Need Advice On Whether To Go Mild N/A+Nitrous or Turbo - Honda Prelude Forum

MugenPoweredLude · 09-18-2003, 08:45 PM

Anyway....some of you might of looked in the N/A forum and saw my post about P&P'd head, cams, Nitrous and other stuff i didnt name....

i have the parts that i want/need in a Excel workbook and well lets just say so far with just the head, cams, cam gears, gauges, NX kit and genx2 upgrade and remote bottle opener and some other needed items, the whole setup is costing me already the price of a nice turbo kit and theres still more prices i need to get/fill in

i also have a goal...to one day build the motor and go turbo....

but im taking a look at what its costing me so far and im thinking i might ditch that setup and buy a turbo kit, clutch and maybe a EMS(AEM or Hondata)and fuel system stuff

ok i was sitting down and thinking about it and i broke it down like this in my head:

N/A / NX route:

PROS:
a bit more reliable than turbo
hope to have ~250whp+ on the bottle
will still have some nice #'s off the bottle
dont have to worry about my ringlands going
this will probally be better for daily driving
CONS:
~250whp+ ONLY on the bottle
im a HP junkie...must have HP all the time
refilling the bottle is gonna cost me

Turbo Kit/Fuel System/Clutch/FW/EMS

PROS:
BOV
(we all know we buy turbo kits for the sound )
hoping to get ~230whp...
nice torque #'s
intercooler in octane front bumper =
build the motor and crank up the boost(near infinite power increase )
CONS:
maintenance is very high(i have no problem looking over my engine everyday)
turbo lag

worried about ringlands and longevity of stock internals
worried about tuning...if the tuner ****s up...ringlands go or even worse....new bottom end
reliability is not that great if at all

so theres my dilemma....

i need some advice here...

i want to go turbo soooo bad and i do intend on building the motor when funds permit
but i also dont want to have to rebuild my bottom end before i can come up with the money to fully build the motor

if i do go the turbo kit way....i will have it 6-7psi MAX
so what does everyone think would be better to do???

Sorry for the long post

I moved this from the FI forum as i need some more opinions...im really in a bind and i basically when i think about it..i kind of want both..but thats not possible

CTPRELUDE · 09-18-2003, 09:30 PM

If you have the money to go turbo right now I would just do it. Especially if you dont mind the constant maintenance and what not. But heh I am going NA and already have my N2O and I am completely happy with it. I definately would just choose a route and do it rather than do both one after the other.

NXLude · 09-18-2003, 10:37 PM

I prefer the NA n20 route....you can make more power and have a balance that turbo wont give you.......with cams and nx you should make 270 whp......and still sport great reliability.....to do that with turbo you need attention in more places.....it really depends on what you want outa the car...a turbo is an awesome thing....i have had way more turbo cars than nitrous cars....but i dont think id trade my setup for anything......
i have good straight line performance and great daily reliability

axion68 · 09-18-2003, 11:00 PM

I would vote for n2o. If we had a more boost friendly motor I would have voted for turbo, but it seems that turbos and the h22 require a lot of money and work to have some reliability (though I could be wrong, but from the little I have read).

FoShizzleLude00 · 09-19-2003, 12:01 AM

another vote for nitrous, seems more reliable than turboing all day but that's just me.

MugenPoweredLude · 09-19-2003, 08:18 AM

hmmm....i slept on it and i woke up and the first thing that popped in my head was N/A+Nitrous =weeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!

although the N/A and Nitrous route is going to cost me alot more...i guess the hp gains will be worth it

i also neglected to mention some other things in my setup and im hoping to make at least ~280whp to the wheels on the bottle and even off the bottle i will have 190 if not more...
these are reasonable goals and anything within those goals will be just fine

but keep the replies coming....i might change my mind again, like i changed my mind 7 times yesterday

Two-Five Boy · 09-19-2003, 08:59 AM

Anthony, let me play Devil's advocate and vote for TURBO, here's why:

NA+NOS - yes, NA is more reliable if the build-up/tuning was done CORRECTLY. But wouldn't this stmt. hold true for turbo if the motor was built and tuned correctly as well?

NOS - I dunno about ur area, but here in NYC refilling the bottle is damm expensive. Also, having NOS hooked up for street driving is illegal.
NA- we all know the bang-for-the-buck is far less for NA than turbo. I guesstimate that u'll need at least $6k to inc. ur WHP to ~200whp. Also, most of the gains are on the high-end while u will lose power in low and mid range as well.

As for turbo:
a kit is pretty cheap nowadays, I can get a complete kit for ~$3k, add another $1k for parts like clutch, flywheel, fuel mgt., etc. (u'll have to get these parts for NA+NOS anyway) and u'll have a pretty reliable, 200+WHP car on ur hands already. Plus ur a fan of the BOV, so....

Tuning- yes we all know tuning is essential for maximum performance and longevity on a t'd motor, but as I said earlier this holds true for NA as well.

Basically, you need to decide how much $$ you have to spend and if there are good shops in ur area to do engine work and tuning. If so, I'd go turbo since u can get MUCH MORE for the $$$.

paulyg · 09-19-2003, 09:38 AM

It's realy tough to everything in steps like you want to and be able to drive the car everyday. If you are going to "build a motor" and want to get a turbo in the future, then build the motor for a turbo. It does not make sence to spend a lot of money on a good N/A setup, only to have to spend more money to correctly utilize the turbo.

My suggestion is to save your money for the turbo project. Open up a savings account. When you have enough, just get it all done at once.

bleacht · 09-19-2003, 10:07 AM

i think it would all depend on whether you have a reliable shop near you. there's a kid in my town with a turbo grs that is constantly breaking down. that shop that he went to was very shady. there's another kid in the area with a turbo ls and he's beating modded supra tt's and doesn't have problems with his car. he went to a respectable place around here. my point is, if there's a place you can trust, get a turbo. if there's not, there's no point in spending all of that money for someone to screw up your car. in that case, go n20, you can probably put it in yourself. just make sure it isn't too expensive to fill the bottle.

btw, did you take any more pics of your car?

MugenPoweredLude · 09-19-2003, 11:10 AM

gee thanks alot guys....now im swinging over towards turbo again but im also swinging to N/A and Nitrous

:laugh;

ok if i were to go turbo....this is what i would get until i can afford to get the money to build the motor....only because i cant stand to stay with the simple bolt ons any longer

i would get the turbo kit
clutch and flywheel
engine management system
and im thinking some injectors and what not
and of course GOOD TUNING
and for tuning i think im going to be taking it to RPMNYC...cuz i dont trust no one around here

anyone know what kind of EMS RPMNYC tunes???
AEM or Hondata???

ok so thats what $4500(just a rough figure..i still have to find a price on clutch, EMS and injectors and other stuff)

now the N/A setup:

the price for the head, nitrous, supporting accesories for the nitrous, clutch, flywheel, and gauges comes out to roughly $3600
AND i still have to include the cams, cam gears, VAFC and some other accesories....that is going to run me more than $5K i believe if not more including labor and tuning

but really my greatest fear is my ringlands taking a dump on me and i am forced to rebuild the block earlier than expected and i probally wont have no money

do you think if i get the turbo properly tuned and i leave it at 7psi and dont beat the hell out of it that my ringlands will last???
its not the boost...its the detonation..thus its all about the tuning

does anyone know if RPMNYC does awesome tuning or what???

im gonna have to save up and think about it at the same time

Two-Five Boy · 09-19-2003, 11:12 AM

U can contact me when ur ready to buy all this stuff, whether u go NA or turbo.

MugenPoweredLude · 09-19-2003, 11:15 AM

bleacht

i only took 3 or 4...again they came out real ****ty
i also need a digi cam

sorry for the horrible, crooked, ****ty and craptacular pics

sorry for the OT post also, but hey its my thread

SuperLude · 09-19-2003, 02:56 PM

NA and NOS! that's what im currently running..

the NA route takes a lot of patience and time... so the way i figure it.. until i have my NA beast completed... a few squirts of the juice will keep me going. kinda like having appetizers... waiting for the main course.

rayweipu · 09-19-2003, 03:02 PM

how about both?? the best in both worlds?!?!

J/K, but i'd go turbo or SC. nitrous is just not my taste.

MugenPoweredLude · 09-19-2003, 04:03 PM

i dunno guys...i was looking at the FI forum and the whos blown/not blown list and its scaring the hell out of me

whos to say that the engine wont blow on the dyno, down the road leaving the shop or a week or month later....then im gonna be stuck with no car and i wont have the money to rebuild

i just want to know 1 thing... about RPMNYC

does anyone know how well they tune motors????
and should i bring it to them for the tuning of the Hondata

NXLude · 09-19-2003, 05:02 PM

Its up to you......They are both fun ways to go......all I can say is that you dont see many stock blocked turbo cars pushing 270+ out there running for long.....but there are quite a few nitrous cars making that power.....

I suggest driving a turbo and a n20 lude and seeing which one you like better......!!!!

MugenPoweredLude · 09-19-2003, 05:52 PM

i really would like to do that

i just wish there was a turbo and N2O lude around where i live or anywhere in the tristate area for that matter

NoRice4U · 09-20-2003, 12:19 PM

Turboooo...wahhhpshhhh

MugenPoweredLude · 09-20-2003, 01:13 PM

oh that sound

JaXx4k · 09-21-2003, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MugenPoweredLude

keep the replies coming....i might change my mind again, like i changed my mind 7 times yesterday

[/B]

i TOTALLY FEEL U... i got a N20 set up rite now... but i dont FEEL the power i was thinkin bout turbo or JRsc

if u interested on a NX kit i got... u can holler n we can meet n u can check it out....

u name it i got it on my car for the n20 set up...

in the pass 2 months i think i've change my mind lik 20 times...hahaha~! tthis XMAS imma either havea BUild N/A+ 75 shot or a JRSC.... the wahhhhpshhhhhhh is HOT N I LOVE IT MORE THEN i LOVE my grl...J/k i aint got time n $$ to take it to see the Doctors times after times...so i think imma go with BUILD motor or JRSC