I've acquired a Villager, very nice, but it is so *gutless* with its detuned VG30E (lower compression than the Max) Only 150HP; that's 10 less than the standard Gen3 (SOHC) Max. The lower comp would make it a good candidate for a turbo, but the alternative would be to drop a VQ30 or VQ35 into the bay. The problem with that, would be the electrical work, plus, I'm guessing I'd have to change the ECU. What to do?

 

Turbo. The Vg tranny doesn't bolt up to the vq unless you switch trannies. So in order for this to occur you may need another tranny candidate from something like a new model quest (no sure when they switched to VQ). IMO it's a waist of time as you are gonna have a fast FWD minivan. If it was AWD then I would be as harsh on the subject of it being a minivan but it's not. You have to go through a bunch of wiring and integrating the drivetrain into the minivan.

It's your van so do what you want but I suggest you go the easiest route IMO which would be a turbo.

 

Turbo. Do it. Mustang owners all across the country will see their ***** shrink as they get smoked by a Villager. It would be hilarious. Hil-ar-ious.

 

You're right. I hadn't even realised that the tranny would be different; I have a gen4 Max, and looking back at the gen3's, knowing that some had the SOHC and some the DOHC, I had somehow assumed the tranny was the same.
Thinking on it, maybe even the axles are different too... what a horrible idea. Too expensive, and the logistics of having the vehicle radically undrivable for ages while doing electrical bodges... no way. Pity; I am not a fan of rubber timing belts, but I prefer bending pipe and brazing, to reverse-engineering a foreign ECU.
I don't think I'd want to try anything too radical. No more than eight pounds, maximum. Aiming at getting at least 200 WHP, I think that should be achievable. Of course it would still be slower than my car. The Villager carries a lot of extra weight. (Which is why the first thing I am doing is removing most of the seats. "It's handier for carrying the groceries" hehe..)
I'll have to make a mockup of a turbo in paper mache or whatever, see where it might fit and what the pipe routes would be like.

 

like i said in the other thread my parents had a 95 villager, the 1st trans died at about 120k the 2nd (used WITH 88K) @ 135K i bieleve it has the same slushbox as the VE/VQ but the van wieghts about 1000lbs more than a max which puts alot more stress on it, so i wouldnt even bother unless you have it "biult" which costs about 3k or convert it to a stick which i would have done to my parents if they would have kept it

i would remove the airbox and move the battery to the back and put the turbo there that seems to be the easiest/most common place