i looked through the forum for a bit reading but i didnt come across anything tellling me about our max horsepower. I have a stock 07 cobalt ss not the ss s/c or t/c just the ss with the 2.4l engine. I am not looking for crazy amounts of horsepower or anything that is insane because im a college student and this is my car for everything. I just want a bit more pull. I want to feel it more when i smash on the gas. ive been thinking of a turbo because it will give me that but i wanna know will it damage the vehicle. i dont want a crazy boost just that rush. I was looking at http://www.zzperformance.com/cobalt_...=922&catid=143 it seems like a good set up. I wanna know is it possible to use a turbo but limit the boost so that my car will be good for a long while and not having to change much to anymore stock parts on my car. At first i was thinking cai and little things but those look like they add up quick and dont do nearly as much as this. i thought of a super for a while but i decided against it because it was gonna do constant wear and tear on the car. so any help would be nice.

 

My full bolt-ons (CAI, header, cat-less downpipe, cat-back) and tune do me just fine. Boost was too pricey for me. A well tuned, bolted 2.4 can be quicker than you may think. But should you go boost, both superchargers and turbo kits have been done on multiple 2.4's, so i'm sure they guys running boost will chime in eventually with some input.

 

run a supercharger with a large pulley or run a turbo on a low boost setting.
so to answer your question, yes, you can control boost and not run max boost. Your engine is good for like 350hp btw, so dont worry about breaking too much

 

agreed

 

white ss is right if its your every day driver with no back up vehicle, i would stick to bolts + tune. le5 can make some good power for a N/A 4 banger no need for forced induction less you wish to auto x or drag it.

 

Gunney..Im apalled by your statement.

Boost is good for daily driving! It puts that smile on my face before i have to head home to face the wife for the day.


HAHN ran the motor @ 400hp in the solstice (same 2.4L Ecotec) with stock internals. But turned it down.

My car @ 8psi (this week anyway) is at 268whp / 330ft/lbsish. Hahn said this is high. However another member was with me at the dyno when this was done on a mustang dyne. With the auto tranny, im looking at a 15% power loss. Which brings me to 298hpish.

Boost is easily achieved, and is very rewarding.

I just ordered me some new toys, including a boost controller. I'll let you know how that works out.

 

^^ with you, i would worry about your tq. 330tq at the wheels is what, 380tq at the crank, and our tranny is only rated for 315tq. I know theres probably a good amount of headroom (as your showing us), but you gotta be pushing it man...lol

 

It really all depends on personal preference. I'm proud of how quick my car is considering its still naturall aspirated. Its quick enough to put a smile on my face, and I didn't dump $5k into the motor to achieve that smile. Plus, my car has almost 59k on the odo, so I honestly wouldn't trust it with boost right now.

 

full bolt ons is comparable in cost to a supercharger setup tho. the only difference is you can get full bolt ons one part at a time, whereas you cant install the SC until you have everything

 

i was just saying for an every day driver its just not really necessary for extra kick, didnt say it would'nt be freakin amazingly awesome lol

 

Yeah, but if you supercharge a 2.4 your gonna want a better flowing exhaust system (header/dp/cat-back)....and like a better intake........so not really, lol.

I'm im gonna add boost to my car, i'm gonna put less restrictive parts on it to get the full benefits of having a form of forced induction.

How much is a full supercharger setup? Like everything you need to have the car on the road safely?

My full setup cost:

$250 for the AEM CAI
$200 for the CA v1 header
$180 for the XTC 2.5" de-cat downpipe
$550 for the ARK N2 cat-back
$150 for HP Tuners tuning through a friend I know whos a certified HP Tuners tuner.

Which come to a grand total of $1,330, running perfectly w/ no codes or air/fuel problems.

I won't include the price of the traction mods (torque damper/trans mount bushings) since they aren't really part of the "bolt-on" criteria we're talking about.

 

Boost is fine for a DD if that's what you want to do, the 'Hahn' kit wastegate is set at 8 psi from them, which many folks will tell you is plenty safe. Good tune is a must, but the car is plenty quick and quite manageable in the ~250 whp area.

With f/i (and to a lesser degree, but still possibly full bolts), just realize you lose factory warranty.

It's really just whatever route you prefer, I guess. F/I will get big numbers, but is more costly. Can't get the same numbers with bolt ons, but can get out the door a lot cheaper.

I think when he said an SC is equivalent to bolts, he meant price wise. An SC build far outperforms bolt ons.

And anyone who thinks 250 whp/270 tq is meant for a 'drag or auto x' car is seriously overestimating those numbers, or the power of bolt ons. That's like Stage 2ish SS/SC territory (more torque of course). Guess a lightly modded Neon SRT4 or Speed3 would be a good comparison. It is not a ******* race car -- just a satisfying bit of woosh that will make you grin from ear to ear.

Just have a plan, you don't want to spend money on bolts that are going to be obsolete if you decide you want more power down the road.

 

i just want that nice smile when someone is trying to pass me and i ****** take off all of a sudden. I dont plan on doing this for quite a while not until car is close to aid off im just thinking about doing alot of bolt ons or doing the turbo. i was thinkin about nos for a bit but decided against it. i am not gonna be crazy drag strip person or anything like that just im in college and ide like to throw someone in the passenger and just take off.

 

Haha, I gotta buddy selling an 87 5.0 fox body with ford racing cams for a good price .

Seriously though, for 'sling em back in the seat,' you want a turbo. Even a stock SS/SC can't do that, and full bolts won't even get you stock SC power.

Bolt on people may tell you otherwise, but we own a stock SC, and a stock Speed3... and I've recently sold a turbo 2.4L, and I can tell you which of those is the ballsiest. And that all of those will substantially outperform a fully bolted 2.4.

N/A + Bolt ons = ****'s Weak.

Sorry, but it's true.

 

no dout the f/i is the way to go for max power but i guess if it were me and it was my only car i guess i would take the cheap bolts with minor risk of a problem and like no down time. (nothing wrong with boost at low psi, but he wants smash it the seat performance as most of us do so the little red guy with a tail and pitch fork on his shoulder would probly say dial it up bitch lets run this ****)

 

Like most of them say go F/I if you want a more "hang on by the seat of your pants" feel. Most of the 2.4L guys that took the F/I route run 13's in the 1/4 mile and I read somewheres that a car that runs mid 13's is faster that 98% of the cars on the road.

 

^^ TOTALLY agree with you. For most folks, they are looking to edge some more power out of the n/a 2.4, to 'open it up' so to speak, and bolt ons are certainly the way to go.

They are inexpensive, fun to do, and make the car sound mean as hell and do provide a bit of performance as well.

I don't think there's anything wrong with going either way with good research... which he's doing, so awesome.

Forced induction isn't cheap, and there ARE hidden costs no matter which route you go (warranty, other upgrades down the road, tire life, etc., etc.)

But it is fun as **** to mash that pedal.

 

"doing research" on that doesnt happen often

 

Hey, I agree. My turbo build was kind of a whim purchase I'll admit, worked out in the end I guess, but I wish I'd known then what I know now. And I made even more rash and overpriced decisions before that (almost a grand for "GM Performance" catback and intake for example).

I say do what you want, but do your homework. For instance, my plans for the Speed3 are just intake, turbo inlet, a manifold-back exhaust and an upgraded BPV The SC is staying stock since the spouse has a 65-mile each way commute...

OP, please don't think I'm trying to talk you into going turbo, but if that *feeling* is what you want.. well, that's what you need IMO.

 

ok so can someone kind of explain what a turbo will add. like i know u probably cant describe becuz its so ****** kick ass. but like is it like a shot of nitrous and its an all of a sudden boost of holy **** or is it a kinda slow build of mph. also what happens if i set the turbo to be at 3000 and switch gears becuz i have a stick. i just wanna know what will happen if i boost for like a second then hit the clutch.

 

while having a full bolton car with your FI would be optimal like you said, if you had to do one, or the other, the FI build will still make more power. Im sure i can put a stock catback and downpipe on, and im still running the stock intake, and i'm positive i would only lose 30hp at most. Thats still near 200whp.

My build was $1,100 in parts, $300 for a tune, and another hundred or so in miscellaneous bolts and heater hose i didnt have yet. Ive seen people buy the parts cheaper than me, though im sure im on the low end of the spectrum.

 

well you have kinda constant power after it spools up it not like poof oh theres power, if you go hanh kit no worry at all tune and fuel controller all included, basicaly plug and play instalation but you need to send it your ecm and install all the components so be prepared for down time

 

Yeah, I guess it just depends on what your after really. Back when I did all my "performance" mods (I/H/DP/E), boosting a 2.4 was all but unheard of. Beck hadn't even boosted his 2.4 yet, and he was one of the first 2.4's I know of to run the M62 setup. I installed my intake and full exhaust back around October/November '06. Nowadays boosting a 2.2/2.4 is a cakewalk though, as theres so many people who have done it now to provide insight, tips and help to those who want to do the same to their L61/LE5 equipped Cobalts. Back then, I wasn't worried about pioneering a turbokit/supercharger swap for the LE5......I was content with just doing the basic bolt-ons. Had I gotten into Cobalts a bit more recently and had a brand new Cobalt to work with NOW, I might have chosen to boost it..........but like I said.......back when I was after doing performance modifications to it.......having an intake and a full exhaust on a 2.4SS was the ****, since so few people had done it at that point lol. I'm kinda an OG of sorts.......so i'll stick to my current setup. Its been sufficient and reliable for the almost 3 years and 59k miles so far

 

ok i plan on doing this probably around a good year down the line so where should i start buying and what?

im looking at a 2000 dollar kit

 

I'm taking the turbo route once my warranty is up (oh boy am I going to have some fun lol). Yes researching is a great thing and search becomes your best friend.

Are you looking at the ZZP kit by any chance?