MX-3.com

Ok, I'll be turbo'ing or supercharging my ZE in the spring/summer. I'll finally have my own garage to work in, so I'm going all out. Now I'm just researching and buying parts so when I'm ready I can get it running as quickly as possible.

So all you FI experts... question. I'm mainly interested in low-end torque vs. high end HP. I rarely drive on highways, and like to remain as inconspicuous as possible in urban areas, so don't like my engine roaring away at 6000rpm. I do track race, sure .. but I'd mainly like more everyday torque when exiting a corner in 2nd at say 1500rpm. I love the effortless feeling of low-rpm torque, and dislike forcing it into first around a corner.

Can anyone suggest a turbo setup with an absolute minimal lag, even if it only produces, say <10PSI at the top end? What are the pitfalls I need to watch out for? I assume I need to minimize the intake length; is it worth it forgoing an intercooler?

Is a supercharger a better option for this?

I'm reasonably good with fabrication, so building a mounting bracket and shaft for a procharger wouldn't be out of the question.

If I wanted a torque of, say 180ftlb at 2000rpm, rising to 220 at 5000rpm, what would be the most realistic option?

i know the shaft idea your talking about, driving a shaft from the belt side of the engine across behind the rad and mounting the s/c on the tranny side. but thats ghetto and in my opinion.... stupid. you can however take a eaton m62 s/c from a mercedes benz kompressor. its the same s/c that comes with the cobalt ss and lots of other s/c car, only the mercedes one has a short neck for the pully. you can custom make a bracket and mount the s/c where the a/c condensor is/was.

s/c sound cooler and are badass

you can also use ford probe turbo pipes but the subframe gets in the way, so you will have to cut that up and build it around the exhaust.

10psi is high, people running like 5psi on probetalk are making in and around 220 whp, which is perfect for a little mx3, and relatively safe.

So, for the A/C mount option, would that mean the intake would come down from a filter on the passenger side, into the SC, through an IC, then up to the MAF/VAF?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05hoElPU ... annel_page" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

this one is not intercooled and also does not show the supercharger actually mounted.

ask on probetalk.com, guarenteed someone there knows what to do exactly.

Also look into the advantages of a bypass valve vs a blow off valve if going turbo. Should help throttle response.

On our cars its easier to turbo than supercharge.


You need to modify the frame to be able to fit the supercharger in the ac place.

For turbo this is all you need


t3/t4 turbo (can be ebay)

Turbo pipes(ebay)

FMU(local perf parts store)

Adjustable fuel pressure regulator

Walbro high pressure fuel pump

WIDEBAND 02 senor , not narrow band <--

Boost gauge

Blow off valve

thats about it,

you DO NOT NEED MILLENIA INJECTORS or megasquirt if you are doing 5 psi, no matter what anyone here or on probetalk says, i have been running that set up for almost a year now.


Also, if your ebay turbo start to smoke, RESTRICT the oil line PLUS use a restrictor and smoke is gone.

hm did not know about the frame mod for ac mount sc

Just run a properly sized turbo.
Since you don't mind the drop off in high rpm power look into a garret 50 or 57 trim with either the .48 exhaust housing, but that may choke power a bit much, so you may want to see if you can find an exhaust housing from a borg warner "t3 style" turbo with the .55 ar housing.

It also depends on what stage wheel you get, you best bet would be to contact garret, borgwarner, hks etc etc and see what they would recomend.

Thanks, everyone, for the replies.

I think I will go turbo, after all. I'll contact a couple vendors and see what they recommend in terms of sizing. I priced out a complete system including probe headers for a turbo, and it came in under $1k. Sweet.

I'll post as soon as I start building.

Still won't run for sh*t if you don't swap out that VAF.

nightfire wrote:Thanks, everyone, for the replies.

I think I will go turbo, after all. I'll contact a couple vendors and see what they recommend in terms of sizing. I priced out a complete system including probe headers for a turbo, and it came in under $1k. Sweet.

I'll post as soon as I start building.

What are you gonna be using to add fuel?
I would get megasquirt so that way later on, when not if , when you want more power its easier

If running turbo, you need to modify the cross member to allow the turbo pipes to fit.

Daninski wrote:Still won't run for sh*t if you don't swap out that VAF.

Already ordered.

It shipped out this afternoon so hopefully I can get it installed by the weekend. I'll probably save as much as it cost, just in fuel... over the next oh, 2 weeks...hahah.

nos92mx3 wrote:What are you gonna be using to add fuel?
I would get megasquirt so that way later on, when not if , when you want more power its easier

Oh I'll definitely be going MS before the turbo... it's part of the project. I'll get that running first.

tehbrookzorz wrote:If running turbo, you need to modify the cross member to allow the turbo pipes to fit.

I was looking at these headers on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-Pro ... enameZWDVW" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Did you mean I'll have to mod the crossmember for those, or something else?

In either case.. no worries .. If that's the worst I'll have to deal with, I'm still good.

You'll have to modify it.