help me turbo or s/c my zook :)

[MightyMouse]

Yep - point taken, from a different perspective they are about as usefull
as a leaf blower for any reasonably priced vehicle.

I think it would fit into the category of "slightly" overcapitalising on a upgrade........

But from a technical sense they can provide very unusual performance
curves given that manifold pressure can be controlled very finely and
in load ranges that you would have difficulty making a sensible compromise with mechanical or exhaust driven compressors.
The control system is also quite complex and would further add to the
project.

But if I can't get one at a reasonable price .......

[Gwagensteve]

this is interesting - I imagine they are very useful for cleaning up emissions under partial throttle applications too....

I guess that's part of the point that lots of people miss - improving performance for a manufacturer might not just mean peak HP.

As an example - suzuki could reach the peak power requirement for Kei cars with a 660cc atmo motor, but used the turbo version to build a nice midrange, something not possible with atmo motor of that size.

With these motors, at peak HP, boost is actually lower than at peak torque because the turbo was not intended to significantly boost HP and is very small.

Lots of the LPT "light pressure turbo" engines built by volvo, saab etc are lile this, and I imagine that they have an emissions purpose as much as a performance purpose.

Steve.