It is a good thread but i want mine to be turbo can anyone help me

 

I can see where you're coming from. The 3800 community usually leans toward the supercharged way, but when it comes to making a LOT of hp, turbo is the only way to go.

In order for us to better help you we will need to know a few things, because by the turbo route there are many options. We will need to know what your budget, goals, and mechanical abilities are. When modifying an engine, you need to think about this general rule of thumb: Power, reliability, affordability; pick two. Of course, there are people who can find great deals and have all three, but that is very difficult to do.

So, do you have a limited budget, and how much is your budget?

What are your goals with your car? 250whp, 300whp, 1000whp?

This is a part of what goals you have for your car: What 1/4 mile time would you like to run? 9 second, 11, 13?

Lastly, do you have a good working area and do you have access to something like a Powertuner, or HPtuner? You will want to invest in some kind of tuning software, especially since you don't live very close to the main 3800 vendors.

 

x2. You have to figure a few major things. Are you going to buy new? I don't like to mess with used turbos, you usually have to get them rebuilt so the bearings are working freely.

You will probably want a ZZP Z3 or Z7 turbo. Great starter kits, easily upgradeable. But you are looking at almost $2700 for just that.

I wouldn't just slap a turbo on an older engine... so factor in about $300 for a full gasket set and start tearing it all down. While you have it apart... you may want to upgrade to a set of rockers... maybe put on the series 3 upper intake manifold... Maybe upgrade your throttle body...

Then you are going to need to upgrade your transmission. TripleEdgePerformance.com offers great upgrade kits... but after purchasing and (probably paying someone to install) you are looking at another $2500-$3000.

Now you have your turbo on your car, and your transmission can handle it. Now you need to tune that sucker... You'll need a laptop and HPTuners, if you already have the laptop then you'll need about $600 for the software.

Now you will probably need to beef up that suspension of yours...

It's a very slippery slope of modifying. We can help you, but you really need to plan it all out.

 

Wow, thousands of dollars... How much cheaper is the supercharger build by comparison? And what's whp?

 

Depends on how much you get the top-half of the engine for lol.

But with the supercharger build you need a lot more supporting mods to get the same HP. They wind up in the end being almost the same cost, and the turbo is usually pushing more HP.

WHP = WHP, which is the amount of HP actually going to the wheels. Figure about 20-25% drivetrain loss to get WHP.

 

I think I'll just stick with looking good

 

Well, Money is not really an issue for me I mean i don't want to go over board but I can afford the things my mechanical work is good my brother even owns his own shop so he can help me if i cant do it. and i want atleast 600-1000whp

 

 

With this in mind, you are now talking about going where very few have gone in the 3800 world. I'm not even sure if 10 people have ever made more then 600whp out of a 3800 before, and the MOST that anyone has ever made out of a 3800 was ZZPerformance, and that was 870whp. This makes your task VERY difficult, because ZZP has virtually unlimited resources to build a 3800 like that, being that their company specializes in 3800s.

With all of that in mind, if you want a 3800 with more then 600whp, then I encourage you to try to find the few people online who have built such a monster. The project will require a large turbo with intercooler, some type of cam (a stattama cam like the ST4 or something), aluminum heads that are built to handle a large cam, and much more. Mind you, all of this is going to cost a LOT of money. I can't even give you a number because just off the top of my head this build is already heading north of $15 when you include the price of a good tranny and suspension setup (which will be a must with that much power).

Let us know if this is for sure what you want to do. If you want an easier option, most turbo kits will easily hit 300whp with just the kit itself, and some have hit 400whp with a mostly stock engine (besides the turbo kit). Once you go beyond 400whp, things start getting expensive for our cars.

 

Easily 400 HP with an intercooled turbo and very basic engine mods.

And once you hit that, good luck even trying to hook up with your tires.