Honestly? This coming from a GS300 owner, if you want more power without spending serious $ on FI (and living with everything involved in having a boosted car), I would look at selling the GS3 and buying a GS4. I have looked at all the options and unless you are like Jeff and you plan to do all the labor yourself (I am not that skilled ), it is not a light endeavor to pursue. If you talk to anyone close enough to me, you will know I am not talking from lack of experience.

The GS3 is a great car but bolt-ons will not get you a whole lot. I agree with macd7919 that nitrous will get you a noticeable boost but that comes with its own set of pros and cons.

 

With $2k ? I would put it in the bank. Once you start modding, things will add up quick. If you are planning to go forced induction. Make sure have a couple of thousands to back it up. Never know in the F.I world.
JPI

 

No GS400's ever made it to Ireland. The first V8 GS that got to our shores was the 01+ GS430. This is an extremely rare car as they were over $100,000 new and the annual road tax is $1800 year!! Top that off with petrol here at equiv $5/US-Gal!

Here is the a 2003 black GS430 going for..... $39,000!!!! http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/inde...TOKEN=34152821


Now you know why I am driving a 98 GS300 and asking about boosting its power....

 

Despite your username, I did not realize you are actually in Ireland. I definitely did not know the economics of buying a GS4 there.

In any case, as you can already tell from the discussion above, there are limits to how far you can take the GS3 with bolt ons. Good luck with what you decide to do.

 

Where abouts are you in Ireland??? I'm going back to Dingle in may.

(I know some people call it dingle and some call it an daingean, depends on whether or not you should call it by the name given due to being in the Gaeltacht region)

 

I am living in Mullingar.
(For those who dont know anything about it, check wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullingar )

 

Thanks to a member who tipped me off with a link of a DIY turbo kit for the 1JZ & 2JZ engines for $1,299!!!!:

http://www.clubna-t.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=44

For your money you get:


2JZ-GE Single Turbo Kit: $1299, shipped FedEx!

* T61 turbo (4" inlet for VVTi - will work with non-VVTi if you weld a flange adaptor on) -or-
* T57 3" inlet turbo (1.15AR hot, .60AR Cold - just clears the dist on non VVTi GE motors - you will need to weld a v-band clamp half on)
12x24x3" polished aluminum front mount intercooler (4" upgrade available)
2JZ-GE polished stainless steel manifold, fully braced
JUN style 40mm wastegate
polished stainless steel dump tube
Turbo XS style Red blow off valve (blitz DD or TiAL 50mm available)
3" v-band clamp kit
3" v-Band polished stainless steel down pipe with 02 sensor bungs
teflon and braided stainless oil supply line, high temp drain lines & flanges
gaskets
turbo oil return plate (to oil pan)



The only extra hardware required for a lowish boost is an Air/Fuel controller and a some intercooler tubing.


This CAN be done for under $2,000!!!

 

That is just the beginning of what you will need.

Add to that list:

Exhaust
Fuel pump
Tuning
Tranny cooler
Misc fittings etc.. (trust me, you will need some)
Boost controller
Wide band would be a very good idea especially if you are running stock injectors. It would be best to change them as they really don't have any room over stock for flow, If I remeber they only flow around 2xx cc's of fuel which is basically not enough for anything as you have no headroom. Upping the pressure is a bandaid way of getting more fuel but the injectors were never designed to be run at super high pressures and will be prone to failure.

To get the kit with everything to safely run it and doing the install yourself you are going to be very close to $2000. You could throw something together but if you are going turbo you should be sure you have enough to make the kit 100%, this includes all the little items, any service items your car may need, fluid changes, seal changes, fresh quality spark plugs (denso's for example, right there is $60). Remember your car needs to be in top shape if you are going to ask that much more out of the engine and get good results.

I'm not trying to discourage you at all, just want you to know everything up front so there are no surprises

 

Not to be a naysayer but once you are done, come back and prove me wrong. I think right now you want it so you want to believe it can be done.

At this point, I'd just say have some extra cash to make sure your car is not apart and no way to get what it needs.

 

I would love to fit this kit, but I am realistic.

There is no point in only half doing any job albeit a small boost.
Once you turbo any engine that adds +50% bhp over stock, most mechanical parts will be working beyond their design. eg.. Fuel injectors, fuel pump, exhaust (increased back pressure), Diff, gaskets, pulleys, crankshaft and the all important TRANNY.

I know I would blow something expensive up as I would keep tweaking the pressure for even more power! so turbo'd for me is too much temptation. I could put this kit on for under $2k but at what long term price?
Depending on how I drive without adding a long list of uprated parts; 10-20k Turbo'd miles will probably have the same wear and tear effects of 100k-200k non-turbo miles.

So including uprated parts this would push the cost to over $6k+


This kit would be perfect if I was selling the car next year!!


As the only mods mentioned are the simple bolt on ones (exhaust/air etc) that could add 30-40hp, I might just pimp it with some nice wheels or maybe a body kit.....

 

Plug-in supercharger.
What's that? It's just an idea ... feel free to make a business out of it. It's a high power rechargeable battery (plug-in capable) to drive the supercharger ... assuming that you only activate it when you race ... or you just turn it on for more hp going to work and plug it in at night.
Gaining 15hp for each psi ... so depends on your battery. I guess a skillful person can do this.

 

That idea has been in production for years by Thomas Knight. Here is a link to a review from Turbo magazine with dyno sheets on it:
http://www.turbomagazine.com/tech/04..._supercharger/

Cost if I remember is $2000-$3000.

Other option, buy a junk one from ebay for a couple hundred bucks and see if it makes anything happen. I can't imagine it doing anything but you could give it a shot.

 

DO NOT buy the bilge fan blowers off ebay. The dinky little blowers will not do anything for your car. If anything, you might suck a blade into your engine and cause some serious failure.

For my setup, I'm spending about $3000 for all the parts. This includes turbo manifold, downpipe, intercooler + piping, HKS bov, Tial wastegate, Turbonetics 62-1 turbo, Zeitronix wideband o2+egt+boost display, stainless oil lines, misc flanges + fittings, fuel management computer, ecu patch harness, and Walbro fuel pump. I used all high quality parts, and those parts alone costs the $3000. I'm doing all the installation part myself. However, I don't have the tools to cut/weld the intercooler piping. Also, I don't have the proper experience to tune the engine for the boost. Add all that stuff up + extra labor and I'll be close to $3500-4000 for a base turbo installed in my car.

Yes, you can easily piece together a turbo kit for $1500-2000. How long it will last, and how long your engine will last is the question.

 

This sounds interesting. But is this one of those "too good to be true" kinda thing or does it make a difference like they say it will? I have always wanted to boost my GS but I do not have 8K-10k to boost it. For 2K-3K, this is something I am definately considering.

 

Click on the link, it's a real world review by turbo magazine on a Nissan Altima of all cars. Thats about as econo box as you can get (the year they tested) It showed significant gains but read the whole article and it goes into detail. Hope that helps