I am almost certain that I will have a reputable shop install a turbo kit on my cobalt in 3 weeks. Before I give them the go ahead, I'd like to hear from turbo swap owners if they have run into any problems. The car will have atleast two long trips within a month after the install. These will total to about 2k miles.

Car has 70k miles

After that most driving will be around town, and probably weekly 400 mile roundtrip trips, as I will be traveling to golf tournaments throughout Florida.

I'm trying to hear from people who actually own turbo lsj's. As this will be my first turbo car.

 

Put it this way putting a turbo on a car that isn't meant to be turbo'd will run into a problem eventually. The LSJ was set up for a blower. Where at in PA are you located?

 

was going to say the same, even if its small or nickels and dimes here and there

 

Near Philadelphia.
So would the TVS be a more reliable route?

 

lol "Put it this way, you're adding a bigger blower to a car that wasn't meant for it'

 

i was thinking of going the same route but after knowing a few personal friends having problems with their turbo conversions, IF i do swap, itll be for TVS

 

Could you share a bit about your friends and what they faced with their turbo conversions.

 

I've been turbo swapped for about 5-6 months now and I also live right outside of philadelphia. Once I got the tune down on mine I have literally had 0 issues aside from smoking the stock clutch. All my mods are in my sig. I have gotten a nice bump mpg so that has been nice.

 

It's seems some of you guys got some things wrong here. The lsj came from a Saab and it was a turbo motor. The engine was designed to be turbo from the start. I DD my cobalt with pretty much no issues. The only thing to break was my trans " 3rd gear stripped and shot gear teeth right out the side of the trans case" and mostly because I beat the ever living **** out of the car every day. The only people that have problems are the guys that cheep out on parts or they got no clue what they are doing......

 

As INFE has already stated I think some information here needs to be corrected. As you guys know the lsj was ran with the Saab's as a turbo setup, so you can't say this motor wasn't meant to be turbo'd or it will have issues etc. Another thing to note though is that WHENEVER you add power, you lose reliability, that's just a fact that we modders have to deal with.

Now over all, I would say a turbo setup would be LESS harsh then a tvs setup because of the max torque at lower rpm's the blowers have. Turbo setups spool and the power isn't sudden and all at once. This would be easier on your transmission and suspension parts and the motor. When power comes in, especially torque very high very quick at low rpms, it's VERY hard on a motor. It really just depends on the setups though and power out puts etc.

It seems that the lsj block, rods, pistons, etc everything being stock do VERY well at around the 300-350 whp mark. Pushing above that, eventually things will give. If the tune is dialed in very well though, it seems that some have pushed the limits to 400hp before anything gives out. It's all in the tune and the setups guys. The more power you have, the sooner the motor will go if it's not dialed in PERFECTLY

 

Id be running a Bullseye 252 ext tip turbo. Only problem is stock clutch.....

 

I recommend the gmpp upgrade clutch kit, it's cheap and very very effective, especially with turbo cars. If you are looking to push over 350whp though, you might want to think about another clutch .

For every day daily driving though, the car will be just the same as any other.

 

no one has problems with a turbo setup, except when they turn up the boost too high

 

 

This! I did the same thing with my trans. To the "T"

I love the turbo for a DD

 

good thread. i want to hear more from the turbo lsj owners as well. i will be hopefully doing a turbo setup in the near future. keep it coming guys!!!

 

Thanks guys. Anybody who is running a similar turbo to Bullseye 252 ext tip. Also it will be installed and tuned by ZZP fyi

 

it will be fine.


I just put rotated mounts on my cobalt and it was suppose to have oem ones, imagine how I feel not being able to take the trip to my grandmothers for thanksgiving.

 

The most intelligent thing I've heard in this entire thread

 

uhhhhh what? you upgraded to better mounts but you can't drive it. lolwut.

 

did you catch that?...

 

Maybe that's the issue my friends had. One kept going through turbos, the other had oiling issues

 

Gotcha.

 

def. going to be watchin this thread cuz im seriously thinking bout doing the hahn conversion myself

 

hahn is very pricey. If you can, piece a kit together. Luckily, I was able to find most of what comes in a hahn kit for waaaay cheaper than what it normally goes for. And all the parts are brand new (except for the intake manifold).