Psychoteen101 is suggesting that within the OP's budget range (adding tuning cost of course), doing what he suggested would probably get him at least near his power goals.

Sounds about right, depending on what exactly is done to, and in, the head.

 

Actually, its the opposite. Those people who didn't try it listened to those that did (or were witness to it) and then decided not to do it.

We used to use those 12:1 FMU Drag Kit setups over 13 years ago. It was risky as hell then much less now. Those were dangerous days. A lot of quick cars, and a lot of blown ones too.

 

True, if your gonna be an idiot and waste your money on an ebay turbo kit.

If you want a reliable kit, its not cheap.

 

used kits are cheap.

 

and usually beat to hell.

 

If nitrous isn't practical for a daily then how is a turbo practical without a tune?

 

I hope your motor blows up. Then post pics. Then we can say Ha Ha

 

I guess that all depends on your overall philosophy. If you believe in the philosophy of do it right the first time then a turbo kit is far more expensive; no eBay kits, only quality pieces. A simple all motor build like what was previously suggested would be fairly cheap. Especially considering the OP only wants to yield 20-30HP. There are a lot of factors that go into making suggestions. But to support your statement, yes, a cheap eBay kit or used kit would do the trick but I still think going all motor would be cheaper. A cheap eBay kit would cost maybe $1k, and that's a complete guess. Picking up a set of used high compression pistons and having some head work done would be cheap.

 

kaboom

 

Then there are people who HAVE tried it...me being one of them. And after two cracked sleeves, I will never go that route again.

Why don't you just be patient, and save up until you have enough to use the proper engine management? Things have gone down in price alot these days. Look at Crome, it's free.

Just because you've heard stories about people who have done it with success, doesn't mean that YOU will have success with it. I'm not saying you won't, but if you choose to go that route, you already know the risks, so why risk it? If you blow your motor, you will have to spend even MORE money fixing it. Not worth it in my book. Been there, done that.

Do it right the first time. But hey, it's your car, do you, homie.

 

Turbo without tune....

 

Everybody shoulda asked him... Whats his setup? Cuz he's a noob and I wouldnt be suprised if "every bolt on" was intake, headers and exhaust...

If you do have every bolt on imaginable then you prolly could pick up most of that 30hp you looking for with a good tune...

Sounds like you just need to do some reading... The easy answer for a guy like you is just to get a gsr...

 

well thanks for all the info... after a night of thinking im still not sure, but leaning against it now. just too much negativity in this post for me to go through with it.

id like to do crome (because its free) but it doesnt support obd0, so i think my next step will be converting to odb1, which isnt too pricy, and then go from there. possibly start looking for some pieces here and there to start building a setup. either way itll prob take a while to get where i wanna be, but at least ill have a decent plan rather than winging it and hopoing for the best with no tune.

 

^^ NOW, you're using your noodle. ;-)

 

turbo edit is free too, and its obd-0

 

Why not gather parts on your budget until you put something adequate together? Rushing into gaining 30 hp is going to cost you a lot more in the long run. Fish out some deals on the parts and before you know it....bawoooosh without the boom!

 

Exactly what I was going to post. The logic of some people is rather amusing.

 

i have a d16y8 completly stock besides a basic fmu with a greedy t25 turbo set up shes gone 25000 with 10lbs at 225whp but then droped boost down to 6lbs and havent done anything to her and shes gona the last 10000mi with no problems and shes auto runs like a champ

 

^^ Pure luck...

 

well thats not comforting at all lol i wanna build her some more but im stuck with one major problem AUTO trans..... what can a stock trans safely run lol what would you recomend the next thing to go into her be??

 

If you can, just do a 5 speed swap (grabbing one from a y8 or z6 will be fine). You'll need a better clutch to handle the power, but the transmission will be fine.

Right now your lucky your auto hasn't blown up or shown signs of weakness.

Your type of story isn't unheard of... just rare and unwise, haha.

There is a turbo Civic around here that has run a "tune" off a VAFC for years (though it is a 5 speed) and STILL runs. It was beat on quite a lot as well.

Of course, someone decided to mess with the VAFC, so now it runs like crap off just an FMU but it's lasted a bit longer than yours even.

That's the only story of one lasting that I personally know of though.

 

Two ways I can think of to run a 30hp turbo with no tune are...
1 put in bigger injectors. Be smart here. If your ecu supports 130 horsepower on 240cc injectors, put in 340cc injectors. it will idle like crap until it warms up, and then closed loop will correct for the eye burningly rich mixture.
2 use a different obd0 ecu, or compatible junkyard chip/ecu that runs 40 percent richer since you want 30 percent more power.

You must also do steps 3-8. 9 is optional but highly recommended.

3 don't forget to hook up a datalogging cable and run BRE or turboedit you need to datalog to make sure you don't lean it out. honda motors may only be 100 dollars at the pick and pull but datalogging is 35 dollars and a laptop away. really you don't need a laptop, but a sine wave inverter with a desktop pc would be the ultimate in hard parking.
4 pull timing manually.
5 check valve between map sensor and manifold. make sure it faces the correct direction.
6 run an aftercooler.
7 reference the FPR vac line from immediately after the compressor.
8 if it runs too rich in boost move the FPR reference to the stock manifold location.
9 Get a sticker made up that says I hack the unhackable.
If I forgot anything somebody please speak up.. I don't want blown noob motors on my conscience.
Lol at everyone who says it can't be done safely. There is nothing that can be accomplished with money than cannot be accomplished with hard work.

 

^^ your a grave digging tool

 

But running an untuned turbo setup is a better idea? Short answer: No

What isnt' going to last? Well, since you're adding more air and no more fuel, the engine runs leaner (and therefore hotter) which will eventually melt a hole through a piston or break the ringlands. I would bet a tune is cheaper than fixing this mess...

No tune = no engine

 

If you don't have the 200.00 for the equipment to tune, you probably don't have the money to put a motor in either.

I'm sure the OP already decided what to do anyways. It has been 3 years.