Re: Turbo "kits": Every time someone comes up with a workable turbo for one of these rigs, interest seems to peak and people start talking about "kits." The usual questions are how much power increase? and how much will it cost? Once a price is mentioned for a REAL workable turbo for OUR engines, not some one size almost fits nothing peice of Chinese crap, that initial interest fades quickly. These are not modified Honda civic kits, they need to be specifically designed to fit our engines and engine compartments, and driving styles. Then the fueling issues had to be worked out, then the cooling issues, etc, etc, etc. The big deal is the cost. A GOOD, properly sized liquid cooled Turbo: $650+ , take your chances with a junkyard special. Want it to be reliable? spring for the good one. A proper, well made, stainless steel manifold built from schedule 40 304 grade designed to last? One offs are going for $700+. You can definitely get cheaper, built from regular steel for a lot less, but then you get the corrosion issues. Plate it or coat it, $ hundreds more. Mild steel tubing ala ebay Chinese throwaways? 6 mos or less lifespan. No need to even mention PVC intake tubing I hope. That shit is for plumbing not turbo's.
I can understand the shock people go thru when they hear the price for a REAL working, durable and reliable turbo system. Yeah, you can put one together for a hellofa lot less, but I wouldn't stake my name or reputation on a time bomb POS that I wouldn't run in my own rig.
I could put together a good turbo kit that almost anyone could install, on a STOCK 16v engine, using the stock ECU, and it would be reliable and Durable, with significant increases in USUABLE power. I've done it, and continue to use mine daily in every type of situation on and off road. I've heard it all, reliability? NO problem, working great, durability? No problem, can even take being submerged repeatedly, and will run all day long on the highway with a prob. Was it worth it? Damn right! to me it was, especially since I built it myself. Was it easy? Hell no ! I made plenty of mistakes and several manifolds and went thru many configurations before I came to the correct one. The big deal is it took LOTS of time and effort to get it to where it is today, working correctly, and reliably. So, you want a turbo kit that works? It will cost you at least $2000. I can't figure any other way to do what I did less expensive and have it come out as good as mine . I wouldn't do it any other way, too much at stake. I leave that to the bigger manufacturers who have the econemy of scale to do it cheaper. The thing is, IF people really wanted kits the money would have to do the talking, and frankly, money and spending it is not something most ZUK owners are known for. 2k is a lot of coin to invest in engine mods when it can buy many other desireable and useful parts for a Zuk, hell 2k can even buy a good Zuk. The only way I could justify spending this much time and $ on mine is because I love the challenge, doing the fab work, and deriving the satisfaction of getting the job done, having it work great, and gaining the respect of my peers. In that case it was money and time well spent. That may not be the case for anyone else though. "You get what you pay for," old saying that usually is very true. "Cheap" is reletive. Some people think I spent too much on my Tracker as is, but not me, and that's all that matters. So, turbo kits? really want one?
