CV6 monaro turbo??

[tommytt22]

Hi guys, recently off p's, saved some cash, looking to upgrade from a ve sv6. Need some boost in my life.

Found a nice 2002 cv6 monaro (supercharged ecotec) for 16k with 170,000kms on it. Plenty of people swap the supercharger for a turbo and get an easy 250rwhp but how does the engine for more serious power?

Here's the real question. What will it cost to get to 400whp? 500whp? My gut says I'd need a new transmission in that territory? probably a diff too.

Don't bother telling me to get a v8 monaro, if the v6 isn't cost effective enough I'll just look at other cars that come with turbos already

Thanks

 

[wraith]

Look at something with a turbo already on it.

 

[tommytt22]

So you have no idea what it would cost or the work involved?

 

[_R_J_K_]

So you have no idea what it would cost or the work involved?

Too many variables. Would largely depend on how much of the work you did yourself, parts used and their condition, how much of the driveline you wanted to build, fabrication/kits, and tuning. To just give the car to somebody to get them to do just the turbo swap and tuning would be budgeting for 10-15k. For that you'd be looking at turbo manifolds (possibly off the shelf if the turbo isn't too big), custom exhaust, probably custom dump pipe, turbo, custom intercooler piping with core, oil and coolant lines with tapping, tuning (you'll need to find a Delco tuner as most aftermarket ECUs don't support GM electronic transmissions), probably new head gaskets, and of course labour. That doesn't factor in anything to do with gearboxes or torque converters, you'd also probably need to look at cams as the stock one will likely choke it if you want that much power.

Do you have any idea about what size turbo you'd use or anything else you'd do? The engine would do fine for that kind of power provided it was torn down and rebuild with much stronger internals, as for being reliable that's another question entirely which will also factor into how cheap you go.

If it were me I'd just buy an XR6T and be done with it. Ready made bolt-on aftermarket parts and readily available tuning with easily replicatable common setups that have proven and widely available results. Will be cheaper and hold its value better too compared to something with that much custom modification.

Slightly off topic, but what have you driven before that's 400/500hp?

 

[tommytt22]

Thanks for the reply. I'll admit an xr6t would make way more sense, its proven what they can do. I guess i was trying to stay out of a ford and I'd love a 2door but the kind of price you're indicating makes me think its too much of a job. I was under the impression they were built to handle boost and power since they come S/C but that seems to be incorrect.

One of the bolt on kits I'd seen had a GT3582 i believe? that kit was $6800 and i could install it myself minus tuning but by the sounds of it i'd need to rebuild the engine and swap the transmission over too, which is starting to get tedious for a car I'd expect to use as my daily.

The fastest car I've driven was a 300hp s15, thats a 1250kg car though as you'd know (your members ride says s14) so its at least 400kg lighter than any commodore or falcon. I'd guess it would go about the same as a 400hp commodore although i could be completely wrong there, just a guess.

 

[losh1971]

Not knocking you but why not a V8? Some blokes put twin turbo's on the late Commodore V8's and make insane HP. I heard there was a mob in Melb who used to fit twins to factory V8s but hid the turbo down low so it was less conspicuous. Not sure if they are still doing this.

 

[Brettly-2008]

Thanks for the reply. I'll admit an xr6t would make way more sense, its proven what they can do. I guess i was trying to stay out of a ford and I'd love a 2door but the kind of price you're indicating makes me think its too much of a job. I was under the impression they were built to handle boost and power since they come S/C but that seems to be incorrect.

One of the bolt on kits I'd seen had a GT3582 i believe? that kit was $6800 and i could install it myself minus tuning but by the sounds of it i'd need to rebuild the engine and swap the transmission over too, which is starting to get tedious for a car I'd expect to use as my daily.

The fastest car I've driven was a 300hp s15, thats a 1250kg car though as you'd know (your members ride says s14) so its at least 400kg lighter than any commodore or falcon. I'd guess it would go about the same as a 400hp commodore although i could be completely wrong there, just a guess.

If you kept the boost mild-to-moderate there's no reason to rebuild an Ecotec to take turbo. Not that 400-500hp is mild but even if you did blow one up, they're a cheap and easy replacement. Plenty of guys do similar things with stock LS1s.

Your other more obvious option would be to up the boost on S/C.

 

[55ams]

If you kept the boost mild-to-moderate there's no reason to rebuild an Ecotec to take turbo. Not that 400-500hp is mild but even if you did blow one up, they're a cheap and easy replacement. Plenty of guys do similar things with stock LS1s.

Your other more obvious option would be to up the boost on S/C.

If it was me id just leave it s/c
not many around anymore/ constant boost in a built auto be fun

 

[_R_J_K_]

I was under the impression they were built to handle boost and power since they come S/C but that seems to be incorrect.

Not when you're looking to increase the engine's power output by 70-100%, very few factory engines from that era will deal well with that long term whether they're for boost or not. L67s came out of the factory with the intention of only seeing sub-200kw (400-500hp is 300-370kw). Even the first gen of turbo Barras bent stock rods when you upped the boost (look up the BA banana rods). Not to mention both the engines and drivetrain are approaching 20 years old (and their manufacturing technology even older).

The fastest car I've driven was a 300hp s15, thats a 1250kg car though as you'd know (your members ride says s14) so its at least 400kg lighter than any commodore or falcon. I'd guess it would go about the same as a 400hp commodore although i could be completely wrong there, just a guess.

If you want a coupe or boost, forget about Holden (unless you just keep the L67 in the Monaro). Also try to forget about aiming for an arbitrary power figure, you can have a car with 500hp that is laggy as and is no fun on the open road because you'll never get to its peak power range. Power to weight ratio doesn't take in engine displacement or torque or spool time. IMHO if you want to use this for a daily look for something that's fun in the 0-100km/h range because that's where you'll use it most. This would be the L67 with bolt ons and tune (they're not really that much of a slouch with the right tuning and it can be done via mail order), stock XR6T or V8s, most Japanese sports cars etc...

 

[tommytt22]

Not knocking you but why not a V8? Some blokes put twin turbo's on the late Commodore V8's and make insane HP. I heard there was a mob in Melb who used to fit twins to factory V8s but hid the turbo down low so it was less conspicuous. Not sure if they are still doing this.

Don't get me wrong i have nothing against V8's but i thought the L67 being iron block and forced induction already meant it would be strong enough to handle a turbo to that kind of horsepower easily. Consensus seems to be that its unlikely, and not as easy as i thought. If it came down to it id probably look at other turbo cars before a v8

If it was me id just leave it s/c
not many around anymore/ constant boost in a built auto be fun

Even if i did stay supercharged I'd end up wanting to make the supercharger bigger anyway for more power then you run into the same problem with internals and it gets expensive again.