i would think it would need piping for the IC.

 

the debate of turbocharged vs supercharged is a never ending one that has been discussed on every car site everywhere at one point or another. The simple answer is what are your goals? Turbochargers are far more efficient but often do not deliver power until 2500 -3000 rpm for a street turbo. Its easier to change boost settings on a turbo charger to meet your needs as well. What are the trade offs? well first of all you need to buy a turbo kit. This kit would pretty much negate the mods you have already done to your car, as it would replace the headers, intake, etc. Also, as stated above, they dont deliver power equally throughout the powerband. SO essentially if you are looking for horsepower number bragging rights, and a top end powerband, turbocharger is for you. If you wanted to autocross or road race and were looking for a more linear power band, supercharging is the way to go.

 

On most (autox) courses, I usually stay in 2nd gear throughout most of the course. So, when I'm going around a curve at say 35-40 mph in 2nd gear, I'm going to be in fairly high rpm range, so I'm going to want a turbo for its high end power. That's just me though.

 

on a sohc, a SC might be good for auto-x, but i think a turbo would be best for me, and if you learn to drive it right, and control the spool with the throttle, then lag isnt an issue. and lag wont be much of an issue for me anyway. also, i plan on running my car at Thunderhill, so the top end power advantage of a turbo will be great. especially when i fill it up with 101 octane at the track pumps and give it another 3-4 psi for the day do that with your supercharger.

 

yea, i was curious too, does anybody make a turbo for civics(not EX or SI but LX sedan) b/c the only thing i can find is a Jackson Racing Supercharger rite now for 2700. i know Edelbrock came out with a turbo for the D16Y8 engine but that's a D16Y8 and i only have a D16Y7.

-B

 

It should still work (but why not do the head swap?)

 

the head swap is a definite kappa. no doubt. i will do a D16Y8 head swap. but if i do that then technically the turbo kit from edelbrock should work for me then i suppose? Also what's the general output of a turbo kit anyway? the supercharger puts out about 40% more HP and 30% more torque... on average that is.

-B

 

Yeah I guess I should have added that I am not exactly a veteran autocrosser, so I personally find myself lower in the rpm range more frequently than I would like. I suppose I should amend my statement to say - If you want a more linear power band and want your engine to pull like a larger displacement engine, the supercharger is the way to go.

To answer Silver civic's question. THere really is no general output for a turbo kit. Everything is a variable. Every piece of the turbo kit is a variable, every previous modification is a variable. Person A. could put a turbo kit on their stock engine and see a 40% gain in power with proper tuning, while person B. could put the same turbo kit on their built motor with lower compression pistons, sheet metal intake manifold, 3" exhaust, upgraded fuel pump and injectors, and see 140% gain in power with proper tuning. Lots of people are looking for a simple answer, but there is none. Everything depends on everything else, and every situation is different. You have to do the research on other people's setups and combinations of modifications. Even if greddy or turbonetics shows you a dyno graph of their turbo kit on the same motor you have, that doesnt mean you will yield the same results.

 

Yeah, that pretty much covers it. TC's are a lot more flexible than SC's, so you can't really give it a number. Adding a boost controller, getting BB cartridges, different manifold, IC, tons of other stuff can all just keep adding more and more power, assuming your engine is built to handle it.