forced induction Turbo Vs Dcoe. Discuss

[frostyspeed]

At a fork in the road with what direction to take my project. Out of the seemingly unlimited possible builds, swaps, and forced induction choices. The two ideas I seem to like the best are:

1. Throw a set of dcoe 40's on with a 292 cam and long tube headers and call it good.

2. Go to pick-n-pull, grab a 318i intake and Volvo or similar turbo, build a log type exhaust, run mega squirt and call it good

My concern with the dcoe's is being unsatisfied with the power output. I've been told 150hp is very optimistic. Someone with a similar setup care to chime in?

The concern with the turbo is having the project get away from me. MS isn't plug and play and play and I don't want to have my car spend the next six months in the garage.

I can get the sidedrafts for $400 + rebuild and that includes the linkages and intake. The long tube headers are on the shelf ready. I'd still need to grab a cam.

I don't need A LOT of power but right now the stock motor with the 32/36 isn't cutting it in the entertainment department.

Head is spinning. Thoughts?

[LimeySteve]

Personally I like to be able to play & I don't get the computer stuff so I went 40 Dellortos (now 45's) I have a killer Crane ignition, 292 Cam from Schneider & a stepped header from IE . It runs great & is very entertaining I am putting together a Hi Compression lower ens as at the moment I have the original bottom end with flat tops & a 121 head= low compression . The higher compression will make all the difference & even more fun. I get 22 mpg driving with a heavy foot .

 

My 02 c

[frostyspeed]

Tell me more about the crane ignition! With your setup as is. Are there any modern cars you say the acceleration is similar to?

[Rocan]

Why not injection and non-turbo? Injection tops carbs any day of the week, period. Far more adjustment, better MPG, and more power EVERYWHERE. no lag. Better cold starts and better hot starts. Then if you decide you want turbo later, you can implement it slowly. The hard part of megasquirt is the initial wiring. Wire and test it off the car, then do an install over the weekend and it should be running just fine with a base map. then tune on your way to and from work if you want. no reason why it can't be easy; you just need to be smart and do it in pieces. 

 

I will eventually go the turbo megasquirt route, but I started with the ignition side of things and got megajolt installed and running within about 7 hours with a spare set of hands. Now when I go to injection all I will need is to do a little re-wiring and change the intake and throttle linkage, aside from the fuel pump and new lines it's a pretty easy jump to make. But going from carb straight to efi and eic would have been taunting. 

[AceAndrew]

Injection tops carbs any day of the week, period.

 

Except the nolstagia and fun to drive factor (unless your doing some ITB setup). 

 

If it was me, I'd try and find somebody local who could be bothered to give me a drive.

[Chamonix72]

I think Andrew said a lot in his short post.

 

Try to find some different projects and take a ride. You'll get a sense of what you want the more exposure you have.

 

And ITBs with Megasquirt really is the best of both worlds. But I have to admit that I am very biased. 

 

I also second the idea of doing Megasquirt first, then deciding what direction you want to take. A turbocharged car and a hot rodded naturally aspirated car require different engine configurations (cam, compression, etc. So, get the Megasquirt running on your current motor, get the basic wiring done, and the major kinks worked out. Then decide where you're headed and go that route. In the meantime, you have all the benefits of EFI. Don't think you have to take everything in one chunk. I knew I wanted Megasquirt and I knew I wanted ITBs. That went on my old motor first, then I built a hotter motor.

[TobyB]

Turbo.  About the time you get the sidedrafts figured out, you'll realize you've run out of opportunities for power.

 

Whereas you can just keep turning up the boost until the rods come out of the side of the block...

 

But getting the EFI working first- you can even plumb 99% of the turbo, just use a dummy center section with the

bearing holes plugged- is a pretty reasonable way to start.  Then start adding boost until the old motor

goes pop, and then you can figure how much farther you want to go with a turbo- built motor.

 

It'll be cheaper in the end.

 

If you like that sort of thing.

 

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