Honda Car Forum

I have a 1993 Honda Prelude H22 A1 Vtec engine, it has 32,534 original miles on it, and I want to buy a turbo for it.Does anyone know how much it will cost to put it in, and if I need to change some parts (what kind) so my engine wont blow up?Thanks a lot.

Dude, seriously. Pass on this idea.Spend your money on getting a more respectable car.By the time you add up all the money that you spent on a turbo, more durable engine components, a new transmission, etc, you probably could afford a car that people won't laugh at on a daily basis.

You have to build the engine around the turbo. Not just throw one at it like they do in the movies.It's not cheap if done correctly.Then you have to upgrade the rest of the car. The clutch ,axles,injectors,etc. Like it or not in the real world you would be better of with a V8 RWD car.

obviously the other posters cant respect what you are doing. But when they see your 15 yr old prelude smoke their 2007 mustang gt, theyll learn to resepct it.I had a friend that bout a 2004 si brand new, and stuck it in his garage. For two years, he purchased peice by peice a turbo kit on close out or discontinued items, and the total cost was $300. I dont have the same patience as my friend, but, if you do, you can do it very cheaply.Now if you want the kit right away, you really dont need to do a complete rebuild of the car, but you wont get the best potential from the turbo.There are somethings that you are going to have to have. You must reprogram the ecu, you must upgrade the fuel injectors, you must upgrade the map sensor. These are a must.Now, its not necessary, but anyone who has ever dealt with forced induction will tell you that you must upgrade the clutch/flywheel, camshaft. if you dont, your going to be replacing them early and often.If it was me, i would spend the money to build a bullet proof engine/tranny before i spent money on a turbo kit.The turbo kit is going to cost 3x more then every performance peice you need for a monster. almost every company and their mother makes a specific turbo kit for an h22.If you buy a kit, your looking at at least $2500. Being such a popular engine, you might be able to find a used one, but remember, more then likely youll need to rebuild the turbo. A turbo rebuild kit depends on the maker. it can run from $40-$500.Now labor costs are going to be all over the board. its about a 15 hour job (give or take), so the labor might be the same cost as the kit. I dont know where you live, but in my area (stationed in southern cali when not in indiana), i cant drive out the front gate without seeing a mob of performance compact cars. This is where i would hit up for labor. Find a car club, start talking with people to see if they will help you put the turbo in. If you supply the beer, they will supply the labor, and more then likely, these people have done this numerous times, so there shouldnt even be an unforseen issue.You meet friends, you get free labor, you get drunk... what more could a person ask for?

What are you looking for as far as HP numbers or 1/4 times? Do you want a drag car? Road race car? I hope you're not thinking of auto-crossing a turbo prelude. Do you want the turbo for show or street? There are a lot of things to think about before you even start this project. Check out Honda Tuning magazine online and look at their projects and the direction they took the cars, it might give you some inspiration/ideas.