Considering NA-T

MrTristoe

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Jun 29, 2010
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Right now i have an na supra and im considering making it a turbo. I wanted to hear some input from people who have done it before. like was it worth it? how much boost can you run? did you swap the ECU for the ECU from a turbo supra? and is their a budget way to do it? im a broke college student so i don't got alot of money coming my way right now..
 

MrTristoe

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ive looked through those threads already but i wanted to find out if people thought it was worth it in the end, or if it would of been better to just stay NA
 

Ma70.Ent

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It's worth it in the end if you're interested in having a faster car, but if you just enjoy driving the car the way it is now then it's not worth it. If you're a broke college student, it's not likely that you have an alternate form of transportation (daily driver) or easily disposable income, so I would definitely not recommend doing this. To answer your original post:

MrTristoe;1661081 said:
Right now i have an na supra and im considering making it a turbo. I wanted to hear some input from people who have done it before. like was it worth it? how much boost can you run? did you swap the ECU for the ECU from a turbo supra? and is their a budget way to do it? im a broke college student so i don't got alot of money coming my way right now..

1. Boost depends on the condition of your engine, and your tune.
2. GTE electronics is the recommended way of doing NA-T if you're not doing a direct engine swap, and this means you are swapping the ECU from a Turbo Supra.
3. There is a budget way to do it, and that is by buying used parts or cheap replacements for the stuff you actually need. Whether you should do this is up to you.

You obviously didn't search/read the sticky topic, but there are your answers.
 

laotionracer101

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Don't do it. Not worth it. On a straight na-t you just can't run enough boost to feel (fast), Because the higher compression you will run into detonation, which has been the death of many supra in my area, Now (im hypocritical) Because i will be running na-t myself on the mk3, But i will be using a gte bottom end, which means lower compression. And it will be tuned via S-afc, So if you'd like to get some lower compression pistons by all means go ahead :)
 

shaeff

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laotionracer101;1661204 said:
Don't do it. Not worth it. On a straight na-t you just can't run enough boost to feel (fast), Because the higher compression you will run into detonation, which has been the death of many supra in my area, Now (im hypocritical) Because i will be running na-t myself on the mk3, But i will be using a gte bottom end, which means lower compression. And it will be tuned via S-afc, So if you'd like to get some lower compression pistons by all means go ahead :)

With a proper tune, there is no problem at all running the 9.1:1 compression ratio. 9.1 isn't even "high" by today's standards for a boosted car.

OP- if you use an N/A block, just make sure you have a damn proper tune, run good gas, and you should be fine.

laotionracer- how are you hypocritical? Using a GTE bottom end makes your swap just like dropping a GTE motor in... essentially making it a 7MGTE.
 

laotionracer101

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shaeff;1661208 said:
With a proper tune, there is no problem at all running the 9.1:1 compression ratio. 9.1 isn't even "high" by today's standards for a boosted car.

OP- if you use an N/A block, just make sure you have a damn proper tune, run good gas, and you should be fine.

laotionracer- how are you hypocritical? Using a GTE bottom end makes your swap just like dropping a GTE motor in... essentially making it a 7MGTE.

Not if i'm using ge electronics :runaway: (annnnnddddd) if i have the ge cam cover, who will ever know??? Bwhahahahha
 

7Matt-GE

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im going NA\T but im basically doing a conversion over to a GTE by switching the pistons.

i say go for it eff the haters and nay sayers :) you can make some decent power on a GE block
 

shaeff

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laotionracer101;1661209 said:
Not if i'm using ge electronics :runaway: (annnnnddddd) if i have the ge cam cover, who will ever know??? Bwhahahahha

Oh ok, I gotcha. For only a few hundred dollars more, you could run all GTE electronics and have a better system overall. I personally wouldn't ever run a turbo setup on the GE electronics.

(I'm dropping a GE->T motor in my Pickup this summer. N/A block, turbo electronics lots of other goodies. ;))
 

mecevans

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Check out my build. Its worth it if you have a GE in good condition or can get one cheap. They are usually less abused too. I went all out but all you need is GTE electronics, Driftmotion oil line kit and drill 1 knock sensor or wire it for one. Devin is at 14psi on a stock hg with arp studs.
 

AJ'S 88NA

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shaeff;1661208 said:
With a proper tune, there is no problem at all running the 9.1:1 compression ratio. 9.1 isn't even "high" by today's standards for a boosted car.

OP- if you use an N/A block, just make sure you have a damn proper tune, run good gas, and you should be fine.

What about 10.5-1 compression ratio? I think I would put a thicker head gasket on to lower the compression
 

Devin LeBlanc

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Tune, tune, tune, tune!!! Can't stress enough about it, The N/A pistons are fine if you only looking for 400-450 wheel HP, it is achievable with a GOOD tune, and PROPER setup, don't go cheap on it unless you don't care about it breaking... lotionracer101, please don't say don't do it unless you have yourself run into that problem, not your biddies, friends, uncles brother blew his engine because of the higher compression, I am on N/A pistons with a stock thickness head gasket and the head was machined 10 thousands, so Im even higher compression than stock N/A, and Im doing it all on a composite head gasket.. It is worth it if you have the time, money and patience to do it properly..
 

laotionracer101

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Devin LeBlanc;1661370 said:
Tune, tune, tune, tune!!! Can't stress enough about it, The N/A pistons are fine if you only looking for 400-450 wheel HP, it is achievable with a GOOD tune, and PROPER setup, don't go cheap on it unless you don't care about it breaking... lotionracer101, please don't say don't do it unless you have yourself run into that problem, not your biddies, friends, uncles brother blew his engine because of the higher compression, I am on N/A pistons with a stock thickness head gasket and the head was machined 10 thousands, so Im even higher compression than stock N/A, and Im doing it all on a composite head gasket.. It is worth it if you have the time, money and patience to do it properly..

Okay i can respect that, I havn't personally done such a thing, But ya no you see people do that stuff and you kinda think (EEhhh,, maybe i don't wanna go down that path), But Since you have, haha i can listen.
 

Ma70.Ent

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laotionracer101;1661204 said:
Don't do it. Not worth it. On a straight na-t you just can't run enough boost to feel (fast), Because the higher compression you will run into detonation, which has been the death of many supra in my area, Now (im hypocritical) Because i will be running na-t myself on the mk3, But i will be using a gte bottom end, which means lower compression. And it will be tuned via S-afc, So if you'd like to get some lower compression pistons by all means go ahead :)

I've got first hand experience of riding in a Supra with NA-T GTE electronics and a decent tune running an upgraded 61mm turbo at decent boost. Get high octane gas, a good tune, and you're good to go. Obviously you'll need to make share everything else is proper, like the headgasket, but if you fail to do basic maintenance then that's your fault.
 

shaeff

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AJ'S 88NA;1661346 said:
What about 10.5-1 compression ratio? I think I would put a thicker head gasket on to lower the compression

There are BMW guys running moderate boost levels up to 400rwhp on 10.5:1. I'm not saying it's a good idea, but again, with a proper tune and only moderate power goals, I don't see why not. Most of the BMW guys (e36 M3) install a thicker head gasket in to drop compression so they can run more boost. It seems to work well for them.
 

MrTristoe

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Thanks for all the info guys this is helping alot.
But to clarify on compression you can run the stock pistons and high compression with a good tune? or would it just be better to get new pistons and lower the compression?
 

AJ'S 88NA

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MrTristoe;1661637 said:
Thanks for all the info guys this is helping alot.
But to clarify on compression you can run the stock pistons and high compression with a good tune? or would it just be better to get new pistons and lower the compression?

You can lower compression with a thicker head gasket. The most important consideration seems to be able to tune and high octane fuel.
 

MrTristoe

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Jun 29, 2010
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yeah i know some guys who are really good with supras who i could take it to to tune, but for fuel would i just have to run 91 ?