It's amazing that any components whatsoever designed for a stock 140 hp 2.2-liter Ecotec would survive on an extreme power plant making more than six times its power. However the stock Ecotec block and main/girdle structure did survive to 750 hp, as did the stock sleeves. The stock main bearings survived. The stock stamped roller finger-followers were effective to at least 9700 rpm, as were the hydraulic lifters. The oil passages remained stock to 800 hp. The stock chains, guides, tensioners and water pump worked all the way to heaven. The stock head survived with minor strengthening and massive breathing modifications. Many other components were good for two to four times stock power (see chart). GM Powertrain engineers designed a base engine with many stock components that were above and beyond what was needed for stock performance. "The crank support structure of the Ecotec is unbelievably strong," says Bothwell. "We detected no core shifting under the most extreme conditions."
The engine-fuel combination turned out to be extremely knock-resistant. The Ecotec combustion chamber is efficient, with an excellent tumble and high flame speed, and the engine was able to run 10:1 compression without knock at boost pressures as high as 36 psi at 21 degrees spark advance. In a vehicle, the on-board computer is aware of which gear is in use and varies maximum boost accordingly to avoid detonation and traction control problems.
From the excellent power-boost ratio of 750 hp at 24 psi, one can infer that careful turbo selection, camshaft selection and timing, good intercooling and carefully considered turbo system geometry result in a happy situation in which inlet manifold pressure exceeds backpressure in a happy phenomenon called crossover, where horsepower really skyrockets.
Turbo configuration and size would change three times during the tuning process. The highest-flow turbo is currently capable of delivering 40 psi boost at very high power levels. The largest Innovative wastegate is unable to divert enough exhaust to keep boost from creeping to a minimum of 15 psi when heavily loaded on the dyno, though this is not a problem on the track.
What is the Ecotec's final frontier? So far, unknown; but we'll be looking to the track in 2002 for the answers to that question

The new turbo Ecotec immediately cranked out 350 hp at 7000 rpm on 2 psi boost, and rapidly closed in on 450 hp with no failures. "Our tuningstrategy," says Bothwell. "Was to start rich with a computer generated air-fuel map and sneak up on rich-best torque."
The new turbo Ecotec was defiantly responsive: GM Racing set idle at 1800 rpm, and if you punched it quick, the unloaded engine would blow completely through the 10K rev-limiter in less than a tenth of a second. The team expected an Ecotec-powered drag car to launch at 8000 rpm and run all the way through the gears in the quarter mile, so they cared mainly about the 5-10K rpm range. In this range, GM Racing wanted the turbocharger to achieve any level of "full boost" nearly 100-percent of the time.
As testing continued, GM Racing monitored EGT and exhaust gas oxygen on all four cylinders. Full-power target EGT was 1,230-degrees F, and would never exceed 1,350-degrees. The team continuously logged all sensor data throughout the power quest. The routine was, run the dyno manually at an array of "break points" of speed, loading and boost, holding the engine steady at each point to tweak various parameters that define optimal rich/best torque -- using EGT and wide-range O2 data, fuel-rail pressure, torque and power readouts, a remote-control electronic boost controller and a laptop computer to recalibrate injection pulsewidth and spark advance.

ORIGINAL: My04Civic
even if your not faster...atleast you can say that you drive a civic...and not one of those gastly ugly cobalts!

ORIGINAL: Forty04

my little turbo D walked by an ss/sc no problem, multiple times.

ORIGINAL: MonsterMagnet

yeah true same effort but V tech engine take more to keep up with ecotech.