Forced Induction Turbo 1ZZ-FE, is it really worth it?

Got the eManage, Pressure Sensor, Harnesses and Support Tool today in the mail. And my wife just got home with the Exhaust manifold gasket from West Lake Toyota. I think I've got everthing I need. we're starting tonight at 9pm but we probably won't have anything picture worthy until tomorrow night. I'll keep everyone posted.

Nah, tonight was just for writing up the game plan Trav, could you mail me those eManage maps? We're going to need them Sunday Night or Monday Morning. Thanks.

Yeah, I'll update the badboy before I dump your maps on it. And are your maps setup to use the Ignition, Injector and Pressure Sensor harnesses? Because thats what we'll have installed.

Today we started working on the Turbo installation and we hit a few snags. I'm working with Jesse at TurboKits.com to quickly resolve the issues. I'll keep you all posted on my progress but at this point the downpipe does not fit and needs to be heavily modified or replaced by TSI and there are some serious fitment issues for the 01' Corolla concerning the heater core inlet/outlet but we're working to resolve all of these problems. Hopefully with a little bit of cooperation with TSI and TurboKits.com we can get this kit worked out so everyone on VVT-i.net can buy one and not hit these snags.

True, the whole reason for doing this is so we can work out the issues with the kit. I'm just hoping we can work them out quickly because my car is offline until we do. Lucky for me my installer is awesome, he worked at a speed shop for many years installing turbo kits and is very knowledgeable. And he is the most comfortable person I have ever seen ripping a car apart. He had my whole dash out of my car to access the heater core in like 1 hour and was cruizing though it like it was a breeze. I was in panic mode though because it hurts to see your car disected I'll post more pics and information later after I've had a chance to speak with Jeese at Turbokits.com.


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sorry jer, had to edit knoledgeable and change it to knowledgeable... it was killing me. its just one of those days. lol

Hahaha, yeah I'm exhausted so my spelling and grammer is going to suffer greatly for it.

Yeah, but we had to rip out of the console to modify the heater core But since it is all out now we have ultra easy access to everything. I'm pretty sure he will have no problem putting my dash back in.

Hey All,

Barnacules sent great pics and explainations so that we can get these issues back to the fabricator and get this resolved for future kits

He also said the downpipe doesn't look like the one in the instructions. So I hope he just got the wrong part #. Hopefully, that will clear that up...

Stay Tuned..

Jesse @ www.Turbo-Kits.com

P.S. Barnacules, I sent the info to TSI and will hopefully have an answer today for you.

-J

I dynoed slightly modified at arround 105 whp..... I turboed the car and did a few other small things (full catback and celicaTB and intake manifold) and got 221 whp.....

Now I would say thats damn worth it..... and yeah hes paying a shitload...

So lets see....

Corolla 13K Turbo Kit 5K = 18K
Celica GTS more then 18K and a lot slower...

Jesse, I'm just waiting on an answer, we got the turbo in with the modifications to the head and heater core but without a down pipe were stuck, we also test fit the IC piping and nothing fit at all (pipes pinned between radiator and engine, not fitting around frame, etc). We're going to be sending you a set of pictures to illustrate these issues shortly. In the mean time if we can get the correct down pipe we can at least setup as non-intercooled and press forward while waiting for a solution on the IC piping. But these issues have to be resolved because this kit absolutely does not fit the 2001 Corolla in any way as advertised and from talking to Vortex this also means it will not fit 98-02 Corollas since the front clip is identical.

Damn!:sad: :sad: :sad:

N we were right....bummer

Ok, thanks for the feedback... This is good and bad, bad because the current kit doesn't fit, but good because Barnacules has documented all of the issues 100% with pics and videos and awesome explainations.

I will be sending all of this information to TSI to have them go over it with their fabricator and get the issues fixed.

I have currently stopped selling the kit and assure you guys I will not sell it again without testing the next version of this kit. Also, if TSI doesn't do anything with all of this FREE information Barnacules & I have gotten for them then I will not sell the kit again. I am not in business to ripp people off just for a few $$$.

I will try to keep the boards updated as I hear things.

Thanks

Jesse @ www.Turbo-Kits.com

P.S. Barnacules, we will cover the cost of fixing your DP and will be sending out a universal piping kit for you to work with today.

Once we receive the kit I'll have my installer create a set of IC pipes that will fit my car. As for the down pipe did you want me to take the car into a shop to have one made, have my installer make a new one or wait for TSI to send me the correct one?

Today we had trouble installing the custom downpipe we created because of the unique way the exhaust pivots so we had to abandon it. I'm not researching the posibility of using 2" flex pipe to create the downpipe much like some Honda exhausts use. This should solve most of my problems. Tomorrow I'm going to focus on things other then the downpipe like hooking up all the oil lines and water lines just get that done. I'll post more info later but I'm exhausted and haven't got much sleep lately so I'm going to go to sleep. I'll post again tomorrow.

Hey Barnacules,

I received all of your e-mails and will await your reply. The Universal kit should get to you soon and TSI will reimburse you for building a DP.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Jesse @ www.Turbo-Kits.com

Cool, thanks Jesse. We're picking up the Flex Pipe tomorrow for $65 and I have to pay this guy I work with $40 to borrow his Mig welder for a week so I'll come up with some totals for you after the project is completed. Once the down pipe is done we're going to do the electronics and button her up as a non-intercooled setup until the kit arrives. Thanks.

Its to hard to compute the angles perfectly and I dont have a band saw so I can't cut perfect angles. I'm just going to pick up a 6" flex pipe and weld her in.

Do that for now and when TSI gets Kit Version 2 out I will make sure we send you all of the parts to make your kit complete, even if I have to pay out of pocket for it

Jesse @ www.Turbo-Kits.com

Thanks Jesse

Hey Barnacules,

Once again, you are the man. You continue to work on this kit to make it fit and come back with great explanations and pics. I thank you and the whole Corolla community should thank you. Your hard work will def benefit everyone!

I will get your reimbursement for the DP no problem

Jesse @ www.Turbo-Kits.com

Thanks Jesse, I'll send you some new pics tommorow, we wrapped the downpipe in exhaust insulation and we're trying to re-route the pipes to clear the fuel lines and everything else. We also need to find a new place for the stock air box since it can't stay in its original position but I'll keep you updated.