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Hey Guys and Gals,
I have read some of the posts on this form regarding turbos on both the reg engine in a GS and the ZE. However, I am not clear as to whether it is worth the money spent on dropping a ZE and then turbo charging it or to simply keep the regular engine and charge it. I have recently purchased a Garrett T3/T4 wet ball bearing turbo and though the specs on the ZE are way better than the reg engine some of the posts on the form suggest that it's not worth the money to swap to the ZE and then drop the charger though I am leaning towards the fact that it may very well be worth it.

So any input or advice that you chaps can offer would be greatly appreciated as I would like to make the most out of eating up Hondas. HEHEHEHEHE

Oooops KLZE :p

Get the KLDE engine and turbo charge that, because it has a lower compression ratio it can handle more boost. Whereas u COULD turbocharge a KLZE but it would have to be low boost(6-7psi) and that would be fairly hard on the engine. If u do a search u will find this question has been asked several times, and answered several times, but always with the same answer.

Good luck

You can turbo the ZE and it would be fast as hell. But like Talon said it'd be a strain on the engine and it'd take lots of tuning and then worrying afterwards. Thats why I swapped in a KLDE. Same compression as the stock K8 and still has the 2.5L as the ZE and 35hp more than stock to start with. Plus if you do internals like pistons, cams, rods, and things like that, the ZE and DE would end up being the same thing anyways.

Well to be honest I am not very technical so whatever I get done will have to be rather straight forward. So the chances are that I won't be going internal and changing a lot...though who knows maybe I will. But what my goal is to make the most of the turbo. So if I go for the other engine I will be able to optimize my turbo setup?

Well I checked with these mechanics in Toronto and they give me the same advice. They said it would be better to go for the lower compression motor and throw the turbo in compared to the ZE engine. This is good news since i was all set to go and drop the ZE...can you imagine my disappointment when I would have been told that I can't boost the car more than a few PSI.

Well now I just have to find out the cost and all the other "hidden" things that need to be done. Man I am all excited..can't wait to tear up the 1/4 mile and maybe give my friend's Mustang a run for it's money...hehehehehe

It is a minus with the Ze engine having 10.1 compression trying to turbo it. You also must consider the fact that ZEs usually have low mileage and the fact you still with a 35 more hp engine. I say ZE then turbo it. Just do some air/fuel tuning and don't go crazy on the psi. A pound of boost is usually considered 10 more hp so having the boost 3 lbs lower on a Ze should be safer and net more horsepower. Just something to consider.

One of the nicest MX3's was owned by Jeff Abram, and now a guy in Alberta Canada owns it. He used the KLDE, and was pushing nearly 300HP and Torque to the ground. I know it was supercharged, I cant recall if he switched to a Turbo set up or not.

Hmmm true true,
I guess the best thing for me to find out is where do I max out with both options (keeping in mind not to go over board) and then make my decision. If by going the non-ZE option I am able to get more power in the end then I would go with that setup..but if I am very close with both options then I may go for the ZE since, like you said it would have lower mileage and everything..but i need more input and information. But thanx for the alternative view.

Ya I know...it was actually after I checked out his car that I was all excited about getting to work...cause till then I had not come across anything that was soo wicked. And plus for some reason in Toronto most of the people only know the word VTECH and nothing else so I was even more determined to get in there and tear them a new one hehehehehe. Now that I have the money and a shop that is a specialist in Mazda tuning www.a-spec.ca I can't wait to get started.

A little off topic but would any of you be able to explain to me what Limited Slip Differential is and how it improves performance.

Just FYI, Jeff did switch his car to a turbo setup a while before he sold his car.
U, I had a post similar to what you're asking about the LSD. Seek(search) and ye shall find; there are really good definitions/explanations in different posts. I really want to go with it. Those without it say you don't need it, but those with it say it's totally worth it. I'm still in the process of researching it right now. The downside: the stock axles won't allow for a plug and play fit. You usually have to buy new axles, but I found a guy who drilled his OEM axles to account for it. Kinda complicated, but whatever you do, stay away from a limited slip called Phantom Grip. Everyone I've talked to said it sucks.
-John

Oh so he did change to a turbo later on..that is good to know. And thanx for the heads up on the LSD. I has always heard people talk about and seen it done on a mini cooper after it had a LSD supercharger installed and everything..but I will search and see what all I can find. Once again thanx.

Oh yeah: the real topic here. I'm going to do the KL-ZE swap in a couple months and, after a few appearance mods, I plan on boosting it 5-6 psi. that would put my car at around 270 hp. Higher compression means more power per psi of boost. True, you can't turbo it as high as a lower compression engine, but I like having higher horsepower on the low end. Also, most mx'ers are very satisfied with the ZE NA. It's way more powerful in an Mx-3 than most Hondas you'll come across. If you get 275+ HP in the Mx-3 you gotta worry about the car being able to handle it. IMO it's not worth it.

Well like I mentioned before it's all a matter of getting the best performance with the options available to me..I mean i can drop a ZE or a reg KL. But I need to find out which will be the better option in terms of power and continued running with minimal headaches. From what I was told since the ZE is a higher compression engine by adding the turbo one may run into issues down the road. Unless one takes the time to do some major tunning and stuff on a regular basis. And as I mentioned I am not a tech guy so a lot of this is going to be by a pro.