Stock gsr turbo

im looking to turbo my stock 2000 gsr

Im looking to start a thread for good info because it seems lots of people want to turbo their internally STOCK GS-R's

compression is at 210-215 for each cylinder and has minimal leakage per leakdown.

I have been reading a LOT about turbos and different setups, all i get are threads with a question and 100 idiots arguing over whos right. im sick of not finding straight answers!

now i understand how a turbo works, i just dont know how to turbo a car that was never intended to be turbo'd in the first place.

Horsepower goal: - anything reliable and above stock, ill be more then happy with. 200+ whp is fine

Budget: $1500 for parts and tune (used parts) pieced together turbo kit

SO here are my questions:

-what is a good size/brand of turbo to run at the recommended psi on a stock gsr (7-8psi i have read)
-what "cubic feet per minute" should i look to get out of the same turbo for a reliable DD
-whats a good brand for this turbo im looking for, and can i get it for a cheaper price?
-what exactly will i need to tune this set up at the very least? (such as wide band o2 sensor, hondata)
-how much will this tuning software cost?
-will a manual boost controller work as well as an electronic?

Does this sound feasible on my budget?

Turbo sizing can be figured by three methods. In order of worst to best:

1) Guessing
2) Listening to what other people suggest that may work for them, which may or may not work well for you.
3) Math

1) Guessing sucks
2) I'm not going to guess for you, or throw out random suggestions
3) I will tell you how to properly arrive at a choice

The third option is by far the best one. But you will need to have a good idea of what you are after to be able to use the proper factors. If you wish to work with that, I can save you the trouble of the math, but you will still need to work the factors for your particular situation. Some of the factors can be a little tricky to arrive at without having done it, but can also be found by observing others with similar setups/goals. Attached is a spreadsheet that I built that has the proper formulas in place to calculate the necessary pressure ratio to achieve your goals as well as the mass air flow targets and requirements. These can be plotted on compressor maps for different turbos to find a one that will work most efficiently with your goals and setup.

thank you for the reply, my problem is that im new to turbo's and i dont know what to put into any of those boxes haha.

its hard to find similar setups because im having a really difficult time finding someone that has turbo'd a stock gsr and happened to give exact details of the parts he used all while posting the results.

i dont have a hp goal, my goal is whatever i can run safely with a decent tune.

ive been looking and i cant seem to find a good build to follow.

i think first things first, i need to get the tuning software before i do anything else. obd2 sucks haha

but im finding that hondata is EXPENSIVE and i dont know of any other alternatives?

You can convert to obd1 and have many tuning options.

94mark3 said:

You can convert to obd1 and have many tuning options.

Click to expand...

please explain?

the way im seeing it, im looking at about $1000 minimum for the software and a good tune.

-hondata $450 if im lucky with a p28 ready to go
-tune my turbo on a dyno $450
-obd2b to obd1 jumper about $75

which leaves me with $500 for a turbo....

is there a cheaper alternative for tuning?

Whiteman51x said:

please explain?

the way im seeing it, im looking at about $1000 minimum for the software and a good tune.

-hondata $450 if im lucky with a p28 ready to go
-tune my turbo on a dyno $450
-obd2b to obd1 jumper about $75

which leaves me with $500 for a turbo....

is there a cheaper alternative for tuning?

Click to expand...

you can tune with chrome or other free software but once you add forced induction to a motor that never came that way from the factory, I would recommend leaving tuning to a professional. You dont want to dump a bunch of money on a turbo set up just to blow your motor up after 200 miles.
but the same goes for the hardware.. $500 isnt much to play with. you dont want to cheap out on parts even if it is a stock motor. Ive seen wastegates fall off and get run over when the welds break on shoddy manifolds (obx ramhorn fwiw), wastegate failure can spell disaster, changing out leaky ebay turbos and re-tightening the hose clamps on couplers that blew off because the ends weren't rolled and t bolts weren't used gets old. I think the best thing would be to wait until you can spend a little bit more, I think you will be much happier in the end even if it takes a little bit longer.

yeah i can allways keep saving. i was considering all motor also.

but this tuning step is killing me. its SOOOO expensive. (i guess this is why lots of ppl skip out on it haha) not me though.

its just annoying to spend the $ on all motor and get 15-20 horsies... not worth it....

i mean for the $ id spend i could sell my gsr and have a K20 lol.... wait.... maybe i should get a k20 haha

do any professional tuners tune with chrome?

i took my car to a shop and they tuned it with chrome and sold me the jumper harness and ecu for 300. but that was for and all motor lsvtec

r0g3r16 said:

i took my car to a shop and they tuned it with chrome and sold me the jumper harness and ecu for 300. but that was for and all motor lsvtec

Click to expand...

ecu and tuned for 300? how does it run? was it just a chip or was it dynotuned? how long have you been running the chip? what mods are done to your ls-vtec?

dc2GS-R said:

Turbo sizing can be figured by three methods. In order of worst to best:

1) Guessing
2) Listening to what other people suggest that may work for them, which may or may not work well for you.
3) Math

1) Guessing sucks
2) I'm not going to guess for you, or throw out random suggestions
3) I will tell you how to properly arrive at a choice

The third option is by far the best one. But you will need to have a good idea of what you are after to be able to use the proper factors. If you wish to work with that, I can save you the trouble of the math, but you will still need to work the factors for your particular situation. Some of the factors can be a little tricky to arrive at without having done it, but can also be found by observing others with similar setups/goals. Attached is a spreadsheet that I built that has the proper formulas in place to calculate the necessary pressure ratio to achieve your goals as well as the mass air flow targets and requirements. These can be plotted on compressor maps for different turbos to find a one that will work most efficiently with your goals and setup.

Click to expand...

You are so full of win it's kind of disturbing.

Something to also factor that isn't directly apparent on the spreadsheet is the type of driving the car is going to be used for. Assuming you have a goal of 250whp, a T3/4 and a GT2554R can net that power, but they will do it in different ways (and at different PSI). The larger turbo will spool later and more progressively, and make 250whp at a lower psi (spreadsheet will show why), while the smaller turbo will spool much earlier at the sacrifice of peak power capabilities. So if you're road racing, an quick-spooling turbo is generally more advantageous on a Integra. If you're drag racing, the T3/4 will have much greater power potential - which ties into the spreadsheet calculations.

Tuning Goes by the hour, not if you're all motor/turbo.

And 500$ for a turbo, manifold, oil lines, intercooler, piping, BOV, wastegate....


You'll be very lucky to get quality stuff even used with a 500 budget. You'll spend nearly 1200+ to collect the parts

Whiteman51x said:

ecu and tuned for 300? how does it run? was it just a chip or was it dynotuned? how long have you been running the chip? what mods are done to your ls-vtec?

Click to expand...

i got it all done barely a week ago but so far its running good. and it was dyno tuned, and i have some friends that are running with the same tuning and have had no problems with it and have had it over a year with out any problem

im beginning to feel that turbo is not the way to go. maybe one day when i get lots of extra cash ill go for it, but for now, ill probably go with a mild n/a, or just stock

thanks for all the replies guys, theres some good info here.

Whiteman51x said:

im beginning to feel that turbo is not the way to go. maybe one day when i get lots of extra cash ill go for it, but for now, ill probably go with a mild n/a, or just stock

thanks for all the replies guys, theres some good info here.

Click to expand...

gotta love n/a when it comes to being reliable on the long run .. also cheaper