7MGE -> 7MGTE

[thechori]

Originally Posted by rnoswal

You know, there is really nothing wrong with the N/A engine. It is a much cleaner setup, more room to work on and such an understressed engine it could last almost forever! With attention to breathing and a nice raise in compression, it could be made very strong.

I have an N/A and a turbo. My daughter drives the N/A and really likes it. She likes the turbo too, but her car has more drive around, useable torque. I rebuilt hers a year ago with stock stuff, but milled the head for a bump in compression. It was a pretty cheap rebuild.

I would say, stay with the engine you have. You can pour some money into it and have a very fun car. With a shot of nitrous, well, twice as much fun. There are enough goodies out there that would make your car a fast car and very reliable still. Headers, a must. You could spend the money on a set of cams, they seem to be very pricey, but cams are what makes the N/A engine breath and pull at the higher rpm's.

Spend the money on making your car handle, lower it and maybe a body kit. Turbo charging makes quite a bit of power, but at a reliablilty price and if you go crazy, at the expense of an engine. Build what you have. Get that experience, keep the better shifting transmission on the N/A, then after you have doen that, or while doing that, keep looking for a turbo car and after selling yours you can get a turbo that has all the right stuff already in it!

Just my opinion, but I am happy with both. They are still just rare enough to turn heads, but with a big enough following to still have a pretty good aftermarket supply.

Good luck and keep us informed.

Russ

thanks for the advice, i've never really heard anyone say to stick with the N/A platform, but i think you just might've swayed me. i just really wanted the easy power from a turbo, and just the thought of boost was almost hypnotizing :[

how much do you think i would need to spend to achieve ~300hp on the 7MGE? cams, headers, my exhaust is fine, my intake should be too, maybe take out the converter (would this make enough of a difference in power to actually do it?), how much did it cost to mill the head? was it a noticeable gain in performance? if i'm up to it, i'll look into nitrous, seems like a very cheap way to gain temporary hp, and i'm VERY curious to see how real nitrous affects a car's performance.

what else can i do that won't cost me my left arm?