M20 Turbo

[xwill112x]

Fuck, haha. So if you could turbo the stock m20, how come most people build a low-compression stroker?

tuning is a bitch, and you have to mount a intercooler, all the plumbing for that, have to make oil lines, have to have a turbo and a mani for it...

the stroker is easier than turboing. if it was me, id do a low comp 2.7i, then a huge turbo.

[lifeiskaos]

Fuck, haha. So if you could turbo the stock m20, how come most people build a low-compression stroker?

Because people are stuck on thinking that .2L more displacement will do wonders, and that "low compression" will allow you to run moar bewst and make tons of powarr

As you now know, you can make tons of power on a stock m20b25. 8.8:1 compression is already relatively low.

My turbo m20 was a "2.7i" stroker. I wanted some buffer room for DIY tuning and crappy california 91 octane gas, and thought more displacement would do wonders. I wish I would have boosted my stock engine.

Now I'm building an m52 turbo at 9.5:1 CR

edit: oh, and lots of people who build "strokers" start out with ETA's. It's easy to swap out the head and electronics to get some more RPM's for the turbo.

[619E30]

Well it's either I turbo the m20 sitting in my garage or the m50 sitting in a salvaged e36.

Which would be more beneficial to turbo?

[lifeiskaos]

I see. So where could I find those?

In the thread I posted, there is a link to rent a DIY oring cutter. I think you can also buy wire from them. It's $60 to rent IIRC

[lifeiskaos]

Well it's either I turbo the m20 sitting in my garage or the m50 sitting in a salvaged e36.

Which would be more beneficial to turbo?

If it's a vanos m50, then I say go with that. More bolt on mods and tuning options. If it's a nonvanos, then I'd say stick with the m20. When you blow the m20, you can go 24v. That's what the cool kids do :p

[619E30]

Well it's a single vanos, and I've heard bad things about turboing those

[dashboardmonkey]

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59124

This guy is running 20psi on stock internals with head studs and metal gasket. Had this set-up for a year now

then why the fuck are you asking???

[xwill112x]

If it's a vanos m50, then I say go with that. More bolt on mods and tuning options. If it's a nonvanos, then I'd say stick with the m20. When you blow the m20, you can go 24v. That's what the cool kids do :p

what? the non vanos is the turbo friendly motor.

[619E30]

what? the non vanos is the turbo friendly motor.

That's exactly what someone told me

[lifeiskaos]

what? the non vanos is the turbo friendly motor.

orly? Why is that? Less stock compression? dual valve springs? WOWzerz! The vanos m50's have more low end torque, meaning faster spool, longer rods, meaning higher revving, a lighter weight valve train, meaning less HP loss, and more tuning options.

That's exactly what someone told me

I'm telling you otherwise. They're both decent for boost, but a nonvanos is pretty much a DOHC m20... you can really take advantage of the newer technology with vanos engines/ecu's.

[619E30]

^^ True. But both the m20 and m50 have to be rebuilt, so I think I'm going to go with the m20 for now :)

[xwill112x]

I'm telling you otherwise. They're both decent for boost, but a nonvanos is pretty much a DOHC m20... you can really take advantage of the newer technology with vanos engines/ecu's.

have fun fixing your bent valves and fubard vanos unit, and trying to tune the damn thing.

boost= non vanos

n/a= vanos

[lifeiskaos]

have fun fixing your bent valves and fubard vanos unit, and trying to tune the damn thing.

boost= non vanos

n/a= vanos

Do some research before you come start giving advice without knowing wtf you are talking about. Turbo'd vanos engines don't magically bend valves, and vanos units don't magically go bad.

If you can't figure out how to turn a switch on at a certain RPM/load, you should either not be boosting engines with standalone ECU's, or you should let good tuners like TRM tune the stock ecu for you.

Yes, nonvanos engines are more "beefy." Who the fuck cares? Since when are heavy rods better? The vanos engines are newer, better engineered engines.

[619E30]

^^ sounds pretty accurate. Lifeiskaos, how do you pass emissions with a turbo, or is your m52b30 going in like a track car?

[Chabs]

I'm no M20 expert but I'd recommend getting head studs and a head gasket for sure. And also think about some forged pistons