Turbo Retrofit Poll

[TheAsterisk!]

I predict the acceleration will be fine but not fun. Like the 1.6L that was in my 2012 Veloster. 0-60 was in the 10s range similar to what the Elio predicts. Acceleration around town was fine but passing on the highway took some planning and high revs. Under normal driving it never felt like a problem. But the second year Hyundai offered the turbo that brought that time in the 7s range, about what I would expect with the Elio too.

Do not get me wrong, I think the cumulative driving experience of the Elio will be tons of fun, just not straight line acceleration.

I've been thinking something like this for a while, once I knew the target vehicle weight, horsepower and torque. Proportional to its weight (and likely better on the aerodynamics), the Elio is slated to have about as much power and torque as my sadly-departed '99 Civic. The Civic never gave me any trouble, though it wasn't a performance machine by any stretch, and it was also fairly economical to operate and simple in design.

If my very beat up Civic could do it- on an old, traditional 4-speed automatic, no less, and lacking the much-ballyhooed VTEC and its juju- then I am not at all worried about the Elio needing more power, if the targets are met. You might want to turn off their AC when you merge or pass, but that's just life with a tiny engine- no biggie.

I also want to try to keep the machine as mechanically simple and robust as can be expected for the base design. If there's no pressing need to get more power just to manage basic, utilitarian driving- and I honestly belong in the right lane where I reside, anyway - then why overstress the engine unduly?

Naturally aspirated, thanks. Things would have to be unmanageable enough for me to consider otherwise that by that point I might be contemplating another vehicle entirely, to be perfectly honest.

 

[DAVID BROWER]

I THINK A TURBO-DIESEL ELIO WOULD BE FANTASTIC .

 

[booboo]

Sounds good to me .
http://www.greenoptimistic.com/small-engine-turbo/#.WA0Ii1QrLRY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Medium_Diesel_engine

 

[Ekh]

Sounds good to me .
http://www.greenoptimistic.com/small-engine-turbo/#.WA0Ii1QrLRY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Medium_Diesel_engine

I drove a small turbo diesel Fiat Idea in Italy a couple of years ago. That little sucker would just fly and had no problem at all keeping up with the big boys and snaking thriugh the Alps. I'd love to have another one of those cars. Assuming of course that the Elio wasn't going to be available. Put it in a 1200 pound trike and yahoo!

 

[TurboE]

Stay tuned. Turbo E coming soon..........

 

[Coss]

Stay tuned. Turbo E coming soon..........

Oh? What brings you to that statement? Some inside information perhaps?

 

[TCBronson]

I THINK A TURBO-DIESEL ELIO WOULD BE FANTASTIC .

Lots of torque!

 

[DAVID BROWER]

Lots of torque!

AND 100+mpg TO GO WITH IT !

 

[TurboE]

So back to the original post on adding a turbo. Installing a after-market turbo is very common in all vehicle platforms. Even if the engine was not built for forced induction it can still be done and be safe if done right, yielding amazing results.

Turbo kits and price. Price is always a heated subject. I often see people comparing pricing to kits or turbo's offered on Ebay. Most Ebay kits are junk and incomplete with 0 actual engineering or testing. With modern day engines you can't simply just slap on a turbo and call it a day. Building a proper turbo kit requires tuning and re-calibration of the ECU. On lower boost levels OEM injectors, fuel pump is sufficient but most of the time they should be changed out for higher flow units to achieve safe AFR's.

I would guess a good complete bolt on entry level kit would start at $3-3500

 

[TCBronson]

You may be right and if it is that price range than I don't see folks paying that much to add a turbo. Instead, if Elio came out with a factory installed turbo model, than that would be the way to go, with a warranty.