KL-DE or KL-ZE???

mrmike420 · Post by **mrmike420** » August 7th, 2007, 3:25 pm

Which engine swap would be better suited for a turbo setup? KL-DE or KL-ZE? I'm sure there are some ZE's that have been turbocharged but which one would be less complicated and would require less modifications and money?

jemcote · Post by **jemcote** » August 7th, 2007, 8:01 pm

DE to me. You would spend less money, be more reliable and have less power. But still a very good power... heh 8 psi or so and you should get around 250whp

mrmike420 · Post by **mrmike420** » August 7th, 2007, 10:27 pm

Yeah, i'm not trying to go through all the cash and problems of tuning a turbocharged ZE...

Mnemonic · Post by **Mnemonic** » August 8th, 2007, 9:51 pm

lol as if its going to cost any less than doing it to a De lol...

ScooterBovine · Post by **ScooterBovine** » August 9th, 2007, 1:11 am

I do not understand this line of thinking! The only thing that would cost less would be the motor itself! If you are turboing, you would need a better system than the ECU anyways, so the cost of finding the right one for each motor is negated anyways.

So what costs more? Why is a DE more reliable? Is it because you are afraid of ruining a ZE due to needing to fine tune it a little more?

ho bag · Post by **ho bag** » August 9th, 2007, 8:43 am

DE is lower compression thus alot more boost friendly to start with. But no mater what motor you went with the rods are gonna be your weak link, then pistons and compression ration come into effect.

If you really want to boost buy a dead DE. Rebuild it properly. While its getting rebuilt install megasquirt or something to that effect and get it working so when your motor is done your ready to go.

ScooterBovine · Post by **ScooterBovine** » August 9th, 2007, 9:19 am

Okay, boost friendly. More boost doesn't mean it's going to be better. You could boost a 50 hp motor all day long with 500 psi till it hits 300 hp, but why? You can just start with a 150 hp motor and pump it with 50 psi and hit the same mark.

All the information on this site points to the fact that if you want more power, START with more power. Like someone else said, the motors are almost the same, they are both going to be able to handle the boost.

mrmike420 · Post by **mrmike420** » August 9th, 2007, 10:20 am

Well how many DE's have been turbocharged compared to the ZE's??? Doesn't the compression ratios come in to play when turboing a motor??? And isn't the DE more suitable for a turbo than a ZE, based off their compression???

ho bag · Post by **ho bag** » August 9th, 2007, 11:27 am

mrmike420 wrote:Well how many DE's have been turbocharged compared to the ZE's??? Doesn't the compression ratios come in to play when turboing a motor??? And isn't the DE more suitable for a turbo than a ZE, based off their compression???

Yes you are right, compression does come into play here, the extra power the ze makes it with compression and cams. Neither of which you really need or want if your going boost.

Go buy a DE and rebuild it.

ScooterBovine · Post by **ScooterBovine** » August 9th, 2007, 1:46 pm

1: 10:1 compression vs 9.2:1 compression
a ZE running 10PSI would have a compression ratio of 16.8:1
a DE running 10PSI would have a compression ratio of 15.45:1
Conclusion: A DE would have to run more boost to make the same power...

2: ZE Heads and IM vs DE heads and IM
Flow Flow Flow... ZE heads and IM flow far better

3: Amount Of Boost...
No one and I REPEAT NO ONE HAS EVER BLOWN A KL ZE/DE RUNNING TO MUCH BOOST... The only problem people have is with the A/F mixture, and they end up burning up the motor...

4: Internals
The ZE/DE have the exact same internals mines the pistons... (DE dished making the lower compression) other than that there the same...
Thus you could run the exact same amount of boost on both...

5: F/I Info
Ok theres several things to consider when running a turbo..
First A ZE can only run 6-7 PSI before you have to seriously consider some fuel management... Even running 6-7 PSI u are going to have to Change injectors, Fuel Pump, and FPR...
Your best bet is to prosue Mega squirt even if your only running a few PSI
With MS, Upgraded Injectors, and upgraded Fuel Pump you should be able to get around 400 HP out of a ze... if not more.
Read F/I forums and talk to those people.

One last upgrade would be to have your cams ground, and to do some porting on your heads, along with upgraded valve springs and retainers.

mrmike420 · Post by **mrmike420** » August 9th, 2007, 2:45 pm

Well has anyone installed a turbo on a ZE yet??

ho bag · Post by **ho bag** » August 9th, 2007, 2:46 pm

Its been done, mx3styles on here is doing it. he is going megasquirt to do it.

mrmike420 · Post by **mrmike420** » August 9th, 2007, 3:02 pm

See, i plan on doing an engine swap soon and eventually turbocharging it and I was looking for the engine that would give the best foundation for doing so... I'm not looking for 400+ HP or anything, even though that'll be pretty cool. Around 300 would be efficient. Looks like i'm leaning towards the ZE...

ScooterBovine · Post by **ScooterBovine** » August 9th, 2007, 11:17 pm

I am pretty sure that Babyblue did.