Twin Turbo is it a good idea?

[drx]

Hi all,

Does anybody know if it's a good idea to put in a Twin Turbo on an explorer. Currently I have a 1997 Eddie bauer, but am thinking of upgrading to a 2002 Eddie Bauer. But during the meantime, I'm gonna have some fun with the 97.

So here is my question, is it a good idea to Twin Turbo it? If it is, does anybody know how much it would cost? or other things needed to be done to it first, before adding the Twin Turbo. As you can tell this is my first time doing this so I don't have much info about it. This is my first explorer and I absolutely love it. Also if anybody has any info about further mods that I can do, to get the closest results as a Twin Turbo please do tell me.

I just want to thank you all in advance in reading and posting messages.

 

[spindlecone]

No Experiance with fords but had Gale banks twin turbo my Vette, pain in the ass, 450+ HP, lots o power, cost 12 grand, consider a S.C instead, do not believe anyone make a turbo kit for a gas ford

 

[JTX]

Not sure how much it will cost. If you have the money someone will make you a kit. My friend makes kits for Mazda Miata's. He currently has the fastest Miata in the world.

 

[spindlecone]

The cost is not in the turbo system, if you want to make serious H.P you need a built engine, than a suspension to drive the vehical for its intended purpose, is no way you can slap twin turbos on a stock engine and be good to go, just take many bux

 

[section525]

The problem with the turbos is they take up so much room in the engine bay. Which means bye bye AC, washer fluid, cruise control, etc. I assume this is going on a 5.0L? I know theres a few kits for Mustangs (single turbo I know) so you could probably get a good idea of how to do it by going off those. Then once you blow up your stock bottom end, rebuild with forged parts!

 

[JerseyVics]

at least $8,000 for a decent Mustang GT kit...

another $1k to $2k for custom fabrication to make it fit and tuning.

--Russ

 

[Rockey]

For about 5k or less you can build a very nice 347 and not have to sacrifice any of the above mentioned(ac, cruise, etc), You'll have a bucket load of bottom end and if you do it right you make just as much if not more than a stock 302 with twin turbos. Plus if you throw a twin turbo system on your engine now your still have a used mtor with "X" miles on it. With the 347 you'll have a new engine to boot. Food for thought.

 

[tmsoko]

Only Twin Turbo explorer I know of burned to the ground on its maden voyage. Too much heat, too small an engine compartment. No mustang kit will work as the headers/manifolds will not fit an explorer engine.

 

[drx]

Thank you so much for all the input, I did not think about the engine compartment, and the cooling at all. Also its a 4.0 L, so I guess there would be no use to do that. But however Super Charging the V6 does sound pretty good. I guess at this time the question that would come in mind is what are some parts that I need to do that instead?

Also Rocky, the 347 sounds real good. I'll take that into consideration before I do anything.

Again thank you all for your input.

 

[raginraj]

yeah, if you want to get some boost going on then i'd probably go with a supercharger. i've always thought of turbos being for smaller displacement engines with high compression and exhaust pressure. 4 litres makes for a pretty large displacement 6 pot. anyways, my opinion is a supercharger will be easier, safer, and more reliable given the engine u have.

 

[B94Sport]

Turbos are usually put on smaller engines because they can rev higher, and turbos need to spool up. Superchargers can be put on any size engine because they don't have lag like turbos do. The turbo on my 2.5l 4 cylinder is smallish and spools by 3500 RPM in 1st, and after that it's at full boost in other gears at or before 3000 RPM That's 14.5 PSI. Having spool-up like that on an Explorer with a 5,000 RPM redline would be a waste. 7000 RPM redline is a different story. Of course, you put that same turbo on an Explorer and it will spool at 1800 RPM because of the high volume of exhaust gas, but it'll just be pumping hot (BAD!) air at higher RPMs and you won't get any benefit from it. Matching a turbo to an engine is kind of a science. You want something that will spool up reasonably soon (assuming you aren't building a drag car), but still be able to flow enough air to give you some top end and not be out of its efficiency range when you're cruising at higher RPMs.

To run big boost, no matter what, you are going to have to drop your compression ratio. 8-8.5:1 is ideal for turbos, and possibly for any kind of FI. I don't claim to be a supercharger wiz. High compression = Lower boost. Low compression = Higher boost. Hence why my engine is 8.2:1 instead of 10.5:1, and why the kiddies who go and toss a turbo kit on their Preludes and ITRs without doing any engine work can only run like 6 PSI. Of course, that 6 PSI will add more HP and TQ to their engine than it would to an 8-8.5 C/R engine, but they won't be able to up the boost later.

In closing, I would go with a supercharger on the Ex as well, but if you have the money and tenacity, turbos are always a good idea They're tons of fun!

 

[spindlecone]

Great post Ray
I have had two turbo cars, the vette and a 76 1st year on the market Turbo carrera, both were total Pitas, but I must say this, granted H.P an T.Q being equal, is something about Turbos that differ from S.C.s, when they are working correctly.
(soon to be S.Cd in Calif)

 

[drx]

Thank you so much for that info Ray, I will use that, and as for Turboing it, hehe, no I don't have dat kind of cash. But the supercharge will be a good idea, and I will do what you have mentioned, work on the engine first then supering it.

Also I have another question, when I do supercharge it, could I also add NOS to it as well, I mean would that give me a better boost with the SC, or would it be just a waste of money, and SCing it is pretty much give me dat boost. Also how about putting a NOS system for a Turbo engine car like the porsche Turbo for instance, for the NOS help give dat extra boost needed?

This forum is the best, ever since I got the Ex, and joined this site, there has been nothing but help to one another. This is great, thank you for all the support. I'm glad I joined this forum.

 

[B94Sport]

Turbos love N2O, it helps them spool faster... Not sure who makes them, but there are kits designed for this sort of thing that start injecting N2O at low RPMs and then slowly back off as the turbo spools so that you seamlessly transition from N2O to boost. I don't know what N2O will do on a supercharger, but Alec had N2O on his supercharged Explorer. You could PM him and ask.

 

[Josh]

I bought a brand new Eaton M62. It was originaly built for the Nissan Xterra. It can be adapted to the 4.0 but the kit cost between 900 and 1400 bucks. I wanted to build the brackets myself but having hard time getting help. Even if you buy the full kit, it will still only be around 2K for the whole deal.

 

[rockman]

Bbk Supercharger

Try Summit They Have A Supercharger For 4.0l Ex In Their Cat.

 

[drx]

Excellent advice guys, now all I have to do is wait for winter to pass, and then its time to work on the Ex.

Thanx everyone