Originally posted by digger
View Post
It sounds like AC is almost a requirement for you to enjoy the car. With that said, my turbo m20b32 doesn't have AC and, yes, it can get toasty, but I'd rather have the intercooler and turbo than the AC. Some people have done both before. My brother's e36 m3 is a fun car and I like the powerband of the NA engine since it is fun to keep pulling toward redline. But to me, I wanted to learn how to tune and do my own install of a turbo so that is the route I went. I also wanted a unique car and stuffed it in an iX and went big with an overbore and s52/m54b30 crank. I promise you, with the extra torque/ dispalcement, a stock 885, and a billet turbo there is not much lag unless you are in the wrong gear.
If I were to do it again, I would probably not spend as much on the built m20 with the custom pistons, rods, overbore and stroker crank. It was expensive and I could have gotten more power easier/cheaper with S52. I didn't even upgrade the head or camshaft at all on my stroker turbo. The learning experience was great and now I have a unique engine which is what I wanted (not something everybody does/has) so that was important to me. And i've got my base tune figured out on my car pretty well. Sometimes there is a slight hunt to the idle and I have to dial in the startup so it fires up faster, but besides that, my tune is as reliable as any other m20 I have driven and is way faster.I wouldn't be worried about reliability and driveability with an MS unit.
If I were to do it again on a non iX e30, I would probably do an m20 turbo. It makes all the right sounds and if you do it correctly with a nice correctly sized turbo (not an ancient holset or garrett) then you won't have the dreaded 'lag'
Comment