Turbo is on its way!!
 

Well I have given in. After lots and lots and lots of contemplating, reading, studying etc. I have decided to succumb to the dark side. My automatic P5 will become one of the few turbo auto P5s and hopefully with everyone's help I'll be able to keep my engine & tranny in once piece.

Tooslow, I'm so sorry man. I wanted to buy your kit so bad cuz it's all new and stuff but I couldn't pass up the deal I got from another board member (at Mazdas247). Besides, the only things I need to worry about with used parts is the turbo itself and possibly the manifold, at which point I very well may turn to you or Ken for replacements.

So here's what I got:
MSP T25 Turbo (25K miles)
MSP Turbo Manifold (25K miles)
JDM FMIC w/pipes
BEGi RRFPR & O2 V-clamp (from Roddimus)
Autometer Gauges (Boost, Oil Pressure, Fuel Pressure)
AccuBoost Boost Controller
Vacuum Block w/fittings
Coolant elbow & lines for turbo
Braided oil lines for turbo

All that stuff for $1000 shipped!! I just couldn't pass up on it ..

Pretty sweet deal, what do you use for engine management?

There's also a couple more things I'm gonna need. If anyone has any of these things or happens to know where I can find a good deal, please lemme know.

Catless midpipe
AEM Wideband O2 gauge/sensor

I dunno if I have a whole lot to chose from since my P5 is automatic. Standalone units seem to be a pretty big pain in the ass to tune with an auto, and from what I've read so far the BEGi with the V-clamp should work like a charm.

Quite honestly though, I'm still learning a lot about this so I probably won't proceed with the install until I know I got all the right stuff. This whole turbo dream kinda sprung up on me about a month ago when I got to drive my brother's TSI Talon and I've been hooked since!! So I started reading, searching, and learning all about turboing the P5 and I'm far from knowing it all. So please guys, if you see me doing anything wrong please lemme know now while I'm still ahead of the game!!

You are a lucky *%$#hole. . . I want one!!!

That 3000rpm kick is addictive, huh? :evilgrin:

Congrats on the goodies! I'd love to boost my P5, but the wifey wants at least one of our cars to stay near stock....plus, I'm broke.

If I were in your shoes, I'd try to get my paws on an MSP ECU. If you're using the turbo, mani and (hopefully) intake set up from an MSP, that would probably be the easiest/cheapest/cleanest/most reliable way to get that set-up on the road.

EDIT: oops. that ECU won't run your automatic either. So much for reading comprehension. :smoke:

I dunno if it's the kick or the sound of that mean ass BOV that got me hooked, but all I know is I want it!! And yea, I wish I could just reflash/replace the P5 ECU with a MSP one to make it all work flawlessly, but it's gonna work for me. I have a whole lot more reading & learning to do about how to tune everything properly, so I'm sure I'll be coming back here with more questions once I get deeper into the topic.

is this fmic a universal piece or is it a custom application for your car?

All I know is that it will fit, cuz the guy provided pics to prove it. It requires removal of one of the fans, which kinda makes me remember you had some slim fans for sale. Think that would work for my upcoming setup? Here are some pics to show ya what's it's all about.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...8/e9ccde76.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1.../Frontview.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...1005/Turbo.jpg

That IC is definately more than enough for a T25!

Yea compared to the stock SMIC it's kind of a monster!! Plus it looks freakin' sexy installed!

ah, that looks like the Hiboost fmic....it removes your condensor fan which will make your AC a little less effective but it may also drop your engines cooling ability a little as well. Yes the fans I have will work for that application.

They are smaller so you can still mount them just in a different position....probably a little lower on the radiator.

Woohoo .. found a BOV on DSMTuners for $100 shipped!! Those guys sell some CRAZY turbo parts over there.

Well I just got everything today and I'm gonna admit I'm a little scared right now. This is gonna be one helluva project. Way beyond anything I've done before .. so wish me luck guys.

There's so many pipes, couplers, hoses, vacuum lines, etc. to hookup that I think I'm gonna have nightmares for months to come after I'm done with it.

Crazyness! I'd be in the same position, %50 excited and %50 afraid to wreak everything, haha.

Good luck, and awesome deal btw.

:) good luck, lemme know if you hit any snags since I was in the same spot back in november/december

Well nothing's gonna happen until at least July or so, since I leave for Australia this Wednesday. I leave May 30th and come back July 1st so the turbo's gonna have to wait until I'm back.

I seriously think if everything goes to plan I will have to come over to the darkside too. I'm loving this car so much and so obcessed. What are you doing in Austrailia for a month?

Well if everything goes as planned, I'll be having a helluva good time :)
I have a lot of family that lives there so I'm going to visit them, and on top of that I really need a vacation so I decided to go down and visit everyone.

^ Awesome. Nice to be able to take off work for such an extended time. Have a great time. Say hi to all the Aussie hotties for me, they will know who I am,,lol...

Middle of winter ftl though

So then are these pics from the last owners car? Because you haven't started the install, correct?

Correct :)

Correct as well :smileysho

Like the rest, I'm jealous myself, bet my 3 would be a bullet with a turbo! May the car gods be with you and take pics when done bra!

Status???

Same spot I was at when I bought it .. everything's just sitting in boxes in the garage collecting dust. I'm thinking about trading the P5 so I might be selling the turbo kit separately. I highly doubt having the turbo installed would make the car any more appealing to a potential buyer. That and I really don't feel like going through the hassle of installing it ..

But nothing's for certain. I may end up keeping it after all, and if I do I'll probably end up installing it sooner or later. I just don't think it will happen anytime soon, definitely not this summer.

what!? buy a turbo kit.. sell the car... you sound like Matty ;)

what you got your eye on?

Well I was looking at a couple '03 V6 Audi A4's (Quattro AWD FTW!!) and I really like everything about the cars, but all the reviews I've read talk about a lot of different problems. So I don't think it's gonna happen ..

The Protege has become a bottomless money pit for me, and being a college student I'm finding it really hard to keep up with my habbits. I don't think I'm gonna stop until I sell the car, so I wanted to get something that had everything I wanted to begin with .. that was I wouldn't mess with it. Besides, the 3.0 V6 Audis have almost no aftermarket support .. as all of it is oriented towards the 1.8T model. I figured I would be happy with a 220 HP AWD sport-luxury sedan cuz it's got the looks, it's got the balls, and definitely has the comfort and luxury factor on the inside. Only downside is that 1 out of 5 reviews mentions replacement of fuel pumps around 50K miles, constant electrical problems with the sunroof, headlights, a/c and such .. and a bunch of other little nuisances I really don't wanna deal with. It just seems like there are a lot of lemons out there, cuz if people aren't complaining about the car then they are giving it 10 out of 10 saying everything is absolutely perfect. I just don't wanna buy something that's gonna be hit or miss like that..

So I'll probably be keeping the Protege after all, but I dunno when I'm gonna get around to putting on the turbo. I'm still not 100% sure if I really want it, cuz I know for a fact that my car's reliability will go down as soon as I slap that sucker on, and I'll be forced to dish out an additional couple $100 every month for BS maintenance..

Sell the Protege? :'(

I really think if I wanted to stop modding my car I could. Actually, I take that back, I know I could, because I have. I haven't modded my car much at all since my 'spring cleaning' of new springs and bushings all over it's just been oil changes and maintenance since then.

I'd just stop modding your car, maybe put it a little bit back to stock, but unless it is being unreliable or just getting too high mileage for oyu to be comfortable with it, why sell?

I see this as my last chance to sell the car and get a decent amount of money out of it .. cuz it's pushing on to being 5 years old, has 53K miles, and is still in relatively excellent condition on the outside as well. Once it hits 5+ years, I'll have probably around 65-70K miles on it and I won't be able to get more than $6-7000 for it.

On the other hand if I keep it, I just don't know how much longer it's gonna keep going without any major problems. So far it's been an excellent little machine, but I'm just not so sure in the quality of work I've done to it so far. Which is also the main reason why I'm not sure about whether or not to install the turbo kit ..

Modding is an extension of ones self, if we stopped to think about it as investment we would be driving Vespas. Turbo it and another sole just like yourself will be waiting inline to buy it when that day comes.

I'm not gonna lie, I love modding my car. Every little thing I add onto it makes me feel better and better when driving it .. it's just starting to get outta hand in relation to my budget.

As far as the turbo is concerned, I already bought it so it's not about the money anymore ... I just don't want my car to become high maintenance all of a sudden because of it. If it was manual and I could use the MSP ECU I would feel a lot better about it, but using the FM O2 clamp and the BEGi RRFPR instead just doesn't make me feel right. I'm a n00b when it comes to FI of any sort, and I don't wanna kill my daily driver. Hope that makes sense.

Totally makes sense. I'm glad the ECU was the least of my worries (the easiest part of the install by far).

And yeah, the car will be a little bit more 'high maintenance'. You gotta let it warm up before driving it more than ever, you need to let it cool down a bit before shutting down, especially if you romped on it. You have to monitor your oil pressure, your air/fuel ratio.. and you must beware of any sudden unexpected rush of power.

You'll consume a little oil (shit gets hot lol.. definitely use an oil cooler of some sort), have shorter oil change intervals (and need to deeefinitely keep on top of them), need to use premium fuel, will get awful gas mileage if you do a lot of autocrossing or road course racing, will have all sorts of new sounds and surges and other less 'refined' things going on.

it's so much fun though :) :) :)

if you were closer I'd offer to let you drive my car to see if it's what you want. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have gone through the work had I known the outcome (it really isn't that much faster, and it's quite a bit of work and money --for me, I really don't like the way a highly turboed car drives.. the lack of down low power, jarring surge of power at the midrange, etc.. I think a supercharger would please me a lot more). I don't regret it though, because it was (and still is) an AWESOME learning experience.

plus it gave me something to do during my winter break :P

^^ Yup that makes sense KF.