ly1994

hey guys, i am thinking about turboing my prelude and was wondering what would be the best turbo for the money and also the cheapest setup i could do with still getting good quality...if that is even possible?

any input would be greatly appreciated

thanks

JDMpreludeKing

t3t4 or gt35r, are what i think are best for our 4cylinders

H22-Lude

This is highly dependent on what your goals for the car are. I run a borg warner extended tip turbo (S362 .96 hot side) and it works quite well. I also however wanted to make 450-500whp so my needs may not be what yours are.

As far as cheap and quality, they generally do not go hand in hand, usually when you sacrifice cost the quality is what suffers first, usually in the form of reliability. There is a saying 'Fast, Reliable, Cheap pick two' which is very true, invariably when you decided to cut corners one of those will suffer. Cheap means you might go fast, but it won't be reliable. Cheap and reliable means you won't be going very fast etc. So effectively you have to pick what are the priorities for your build. I opted for fast and reliable since I took the approach of build it right or build it twice.

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1998 Prelude base 502whp@22psi
BB Squad v2. #130

ly1994

thanks for all that h22-lude. I am wanting to get as much power as i can off stock internals. all i have right now is header back exhaust and intake. so im wondering what turbo would be the best to run at about 8-15 psi on stock internals and i want to make atleast 280 or 300 hp.

thanks

H22-Lude

personally I would go for a T3 frame borg mostly because they seem to make really good power and have better spool up properties than some of the other turbos out there. Ideally I would go with like a S259 with an .85 hot side, the guys at bullseye could probably help you pick out one with the right geometry. the other thing to bear in mind is do you want to keep A/C and PS? I did, my goals were to retain all factory functionality and keep the car looking somewhat stock and make big power.

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1998 Prelude base 502whp@22psi
BB Squad v2. #130

Baroc

lets say someone did wanna keep PS and AC, are there any restrictions ? some models of turbo's wont fit? or is it more of a weight reduction thing ?

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rjr1622

Nope.. all depends on where the manifold mounts it. As I've said, my brother is running (forget exact model) a GT4x.. want to say GT43 but I'm most likely off... still has AC, PS, etc... (heck he even still has the full interior and runs under 11s at beaver springs)

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ly1994

I am wanting to keep A/C and PS. Also would i be able to use a t3 and get 300 hp on all stock internals? and not have to worry about anything going wrong??

rjr1622

A t3/04e.. yes. Stock internals with tuning and I'd run a low compression head gasket (others may say otherwise).. one that drops the stork 10:1 to 9:1

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ly1994

So if i bought the turbo used but still in good condition, would that be a good or really bad idea?

And if i did the whole turbo kit and a good tune, what would i be looking at for pricing? (used or new)

H22-Lude

Stock internals you might get 300whp but not for long I would expect that you would crack your ringlands and then you are stuck with a dead motor needing a sleeve/rebuild. But thats up to you, personally I wouldn't risk it because it's too predictable (i.e. it's not if it happens, just when).

Used turbos, I dunno I suppose you could get a used one for the right price it would be a good deal but personally I wouldn't want to risk getting one that has, or will have problems shortly I would rather have a known good (aka new) one.

Pricing you will have to shop around. There are some kits out there and they may get you 300whp but I wouldn't use one because they are usually put together with cheaper parts to cut corners which means you are going to inevitably end up replacing half of it anyways. I would rather buy the stuff once even if it means it takes 2x as long to get all the bits. My car took 2 years approximately to get all the turbo parts on and get it tuned, maybe a little longer.

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1998 Prelude base 502whp@22psi
BB Squad v2. #130

rjr1622

I agree with H22. Take your time and do it right, and in steps if need be. That's what my brother did. Started with an F-Max kit and lower compression head gasket, then upgraded to a T3/04E Turbo, larger waste gate... then spent the money to have new pistons, rods, sleeves installed. Upgraded Turbo again and got a Hondata s300, and then pulled the trigger on a large Turbo, GE intake manifold etc etc etc. Took him 5 or 6 years to go from stock to 250ish to 300, to 350, then 630ish. He also learned along the way (while the NX intercooler fogger kit helped gain about 50hp, the cost of the nitrous + on damper nights in PA it would all freeze over and the sprayer ring would free up, so he sold that off and just boosted more

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BB6-213

I run an S366 ETT divided T4 with the .82 housing, and I deffinatley would recommend the Borg's for a strong street turbo.

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pcguy760

x2 with H22Lude - stock motor cannot handle boost for a long time unless you plan on running like 4 psi on a small turbo lol but then where's the fun?

paul.jenny47

t3t4 or gt35r will be fine with our cylinders...

Mforbes

Im headed down the same road here. Stock h22a motor with apexi ws2 exhaust and aem v2 cold air intake. Im learning from this post to be patient and build it right even if you have to go slow. Where should i start building (preping) my engine for turbo though

zfinatic

^buying another short block and building it right.

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