Is it worth it to get a turbo on an ESI?

[JDT]

Lots of people say a turbo on a basic ESI can be useless. But I want to know what everyone thinks about it. I know it wont give you much power, but it can always have some advantages.

 

[TRSblader]

If you search, you'll find quite a bit of information covered on this topic. Personally, for what it costs and the minimal power you get, it's not even close to worth it.

Also, it takes knowledge of how turbos and a turbo motor work, you can't just slap one on and call it a day. Judging from your post even asking if your engine was a tsi or esi, and not knowing where a turbo mounted if it was a tsi, I would say you aren't ready to handle that task. Not being a jerk, just saying. A search on turbocharging the esi would get you a better idea of the detail involved and let you know if you're ready to take on the challenge or not.

 

[knochgoon24]

You can read up here
420A Turbo Conversion - DSM Forums

 

[freelancefool]

Enjoy the car for what it is right now. I had a 98 RS that I used as a daily driver for about 5 years. It can be a fun car to drive and it does provide a good learning platform. Keep it for a year and see what you think about the car first. If after a year you enjoy the car, start reading on doing a turbo conversion and see if it is worth the time and money.

I seriously thought about it for a while and probably would have turboed the car had it not been totaled in a parking lot while I was at work.

 

[TSi Kid]

yeah i had a 2g nt eclipse for my first car
just start to save up some money and after you had some fun with your nt throw it up on the market and look for a turbo'd dsm

 

[vinnio]

"Is it worth it" is such an open ended question... To me, hell yea! Boost is awesome. BUT, to you???

Consider this- A stock 420a (especially one with some miles) is NOT going to be reliable on boost for a long period of time. I know, low boost and proper tuning there can be exceptions, just keep in mind the cost of an engine rebuild.

Not saying that you should go out and snag a tsi. Just saying, speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?

 

[bagged420a]

You want a fwd turbo, go for it...But honestly, AWD or RWD is much more fun with power. Think about things like that before you go investing money into it, because before you know it you'll have enough cash invested you won't want to change platforms even though your sick of just spinning your fwd