Has anybody heard of the turbonator thing? The whole supercharge your car for $69.95? If so, does it actually improve horsepower and gas mileage, or is it just a waste of money?

 

waste of money

 

From their site:

"It is made entirely from stainless steel. It requires no maintenance, and, it only takes 5 minutes and a screwdriver to install. If you don't feel comfortable installing it, have your mechanic do it for you. If he doesn't install it for free, find a new mechanic."

It should say:

"It is made entirely from stainless steel. It requires no maintenance, and, it only takes 5 minutes and a screwdriver to install. If you don't feel comfortable installing it, have your mechanic do it for you. If he doesn't LAUGH AT YOU, find a new mechanic."

This is one of those things that has a VERY convincing infomercial with dyno tests and everything, but it's nothing more than an obstruction in your intake. A turbonator alone is not going to give you a 20-35hp increase, and it certainly isn't going to result in a 24-31% increase in fuel economy. It's just NON-MOVING metal fins that sit in your car's restrictive stock intake. The air must change directions several times until it is finally allowed into the cylinders through the intake valves. By the time the air reaches the rapidly opening and closing intake valves, it doesn't matter if it was swirling way back at the beginning of the intake. The turbonator site claims that having swirling air should help atomize the air/fuel mix. Well... in a common multipoint injection system, the injectors are set up to spray fuel directly into the cylinders, and they're usually aimed at the intake valves. It's the injectors' job to spray the fuel in a fine mist. If your air/fuel mix isn't atomized enough, then you need to clean the injectors or get new ones.

 

That is what i was told when i asked about HID Simulation Kit. But gues what, now my headlights look exactly like those of Acura TL, CL for a fraction of what other paid for their HIDs. I say buy it, install it, drive it, make a write up and most importantly enjoy it while you are at it.

 

FriscoMax, your mod actually made your car look better. Cosmetic mods are always a matter of taste.

The "Turbonator" is supposed to make a car perform better, and while nobody here on the Org has tried it, I know of more than one noob over at b15sentra.net who got suckered into buying Turbonators or the identical Tornado intakes. No gains. One guy with a DSM claimed that his car stopped "bucking" off the line when he installed the Turbonator, but he got no increase in power.

 

yeah...get the "Tornado" and some blinker fluid while you're at it

 

Irish doesn't know what he's talking about. Synthetic blinker fluid is ok for maybe 4 or 5 horsepower. If you want hardcore performance, you need to get ported and polished oil lines and a braided steel MAF kit.

 

touche' sprio.

 

I got some high performance blinker bulbs that blink fast. Now i can turn faster. bbouuu-yahhh

 

Hind, how did you wire yours? I have mine hooked up through the VTEC circuit so they'll change blinking speed when VTEC kicks in.

 

i have a 5 speed so they already blink fast, i just wired it to my type R S GTR performance alternator. i also ran a hose to get my ATF fluid to them for cooling because the performance makes heat. My turbo kit and a cattman headers will be in next week for an install. i need forged pistons for my new rx8 too.

 

If you run a hose filled with caffiene-loaded Mountain Dew Code Red into your headers, you will get at least an extra 10hp.

 

man, you should've wired it to the "intelligent" i-VTEC, you can now have smarter blinkers like the people who zoom by you after you beat them!

 

If you run the Mountain Dew Code Red (MDCR) header mod, you need stainless steel muffler bearings. MDCR will increase your exhaust gas output, and the stock bearings will sieze under the increased pressure.

 

...and make sure to take the maxima to the dentist frequently. That stuff causes cavities!!!!

 

My Maxima doesn't have iVTEC. It's not available on the VQ35 yet. If we want iVTEC, we use the Spoon built SR20VE (not the DE or DET).

 

ROFL...funny how stupidity took over this thread and the initial idea is lost without a trace...

 

Frisco, the original question has been answered in great detail.

 

back to the turbonator thing, I already bought the stupid thing and it was a pain in the *** to install, I haven't noticed much difference in power, so I was wondering if it really did what it said it did.

Does a K&N air filter make any difference in power? Fuel Mileage?

 

and the high flux capacitor for the tire fuses.

 

If you already have the turbonator, you've already discovered that it adds no power. You may want to take it out in case it steals power by adding an obstruction to your intake. A K&N drop-in filter might help free up a little bit of power simply because it allows more air flow than the stock filter, but it won't help as much as replacing your intake with a less restrictive pipe.

 

i'm getting my Vtec conversion soon on my VQ30 and i can't wait to hear the Vtec ROAR. oh and by the way, i've got the FERRARI ENZO lip kit and my exhaust goes through the center console and up the sunroof, 35WHP!!! my friend with his honda showed me how!!!

 

I love it when it becomes this funny... buy it, test it and when you are done with it take it out and will feel the same thing..NOTHING.. it is your money man... use it wisely..... too much crap out there that is not even funny.....

 

What about the 20whp Nismo sticker?

 

hahahaha, lmao

 

who ever is selling that sticker, i got dibs pm me

 

but, if you are looking for a real bang for the buck... ...go to a grocery store and buy a 4" can of Folgers. Once you are done with it, just weld it in place of your stock muffler and you will add lots of power and primarily, NOISE!!!

 

grocery stores also have vtec controllers at their electronics section

 

What is this whole "V-TEC" thing. How is it possible, adn where can I get it?

 

You can't. It's a Honda thing. In the original VTEC, there were different cam lobes on the shaft for high and low rpms. By switching to different cam lobes at different RPMs, Honda could optimize a car's performance at different rpms. It's a very old system with many versions. On DOHC cars, VTEC changes the profile for both the exhaust and intake. On SOHC cars, VTEC only changes the intake. For SOHC cars with VTEC-E, one intake valve closes at low rpm. Some cars even had 3-stage VTEC, which is a sort of combination between regular SOHC VTEC and VTEC-E. The only Honda engine I know of that has 3-stage VTEC is the D15B, which is used in Euro and Japanese Civics. The engine is capable of very good fuel economy (54mpg) and good power for its size (128hp).

Anyway, you don't need VTEC. Most other car makers have their own systems for optimizing performance at different RPMs. Even Honda doesn't use traditional VTEC for most of their cars anymore. They've moved on to a more variable system called iVTEC. Nissan's CVTC and Toyota's VVTi both alter valve timing, but they don't change duration or lift (as far as I know) the way VTEC does. Our cars have CVTC. Nissan's VVL system does change lift, but our engines don't have it. Frankly all of these systems are genuinely useful, but most of them are hyped up to be worth more than they actually are. Almost every car on the road today has some sort of system to vary valve behavior at different RPMs, and many cars also have variable intake and exhaust systems. It just looks great on a brochure to say that your car has NeoVVL, VVTi, iVTEC, CVTC, MIVEC, VTEC, or whatever.

 

but it is even cooler to write on car domain under mods: Weapon R intake, Dragon Z kit, Evotution X spoiler, V-TEC cams with type Z bearings, and of course our favourite 5" in diameter Dragon S dual tip muffler with Tiger LED tip.

 

turbowhat?

no, can't say i have. but it's probably what nascar uses.

 

Not even the NASCAR crews are stupid enough for the Turbonator. NASCAR fans on the other hand... I bet they all have Turbonators.

 

I saw a 5th gen maxima with a VTEC badge on the trunk. It must be a new special honda edition we're all been waiting for and somehow missed

 

I saw a Ford Escape with vTec badges on it. True story!!!