just a couple times. I'm just looking to build a respectively quick cavalier when needed while still keeping it street driveable.
I dont know the stock boost pressure of the cobalt (maybe 12psi?) but im only lookin to turn it up a bit..say 16psi-22psi if thats the case.
Im not looking to keep this thing for years either but i don't want to lose it within months after installation.
Alex wrote:Im not planing on beating the @!#$ out of it, probably wont take it to a drag strip more than just a couple times. I'm just looking to build a respectively quick cavalier when needed while still keeping it street driveable.
I dont know the stock boost pressure of the cobalt (maybe 12psi?) but im only lookin to turn it up a bit..say 16psi-22psi if thats the case.
Im not looking to keep this thing for years either but i don't want to lose it within months after installation.
going from 12-22psi is a huge difference. I am not sure how many lbs a colbalt ss runs but I can promise you no where near 22....
first off your engine... L61 or a 2.2l ecotec... is not the same as a 2.0l LSJ or LNF.... so stop comparing the 2... compression, stroke, and strength of the internals are different... you can still hit 300hp or 250ish wheel and be perfectly fine as long as you have a good tune... tuning is key in this case... and what are you long term goals? how long do you want the engine to last boosted?
...I am the BEST at what I do...
"I guess your right[BlueBoost]. Me and my slow car are failers."
The LNF in stock form runs 12-15psi on a cutesy little turbo, making "only" 260hp. People up the boost to maintain 22PSI and about 320hp.
As said, you cannot compare this engine with the L61 in the cavalier and base cobalt. The LNF has it over 500whp on a stock bottom end. Our engine will not do that, well maybe for a split second, but you get the idea.
You could probably run in the 200-250whp range for 100k miles if it's tuned properly, quality parts are used, well maintained and not beaten. Those are not trival qualifiers...
I was boosted (gm sc ecotec) at around 130k and I just hit 200k last week. No huge problems with the car so far. Biggest was a fuel pump.
thats a lot of wasted time and money for 40hp. turboing a stock motor will eventualy take its life but it is more fun that way. you could get 100 miles or 100000 miles out of it. its a big unknown. the key to a long boosted engine life is a professional tune.
JOE L wrote:thats a lot of wasted time and money for 40hp. turboing a stock motor will eventualy take its life but it is more fun that way. you could get 100 miles or 100000 miles out of it. its a big unknown. the key to a long boosted engine life is a professional tune.
No, turboing a stock engine properly will not eventually take its life. You may misunderstand the effects, or perhaps have been exposed to some amateurish homebrewed turbo stuff.
Bill Hahn Jr.
Hahn RaceCraft
World's Quickest and Fastest Street J-Bodies
Turbocharging GM FWD's since 1988
www.turbosystem.com
JOE L wrote:thats a lot of wasted time and money for 40hp. turboing a stock motor will eventualy take its life but it is more fun that way. you could get 100 miles or 100000 miles out of it. its a big unknown. the key to a long boosted engine life is a professional tune.
My cav is supercharged and gained 80-90whp. Springtime will only show increased gains.
219whp - I <3 whine
you say you wont beat on it now.. wait til you have boost, that will change..
you want simplicity? either get a GMPP S/C kit or a HAHN stage 2 kit, those are the 2 easiest things i can think of; you will want to tune them too of course..
12.33 @ 111.67 mph [Oct 2009]
Dyno'd on 08/02/09 - Mustang Dyno:
327.6 WHP 333.6 WTQ [10.1 AFR]
wtf is the fun in boosting if you are not going to beat on the car?
are you ricer? do you just want that uber OMFG BOV sound or what?
Stand in the corner and SCREAM with me!!!!
Your never gonna get the same power out of a L61 compared to a LNF with that turbo. The LNF has direct injection, making it much easier to make that kind of power.
NoMoreGroceries wrote:Your never gonna get the same power out of a L61 compared to a LNF with that turbo. The LNF has direct injection, making it much easier to make that kind of power.
I understand where you are going with this, but in fact we have 10% more displacement in the L61 and higher static compression ratio. I "think" we have a slightly more aggressive cam profile as well.
Pound for pound on the same turbo, i would vote on the L61 if properly tuned. Looking at it from another angle, the L61 will "run out of turbo" before the LNF. Also the L61 will grenade well before the LNF on a stock bottom end and we obviously cannot achieve what the LNF does on a stock fuel system.
This is actually an intelligent post. I'll take the time to respond. lol
For you, I would recommend the Saab Turbo kit. It maxes out around where the engine does so you can keep it at a set psi and be happy. You'll have some major torque too.
Or, you can piece together a supercharger kit for under $1000.
