Engine Ok, lets try this again...

Ok, lets try this again...

Elite-Autosport may be willing to work on a turbo kit for our cars (98-02 Corolla's) and I am trying to gauge interest in the kit. The kit they would offer would be a complete kit including new injectors, fuel pump, tuned emanage, etc. and a custom mandrel bent exhaust all for around $4000. The cost would be less if you did not want the full exhaust. It will take them 4-6 weeks to develope and about 2 weeks to make each kit. Seeing how tons of people seem to want to spend $3000-3500 for the SF kit, wait 8 months for it and have to deal with missing parts, bad customer service and other stuff, I thought this sounded like a great opportunity. Not to mention the fact that the materials and parts used would be of better quailty than that which SF already offers and would include a full 2.5" exhaust which is currently not offered for our cars. Everyone so far has flipped out on the price it will cost me to have it developed so I want to start a thread that doesn't have that price in it. If you would be intersted at all let me know. If not, I will just tell them there is no intrest. I understand that the cost is a little more that the SF kit, but I believe you get what you pay for. This shop is no joke and this is proven by the fact that Brent Rau's record setting Eclipse is tuned there (if that means nothing to you do a search on yahoo for Brent Rau). Please let me know if you are interested at all as I would really like to try and make this happen for our cars. Thanks!

Im interested, but broke

They may be willing to make a kit for the 03 but I don't have one so I haven't asked. I would be donating my car and several thousand of my dollars to have the kit developed and seeing as how I have a 00...

hmm.

if i was given time to save up the cash for it, i'd do it. money be damned

Sounds familiar..

I talked to Sound Depot and Performance here in Gainesville - they want 8k!

considering the fact that i'd be willing to spend about that on just a repaint of my stock color, i'd seriously consider it.

my only thing is, i can't do it this year. what's the deadline on this thing?

No deadline yet, I just really need to see if there is any interest before I commit to laying down my green to have this kit developed. The kit may go into development next month if there is a lot of interest. If there is not a lot of interest then I will probably just wait until next year and have them make a one of kit for my car alone.

Wish i had the cheez.

I have the same year corolla as yours but I'm not going to be able to afford to do it until next year.

Next year is fine, after all, I would hope that they would continue to make the kit for many years! I just need to gauge overall serious interest so I can go back to them with some real feed back.

no 03 kits?

i need to know everything that will be included and what parts they will use b4 i say yes i found a kit for like 2900 and 400 for better turbo

sry the kit is 2900 and to upgrade your turbo is 400 more

Which kit is this? The TCI Kit is ok but needs a lot of modification to get it to fit right.

The stafford kit is not even worth the effort.

If this kit gets made I hope they can actually produce the kits in a timely fashion and not pull a stafford. I'm actually surprised no one has tried to contact David Drapper over on NewCelica.org...

When its time I REALLY dont want to go though what sean2sean or hookeduprolla when through (i'm sure you all remember) I want what alot of other import owners get. a decent turbo kit recived in a decent amout of time.

This is exactly why I am trying to get this kit made. So far the company that would be making the kit for are cars is producing kits for the NSX and Eclipse, their turn around time for making each kit is about 2 weeks and their build quality and the quality of the products used is pretty much top of the line (Tiel waste gates, PWR intercoolers, etc). The kit will be more than the SF or other kits I have seen out there but will be better overall and that is the reason why it will be more. So far most people on here want a cheep kit not a good one (although $3K is not cheep in my book) and that is why I believe many are unhappy with what they are getting. If I can get at least 10 people to say that they would be willing to pay about $4K for a kit, including a full cat back exhaust in addition to all that comes with the kit, then I would be willing to fork out the cash it will cost to get them to develop it. If people just want a plain old turbo kit and are not willing to pay a little more for quality, then I am not going to invest my money in it.

why does it have to come with a catback exhaust too, most people who are planning to get turbo probably already have that done, without the catback's cost, the turbo kit could be a little cheaper like $3500 instead right? $3k is not cheap for a turbo kit considering Greddy and Blitz kits can be easily acquired for that price, and for the same price, corolla owners are getting screwed over by cheap quality turbo kits while other people are spending the same amount of money and getting some quality kits.

I agree, you can get a lot of kits for other cars for a lot less because they are selling HUNDREDS of them. At best, 10-20 people might ever buy a kit for a 98-02 VVT-i Corolla so the cost to have them produced is dramatically more. For example, I can get a shop to make 1 custom down pipe for about $300. I can get them to make 10 for about $200. I can get them to make 100 for about $100. That is a HUGE difference for JUST THE DOWNPIPE. Now factor in the discounts you get when you buy 100 turbos, BOV's and intercoolers from a company and you get an enormous cost savings that allow you to produce a high quality kit for under $3500.

The reason for the exhaust is that they do not feel they can get the most reliability and power out of the turbo with anything less that 2.5" piping all the way back. So far the largest cat back system available for our cars is 2.25". They want to create a complete system that is reliable and produces strong dyno #'s. I assume you would be able to get it without the exhaust, but at this point the kit would be developed to attach to the exhaust that is being made.

Lets see... Completely different manifold, completely different FMIC piping, Completely different down pipe...

The two cars share the same motor but don't kid yourself. They are worlds apart when it comes to turbo setups.

OK, I am still working on this but here is my delima: I was actually going to invest in this myself and have a couple of the kits made up, put in a box and have them ready to go so that after breaking in the turbo on my car and making sure there are no problems, it would be ready for purchase, no waiting, no hassels. Problem is, no one seems to care. There are a few people that have expressed interest, but there have been more people in the past week that have replied to some of the SF bashing threads stating that they are planning on buying one of those kits then there have been replies to this or the other thread I have posted about having this turbo kit made. Right now, I dont feel like putting up $10K+ of my own money having 3 or 4 kits made up if there is no way they are going to sell. If people don't want quality and are not willing to pay for it, then I dont really know what to do. I was thinking maybe no one is saying anything because the kit is not ready yet and they need to know that this is for real before they are interested. Or maybe their is some other reason. Please give me some feedback and let me know what you think I should do. I do not want to invest heavily in something no one wants so any feed back you can solicit or provide would be greatly apreciated. Thanks!

I hate to tell you but people on this board are all talk...

Don't waste the time and money to put together some kits... You will lose out in the end big time. If you want to have boost in your car then take it to the shop you are dealing with and have them make it up. I don't want to rain on your parade but if you have the shop make a few kits for you, you are going to have a hell of a time selling them if you sell them at all.

Go the custom route and enjoy your well running, well made turbo.

I'd love a turbo kit, but as stated many times any kit available is shit. I'm not wasting money that I'll have to save up for 10 months to a year on a kit that's going to blow my motor. Especially when we're talking over half the money I spent paying for the car itself. If you can get a TRUE good quality (yes, Brent has one hell of an Eclipse and the company seems very good) kit I would be willing to buy one despite my bitching about the car not being able to go fast enough to justify certain mods (big brake kit & even with the turbo a grand is b.s in my opinion still) I would drop the cash for the turbo. But as stated, we're talking ten months to a year to save up for it. I still need to fix my suspension first. If you do this and prove the turbo is good, break it in properly not boosting obscene amounts right out the shop doors then I'll definately buy one. I will say I won't want a 2.5" exhaust. On any turbo car I've owned I've been much happier with a custom catless 3" exhaust. If you do make this happen, definately let me know, even if I'm not on the boards so much anymore (school, work and co-op) does not mean I changed my mind, it means I'm working my ass off to get the money.

Also meant to ask, will it come with a FMIC? Any idea on the piping size? Again, I've gone 3" on all previous turbo applications. Manifold, would we need a custom flange made to adapt the turbo or is that included as well?

The price would include an FMIC, PWR I believe for the IC, and a custom manifold with the necessary flange. I will have to ask about the size of the IC piping.

At first they wanted to do a 3" exhaust, but after considering the turbo size and level of boost that would be appropriate to keep the car reliable, they felt that going much if any larger than 2.5" would be counter productive. This was based on their knowledge of previous kits they have worked on. I am sure if you wish to have a full 3" exhaust included, they would be more than happy to accommodate.

Oh, just so you know 10 months is just fine. I am thinking about just having them make the custom kit for me and testing it out for a few months to make sure it is tip top, then having them make the kit from there. I will keep you posted as things develop.

Thanks for the interest and input!

I think one of the big issues is the ability to buy... there aren't many Corolla owners that have the money to front for a turbo kit.... same concept with having any parts made for that matter... EL Prototypes made some parts and then complained about pricing and never bought anything... ELP has no love for Corolla's anymore.. hehe..

This really makes me mad...

Just think about it.

Most other Import sedans that have a large market for the import scene
while else the corolla is picking up momentum but at a slow pace.

markets for honda,VW,nissian,ect. have much larger markets than the corolla due to reasons such as.

Is the car able to perform the way I want
are the parts there?
are they cheap?
and other things such as body kits, seats and stuff

I've been around enough to know that the reason why we have such a hard time of getting quality parts is becuase their is not a large enough amount of people willing to buy their products

SF for example.
when he did finish making his kit almost everone in the forums were say:
Well now prove to us.

when he was able to provide some support of his kit people were saying:
Well I dont have any money I'll just wait to later.

If he had seen that the demand for the kit was a lot lager than he thought he would of made better, more effienct kits.

I'm done ranting
corolla 4 life