2004 ls turbo
 

Hello my friends. I have a little extra cash and want to turbo my car. I'm not looking do some extreme gains and drag racing turbos. Just something that would boost my horse power a little( I'm also in high school and it's a coolness factor). With the engine bone stock and small exhaust mods, how much boost can it handle(it's the 3400) and what all would I need besides the turbo, and manifold. The turbo I want is a t3 oil cooled. So I don't need to buy an intercooler unless I want high amounts of boost. I was thinking it could handle at least 5lbs of boost but I would like your inputs before I spend the money. Thanks guys

for the cost of a quality turbo that wont go boom, the custom manifolds, and tuning vs gain will cost more, perform less, and decrease the life of the engine.

for less money you can swap in a l67 or l32 engine. make more power and be very reliable.


even with low boost #'s you will still want an intercooler as the 3400 would be higher compression.

go 3800 swap. it is the best option.

if you are just looking for small gains, you could swap the upper intake from the 3.5 engine and gain some power. 60degreev6.com has info on this engine and prob will have more ideas for tapping more power.

Yeah I'm not going for huge gains, it's just my DD so I don't want a drag machine haha. How much do you think the 3.5 upper intake swap would cost?

Not completely sure as I have not done it. But my guess would be about 150-300 in parts and 100-150 in gaskets. PCM about 150 shipped and prob 200-300 for headers

@Timkang - Didn't you have a thread discussing turbos on a 3400 before lol?

I don't know the cost of many 3400 performance options, but I think z34phoenix may be right.... An l67 swap may be cheaper and easier in the long run with more mod options.
Regardless, each of us have our dreams and wants. My only concern is that you stress it's your DD. There is nothing against wanting a DD with a little more power and customizations to make it stand out, but you will want to make sure you do all your homework and account for possible down time when you do your mods (toying with your only ride can cause headaches sometimes, I've seen people get into that situation in the past).

IMO if its your daily driver dont turbo it. i have a turbo car (turbo monte) and i would hate trying to daily drive it to be honest.

if you want a reliable fun daily driver drop a l67 or l32 in it and call it quits like stated above.

Yeah to all that replied, I am not going to turbocharge it or do anymore to it. I am going to sell it and buy a 240sx or 300zx. The Monte Carlo is beautiful but the aftermarket for this car is very low. I come from a family that has tuners and drift cars so I don't fit in with the mid sized car club. Thanks for all the info.

The aftermarket for these platforms is very huge in all honesty. But if u want to drift this car is not for you.