i am interested to know if anyone has tested results from having a water cooled turbo, i am running a side mount intercooler so its not as efficient at cooling ofcourse, i am curious to know how much cooler the turbo is and how much cooler the air temp is when a turbo is water cooled versus just oil. my 52 trim would run at about 600 degrees idle when about 70 degrees out and the highway air temp is about 170deg =/


running rich? turn the boost up

not to tear into your setup, but i have a two suggestions:
first-get a front mount intercooler. having that side mount intercooler inside your engine bay is soaking in all the heat from the engine.
second- ditch the srt-4 plugs and get NGK's for the ecotec(part numbers NGK LTR6IX-11 - one step colder, or NGK LTR7IX-11 - 2 steps colder)

back to your original question, i have my turbo water cooled, but i'm not sure what the temp drops are. hooking up coolant to your turbo wont hurt anything and doesn't cost that much, so in the end you can't lose.

i actually think it was on here i was told by a couple of people to go with srt4 plugs because they are 1 step colder than my stock, also, i didnt really want to go with a front mount because i want it to be a sleeper, im even relocating my gauges so i can ditch the pillar,and thats why im trying to find other alternatives like a watercooled turbo before i have to front mount it, a 800 dollar water to air isnt really in my budget


running rich? turn the boost up

Stay away from the srt-4 plugs, my car never ran soo bad. I am now running the same plugs as the cobalt ss supercharged what a difference

really? my car has been running great, the first set only lasted 1k miles before it started spitting but that wasnt a decent tune, these have lasted 8k on a decent tune and its starting to spit again, it aint no 30,000 miles, but its better than 1,000! do you have a part number for the cobalt plugs, are they double platinum, iriduim or what? thanks


running rich? turn the boost up

I ran srt 4 plugs for a while ran good with l61 head also ran the ngk's there one thread shorter which is better.Than i swapped to lsj head and am running cobalt ss plugs there completely diffrent so i dont think you could run those being that there shorter and have a crush washer.

kevin roskosky wrote:i didnt really want to go with a front mount because i want it to be a sleeper,

Because every intercooler sticks out like a sore thumb...




I want to say that was before I painted it.

kevin roskosky wrote:really? my car has been running great, the first set only lasted 1k miles before it started spitting but that wasnt a decent tune, these have lasted 8k on a decent tune and its starting to spit again, it aint no 30,000 miles, but its better than 1,000! do you have a part number for the cobalt plugs, are they double platinum, iriduim or what? thanks

I'm pretty sure the cobalt LSJ plugs are completely different than the L61plugs. someone can correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe the LSJ plugs aren't tapered and the L61 plugs are. use either NGK LTR6IX-11 - one step colder, or NGK LTR7IX-11 - 2 steps colder plugs, you wont be disappointed. The problem with the SRT-4 plugs and being longer is they stick into the cylinder which causes hot spots and pre-detonation

The part # for the NGK plugs that I am running are BKR6EGP stock no. 7092

They are platinum, and I am seeing no knock at all all the way to redline with the gm s/c reflash with the saab setup

Yeah those arent lsj plugs. The lsj's are not tapered as stated above and are bkr7e.

mitdr774 , i am very impressed by that setup how are your bumper is a little different than mine, im sure you can nicely tuck them in sunfires but i want it to be nonexistant so if someone does look for one up close it is not there

as for the plugs, i am kindof skepitcal that i ran almost 10,000 miles with them after brandonpaul just said, its a good thing i got a fresh motor in my garage


running rich? turn the boost up

sorry my bad, the plugs I am running are the saab 9-3 and they are the same length as the stock eco plugs

Saab 9-3 is same head as lsj thats what im runing on my l61 so im curious what plugs you actually run.As for the orginal poster i actaully wondered about being watercooled i was going to go with the gt35 but didnt want to run the coolant line but i might uprade in the future.

i first got the idea when i was thinking about how to run it cooler and i saw where i bypassed the heater core, it enter and exit are within 12 inches of my turbo. looks like i could buy some hose and hook it up within 15 minutes


running rich? turn the boost up

Thats true get a nice aluminum t-fitting.

kevin roskosky wrote:i first got the idea when i was thinking about how to run it cooler and i saw where i bypassed the heater core, it enter and exit are within 12 inches of my turbo. looks like i could buy some hose and hook it up within 15 minutes

If your turbo has the option for water and isn't an oil only turbo, Id say give it a shot. Worst case scenario is you wasted your time and it runs the same temperature.


Ive ran both water cooled and oil only turbos on my old Talon. Never really noticed a difference between the 2 but I also never checked the temperature.

"Oil Leak ? What oil Leak ? Oh, Thats Just The Sweat From All The HorsePower!!"