Hello. I have a 1989 Nissan Maxima. I would like to turbo charge it, but i dont want to spend a lot on it. What parts do i need? so far i have an intercooler, and the compressor, plus piping. Could i just cut a hole in my exhaust manifold and weld a pipe on it going up to the intake? would it have to be at an angle? What im looking to do is just buy the parts i have to, then make the rest my own way. Anyone do this to their maxima that could give me some tips? anything will help. thanks!

hit up a search and theres a older huge thread on it. easiest thing is to use a Z31 Turbo exhaust manifold (VG30ET)

Read, read and read some more. Understand everything possible about turbos before you go any farther or spend any more money.

Lots of people post saying how they want to turbo their maxima's but I would say less thank 25% of those people actually follow trough with it and get it working successfully.

I am not saying it is impossible, because it isn't, but you will need to know what you are doing, how much money it will approximately cost and the tuning required to make your car reliable after the turbo is installed.

yeah theres alot of tweaking and stuff you have to do, i want to do mine myself so after i gather all of my parts i'm just going to buy a cheap 240sx or a Skyline or whatever for a DD and take my time with the turbo. dont forget you will probably need bigger injectors and everything as well

really if you dont have the funds, maybe just stay NA.

Wait a minute... You are telling me you are going to buy a 240sx or a SKYLINE as a DD and turbo your FWD maxima!?!?!?!? Are you crazy?

haha. i was thinking the same things.. seems kinda backwards..

FAIL



Yes thats all you need, don't worry about those bigger injectors.

need a fuel pump (walbro) and a ecu (megasquirt, emanage,etc) as well.

ive had people follow me home making offers on my 3rd gen, i can get a R32 GTS-T for $2000. i DO want a crazy car like a R32 GTR but i would rather just make my 3rd gen crazy first, then get something else. ive got the resources, and my cousins friend has a R32 GTR + he turbo's random cars on the weekend for fun (last i heard he was turboing a rusty 3rd gen Prelude ). he could help me if i get stuck. 3rd gens here are rare and popular, when i go to West Edmonton Mall i get compliments all the time

basically i want to do what JoeBoost did, keep the 3rd gen and make it a crazy turbo car, and have a RWD car on the side (he has a Z31)

That is just so backwards in my eyes but its your money and your life, do as you please

then buy a honda or a sentra or something. the only people who care about 3rd gens are the people on this forum. and none of them make or sell turbo kits. so you're SOL if you're trying to do it on the cheap.

yeah +1 on a Honda, you can get complete Civic turbo kits for like $800 and everythings laid out for you

You guys are ********, telling him to get a civic? why not just drop a civic engine in the max? it'll be cheaper and he doesnt get the common problems civics have like broken ball joints and stuff

Civics are infinitely ghey but still if youre on a tight budget, its the easiest to turbo

all unless youre willing to just slowly get good parts for the Max and properly turbo it, if you skimp out you'll regret it in the longshot

turbo that **** man. lol
my two cents..

3rd gens have awesome styling and everything, FWD doesnt matter to me at all. only things that matter to me about FWD and daily driving is only having to second guess any U-turns because of the horrible understeer but thats it. i can just get a second car eventually for the fun you can have with RWD

i almost did buy a RHD TT Soarer and was going to sell my Max, thank god i never

the 3rd gen does have some sexy looks.. idk. before i had the car i had never even seen a maxima and payed attention to it. specially not a 3rd gen. but i think the 3rd gen has grown on me. i love it now. so i understand how u feel.

lol. i know what you mean. being the owner of a civic, i can tell you that they are SO BAD that i find myself wishing a deer would run out at me so i could just write the thing off. even if it meant a few broken bones. haven't broken balljoints, but the tranny is shot, control arm bushings are a stupid design (bolt goes up and down instead of running the length of the car) among other things.

3rd gen is alot easier to work on other than the rusted bolts. but dude if you think understeer is bad on stock power just wait till you have 300hp trying to shred the front tires while you're trying to turn... at least with RWD, said tire-shredding-during-turns actually helps you turn

My experience has always been, if it wasn't built for a turbo, don't put on in. You might as well put a 300 watt amp into your stock speakers.

but VG30ET were used in turbo Z31 the Z31 300zx turbo VG30E is almost exactly the same VG30E in 3rd gens, just we have 5hp more and theres a few different design differences. turbo Z31 were turbo from the factory.

that still makes no sense though, people with 240sx turbo their KA24 all the time. theres no harm in turboing a engine that hasnt been turbo'd before, just as long as you do it properly

turboed 60k miles and still loving it. It all comes down to how well your setup is made. If you do it right... it will serve you well. And besides the 9:1 comp VG is nearly the perfect engine for a turbo.. forged rods, fairly low compression, bulletproof block, 13 head studs per head... and so on.

LOL!!
that's all there is to it.

Why is it that there are so many people out here that are broke but want to do mods to their cars that are just completely unnecessary??? I mean, I have dreams and all and someday, Ill have some sweet cars to tool with and show off and what not but for now my priorities are....getting married (paying for the wedding), purchasing my first home, and starting my family. Prior to this, it was work and save some cash...go to college and get an education...and then start my career. (All done because I left the mod bug alone for a while)

I just dont get these guys with no budget wanting 1K dollar rims...(or cheapo steelies from a 4x4 for that matter), turbo kits, lowered suspension, etc.

Here's my advice to you guys (Hatmanafro take notes) you can listen to it or dont, no worries, its your call:

Maintain your car and keep it running/looking good. WAIT until you truely have the budget (not just money saved up but an actual expendable budget) and then do things correctly/tastefully.

aside from pistons (8.5(?) vs. 9.0(?) cr difference), vg30e and vg30et long blocks are the same.

robertzilla: at the top of the screen, there is a search button; installing a turbo has been discussed 100000000000000000000x times. lotta good info.

and you **** saying "buy a honda" or some other ****, I promise any of you NA guys something:
my brother's prelude will smoke your car, straightline, twisties, whatever. you would have a hard time with his accord,too. they may be ricer, and they may be cheap to mod (220+hp for under $300) or whatever, but they deserve some respect. y'all are just jealous because nobody CARES about the Maxima, aside from us.
you turbo guys, idk about you. y'all are insane.

qft.

haha. no need to hate on me on another thread.
im 16 i dont have any priorities besides my car. lol
its the reason i have a job. the steelies to me were a tasteful addition. and it just happened to be cheap.
this guy wants to turbo... then lets support him in his efforts. thats all i gotta say.

we have forged rods?

Ha wow. long thread over a turbo. Ive decided to ditch the maxima. im sellin it for 2500, puttin a down payment with that on a 65 chevelle and puttin money into something worth it. thanks everyone tho

:matt93se:

i have the budget though i was going to school in the morning and working 2 jobs for the last year, i had like one day off every 2 weeks i have saved cash+a expendable budget, ive got a fair bit of money leftover after bills and everything. i quit one job now because i was working one to save a couple grand so when i get turbo parts, i have spare cash just incase something comes up which actually worked because a few weeks ago i had to get my crankshaft pulley replaced.

i was so dam happy when i got that money, ive NEVER been able to save money, and i just threw a few hundred cash in a Ziploc bag from every paycheck, and now i have a popcan sized wad of 20's in the safe

and OP how the hell did we get from going all the way on a 3rd gen to selling it now

Good choice

oh can it. V8>VG and you know it...

An example of how to do it correctly...as long as you saved enough to buy the right parts and not just enough to get the cheapest stuff, youre golden. Congrats.

OP, so whats the deal? Are you broke or just wanted a budget turbo build? Cuz if youre broke, keep looking for money pits like a car to mod up and youll continue to be broke for a long time...I know its not my business but Im just curious.

Oh i know. it was just a side project and a better deal came along, and it would be way more worth my money then a **** maxima lol i wanted something fast, a turbo would make it fast, but wayyy to $$$$$$$ for me

and you think a muscle car (which you will wreck with that thick skulled, pea brain) will be cheaper?


I hate trying to help fools. the worst part is you actually are trying to believe what you are saying.

depends on the condition of the Chevelle... but honestly, for a late 60's american muscle car, good luck finding something in good shape for less than the cost of turbocharging a maxima. and even if you could find one in good shape for that price, you'd still have to spend more $$$ modifying it to make it fast. if he'd said 3rd generation camaro i might understand where he was coming from since they are so common and so well-supported in the aftermarket, and not all that pricey.

when it comes to cars i never take the quick way, going into the forced induction section and seeing all of the trouble you can get shortcutting made me want to do it right

i know NOTHING about muscle cars and dont want to, but i think youre in a worse boat getting one unless its a project car if you want something turbo and with good power and want to sell the Max, maybe get a SR20DET swapped 240sx

Some food for thought:

I had a 1977 chevelle when I was 17. Bought it on ebay for 850.00 and had it shipped to me for 850.00 for a total purchase price of 1700.00. I drove it for a while and liked it but the 305 was WAAAAAAY underpowered. So, I took my time and accumuulated parts. Built a 355 4 bolt main which was estimated 400HP slowly but surely. Speant 3500.00 on the motor. I did it the right way. Along with that, I did some cosmetic upgrades, new wheels and tires, and started accumulating interior parts. 1500.00 in interior parts later and I had almost everything. 700.00 in wheels and tires. And about 500.00 in a fiberglass hood and some other molding replacements. Guess what, that cheap muscle car (yeah I know it was a 77, not a 66 but a 66 will cost you many many more $$) turned into a total build of $8900.00. Not to mention that I spent how much more in gas to have this fun.

It was fun but I did this while ending high school and starting college. I was trying to work and go to school and start my life. Looking back now, I really could have used that 8900 to alleviate some stresses financially now. I could have paid for most of my school, I could have paid for a newer, more reliable, less maintenance car. I was so strapped for cash back then and didnt care because I was young and wanted my toy. And all this expense was mainly on the mechanical upgrade side. I never even had it painted or body work done because it would have been another 6K to do that right as well.

So, like I said, food for thought.

While I believe it is important to have fun and enjoy life, I think 16 is about the age when you should start maturing. Your priorities SHOULD be to do good in school to get into a good college, choose some field you would like to work in and work towards getting your foot in the door. When I was 16, I was working 40-48 hours a week to pay for my DD and my hobbies and help out my parents. Had I been smarter, I would have banked all that money and been far better off in the long run. Once I got to college, I had no real money saved up and my parents had none so I paid out of pocket and student loans in my name only. To do this, I worked that same 40-48hour a week job, went to school 26 hours a week, and had a 24 hour a week internship. You add that up, that will kill you if you do it long enough. Had I just manned up at your age and planned for all of this, I wouldnt have had to stretch myself so thin.

Its easy for me to look back now and say what I should have done but you are in a position to actually do it. But instead, you want those wheels and tires and dont care about the details or ramifications. You need to get it together man. Youre only 16 but think about it, only a couple more years til you start your own life. Are you ready for it?