hey guys as some of u know im in the middle of my turbo converision for my 2.4L Te.
i have pretty much everything i need but still a few other items i need to accquire!!

now my question is regarding cai's, i have priced them through RPW and a few other places and seems a bit expensive for something that can be done by yourself, so im wondering if i should fork out the money which is $675 for a CAI from RPW, or a DIY CAI. is it possible to DIY with a 2.4 and if so would it do the same job as the professionally built RPW one??

any feedback would be great cheers boyz :thumbsup:

$600?
Lol!
Mate do it yourself, it'll cost you maybe $50 at the most. It will work/look good as much as the amount of effort you wanna put into it.

Do it yourself mate. Read through the million CAI threads to get some good ideas on what materials to use and how you want it to look etc. Good luck.

An "off the shelf" style CAI kit for a 2.4L 3rd gen magna isn't going to help you anyway if you're going turbo - because you aren't plumbing the intake air directly into the throttlebody.

And the concept of CAI doesn't really apply to a turbo application. It doesn't really matter how cold the air is when you first suck it in, because it's going to get super heated when it goes through the turbo, and then cooled by an intercooler.

All you need to get yourself is a pod filter and an adaptor to join the pod to the mitsubishi MAF sensor (which is an oval shape), then you're going to need custom piping from that into the compressor inlet, then from the compressor outlet through the intercooler core, past the BOV and then into the throttle body.

I'm actually very surprised that you claim to be "in the middle of a turbo conversion" and you haven't realised that everything on the intake side of things is going to have to be custom fabricated :nuts: .

G/luck!!

BLACKBEARD, so the CAI wont make a difference??? mate im no mechanic and dont really understand the concept of how it all works, i just want it to work to the best of its ability!!

thats y im asking u guys if its worth it and if it is whats the best way!!
but if your saying that it will make no difference then thats what i was after, i just thought of the CAI cooling the air flow then pumping that cold air into the turbs would give a bigger bang, so thats incorrect??

The colder the air is going in will always be beneficial, the intercooler can only cool so much, the less it has to cool, the better. You are running an intercooler though aren't you?

Yes, Incorrect.. Like he said, it doesn't really matter how cold the air is because your turbo runs off the exhaust gasses which can make manifolds turn red-white with heat, so there really isn't any point, your better off saving your cash and buying a great intercooler. In a turbo application what you'd want to do is have your filter in an easily accessable location, you'd need custom plumbing and if you want to keep your MAF (if you're going to keep your magna ECU) you'll need the oval pod etc, otherwise you can run your car on a full aftermarket ECU like a WOLF or HALTECH and then you can say 'latah' to a ****ty and restrictive airflow meter like the magna/mistu MAF. Then you can plumb a pod anywhere, with the piping going back into your compressor (turbo) getting super hot, then going into your intercooler to cool it, get it, inter-cooler and then into your throttlebody - plenum - cylender where its expelled through the exhaust valve into pushing your turbo to spin and suck air in... go to www.howstuffworks.com and look up turbo, you might save yourself some money if you research and learn what your doing before you hand over hard earned cash and then learn you've paid for trash!

The colder the air is going in will always be beneficial, the intercooler can only cool so much, the less it has to cool, the better. You are running an intercooler though aren't you?

yeh got pretty much everything i need!! all is at my mates garage wainting to be fitted.
still sourcing a manifold for the evo7 turbo, but yeh other than that its all ready to go, so the DIY CAI will be beneficial??

i just thought of the CAI cooling the air flow then pumping that cold air into the turbs would give a bigger bang, so thats incorrect??

It's not the temperature of the air entering the turbo that makes the difference, it's the temperature of the air entering the engine.

Air gets compressed and heated by the turbo (majority of this heat comes from 'heat soak' from the turbine housing - which is what converts exhaust gas energy to spin the compressor wheel). This heated, compressed air is then cooled by passing it thru an intercooler (of some description) before it eventually ends up in the engine.

In competitive motorsport, where hundreths of a second count - sucking cool air into the turbo compressor itself might be worthwhile, but I can't see it making a difference to you or me. The real point I was trying to make is that an "off the shelf" CAI kit is designed to draw cool air directly into the throttle body - which is going to be completely useless to you because your intake air needs to be plumbed thru a turbo first then into the engine.

To give you an indication - I've been given a rough estimate of $1200 for all the custom intake pipe work involved in my conversion.

Yes, Incorrect.. Like he said, it doesn't really matter how cold the air is because your turbo runs off the exhaust gasses which can make manifolds turn red-white with heat, so there really isn't any point, your better off saving your cash and buying a great intercooler. In a turbo application what you'd want to do is have your filter in an easily accessable location, you'd need custom plumbing and if you want to keep your MAF (if you're going to keep your magna ECU) you'll need the oval pod etc, otherwise you can run your car on a full aftermarket ECU like a WOLF or HALTECH and then you can say 'latah' to a ****ty and restrictive airflow meter like the magna/mistu MAF. Then you can plumb a pod anywhere, with the piping going back into your compressor (turbo) getting super hot, then going into your intercooler to cool it, get it, inter-cooler and then into your throttlebody - plenum - cylender where its expelled through the exhaust valve into pushing your turbo to spin and suck air in... go to www.howstuffworks.com and look up turbo, you might save yourself some money if you research and learn what your doing before you hand over hard earned cash and then learn you've paid for trash!

yeh i had a read but i have my mechanic who has been a good mate for years fitting it for me, im only asking these questions cause i wanna make sure im not missing anything that will make the turbo run to the best of its ability's, i was also told not to install my extractors if im fitting a turbo in?? can someone explain why that is if possible,
thanks for the info


Thanks blackbeard that last post got through to my un mechanically minded brain!!! cheers :thumbsup:

yeh i had a read but i have my mechanic who has been a good mate for years fitting it for me, im only asking these questions cause i wanna make sure im not missing anything that will make the turbo run to the best of its ability's, i was also told not to install my extractors if im fitting a turbo in?? can someone explain why that is if possible,
thanks for the info

The role of extractors is obsolete in a turbo application (hence why you'll see mine for sale in a week or so) - they are replaced with the turbo manifold/s, turbo/s and dump pipe. This really is pretty basic stuff we are dealing with here.

ok cool cheers, as i said my mechanic does all this for me mate, once i can find a manifold ill be dropping my car off and getting it all done. so is there anything else ill need for a factory evo turbo, im pretty sure ive covered everything but would there be anything that may shatter in the engine bay due to the boost, should i replace anything before getting it installed, my mate will most likely make me aware of such things im just trying to save him time by getting everything myself?

Extractors = headers = exhaust manifold, whatever you wanna call it. The turbo sits on the exhaust manifold (which is why oyu need an evo one, it has the turbo spot on it).
If you have "Extractors" as most people call them, it doesn't facilitate the turbo and like BB said, is completely useless (unless you mount the turbo further down, but you'll get more turbo lag that way).
Yeh BB you're right, the turbo is gonna heat the air up something shocking, but i figured it would only benefit (Even if its slightly) with a new CAI setup. I wouldn't spend over $50 doing it though, couldn't hurt to get it done. Then again yeh it all depends on how you're going to setup your air intake, because CAI or not, it will have to be custom. Might be possible to use the stock snorkle? Depends on your intake design and how much air you need (whether the stock snorkle will restrict too much or not).

ok cool cheers, as i said my mechanic does all this for me mate, once i can find a manifold ill be dropping my car off and getting it all done. so is there anything else ill need for a factory evo turbo, im pretty sure ive covered everything but would there be anything that may shatter in the engine bay due to the boost, should i replace anything before getting it installed, my mate will most likely make me aware of such things im just trying to save him time by getting everything myself?
I'm not sure if you need to, but have you looked at getting bigger fuel injectors? Bigger fuel pump, even a fuel regulator?
i'd have a good look at what setup the evo has and trying your best to mimic that.

Yeh i got the fuel regualtor, havnt really looked into bigger fuel injectors or pumps, but as its just a factory made turbo i doubt ill need them, but will still look into it, so other than that you dont think the turbo will cause stress on the heads or anything like that??

Yeh i got the fuel regualtor, havnt really looked into bigger fuel injectors or pumps, but as its just a factory made turbo i doubt ill need them, but will still look into it, so other than that you dont think the turbo will cause stress on the heads or anything like that??
Well according to that site you posted awhile ago (the forum dedicated to your engine in other models i think it was?) the engine can handle up to around 10-12psi. I think if you ran at 7psi you should be pretty safe, but if your engine does cark it, you may need to think about rebuilding it with turbo parts and then you can run higher boost. It all depends on the amount of boost you are planning to run through it i guess. What way are you going in terms of aftermarket ecus? Your stock ecu prob wont be able to handle any more than a couple of psi.

Well according to that site you posted awhile ago (the forum dedicated to your engine in other models i think it was?) the engine can handle up to around 10-12psi. I think if you ran at 7psi you should be pretty safe, but if your engine does cark it, you may need to think about rebuilding it with turbo parts and then you can run higher boost. It all depends on the amount of boost you are planning to run through it i guess. What way are you going in terms of aftermarket ecus? Your stock ecu prob wont be able to handle any more than a couple of psi.
Yeah I wouldn't recommend going over 7 psi, you will need a piggyback as the fuel maps will need re-mapping.

In regards to a cold air intake, it's not gonna make a huge difference unless you were thinking of having the pod exposed in the engine bay. An exposed pod in the bay will be sucking in air that's a fair bit hotter than ambiant air so it would be a good idea to have a cai to an exposed pod. Although it would be pointless making one up until the turbo is in 'cos the location is gonna change.

What form of intercooling are you gonna use? Air to air (front mount) or water to air? I personally would recomend a water to air as water will absorb around 4 times as much heat as air. You also get better throttle responce due to less piping.

It sounds like you are just leaving all of this to someone else without doing much research mate:doubt:. I'd recommend just learning about how do do an install, it seems strange to me that you've gotten the turbo etc. but you don't have much of an idea on how the stuff all works.

All you need to get yourself is a pod filter and an adaptor to join the pod to the mitsubishi MAF sensor (which is an oval shape), then you're going to need custom piping from that into the compressor inlet, then from the compressor outlet through the intercooler core, past the BOV and then into the throttle body.

Would it be possible to have the MAF sensor after the BOV and before throttle body? If that was possible you could run an atmospheric BOV or at least hybrid :D

I know MAF sensors are ultrasonic, this means they probably can't handle the turbelent air under pressure.. hence why its probably not possible?

I know MAF sensors are ultrasonic, this means they probably can't handle the turbelent air under pressure.. hence why its probably not possible?

Yep - that's pretty much my understanding of it.

Well according to that site you posted awhile ago (the forum dedicated to your engine in other models i think it was?) the engine can handle up to around 10-12psi. I think if you ran at 7psi you should be pretty safe, but if your engine does cark it, you may need to think about rebuilding it with turbo parts and then you can run higher boost. It all depends on the amount of boost you are planning to run through it i guess. What way are you going in terms of aftermarket ecus? Your stock ecu prob wont be able to handle any more than a couple of psi.


ECU's ive got the greddy emange unit, im planning on running at least 7-8 psi with the aftermarket ecu, fuel pressure reg, intercooler, you think up to 12psi should be fine??

ECU's ive got the greddy emange unit, im planning on running at least 7-8 psi with the aftermarket ecu, fuel pressure reg, intercooler, you think up to 12psi should be fine??
yeh except for the engine, i dont know enough about your engine to know how much boost it can take. Though i wouldn't go over 7psi on stock internals.

yeh except for the engine, i dont know enough about your engine to know how much boost it can take. Though i wouldn't go over 7psi on stock internals.


Yeh i dont think i will!! i think the highest i will go will be 8psi, but if i feel its running smooth then i might push it to 10psi, and then if its still running smooth which i doubt ill push it to 12psi, but yeh just hoping i dont blow the engine, cause if i do ill be spending the extra dollars and throwing a 6 into it!!

The role of extractors is obsolete in a turbo application (hence why you'll see mine for sale in a week or so) - they are replaced with the turbo manifold/s, turbo/s and dump pipe. This really is pretty basic stuff we are dealing with here.

agreed, compared with the actual installing and fabricating of a set up such as the one mentioned; the idea of running or not running extractors shouldnt even be a concern.
that said, in a single turbo upgrade as compared to yours, you could still run one set of extractors, as your only running one turbo/manifold.

that said, in a single turbo upgrade as compared to yours, you could still run one set of extractors, as your only running one turbo/manifold.

Not so. For starters, the OP of this thread is talking about a single turbo on a 4cyl - so there is only 1 bank of cylinders, therefore only one exhaust manifold.

A single turbo on a V6 application requires both exhaust manifolds need to be plumbed together then into the turbine. In the example of a 3.5L V6 - 3 cylinders with a combined displacement of ~1.75L will not produce enough exhaust gasses to spin a big single turbo.

Not so. For starters, the OP of this thread is talking about a single turbo on a 4cyl - so there is only 1 bank of cylinders, therefore only one exhaust manifold.

A single turbo on a V6 application requires both exhaust manifolds need to be plumbed together then into the turbine. In the example of a 3.5L V6 - 3 cylinders with a combined displacement of ~1.75L will not produce enough exhaust gasses to spin a big single turbo.

yeah sorry, i was thinking in terms of v6 not straight 4.

and there you go, shows how much i know about the old turbo mathematics.... :D

Not so. For starters, the OP of this thread is talking about a single turbo on a 4cyl - so there is only 1 bank of cylinders, therefore only one exhaust manifold.

A single turbo on a V6 application requires both exhaust manifolds need to be plumbed together then into the turbine. In the example of a 3.5L V6 - 3 cylinders with a combined displacement of ~1.75L will not produce enough exhaust gasses to spin a big single turbo.

But it would be enough to spin up a GT25-28RS and provide some useful torque.

Yeh i dont think i will!! i think the highest i will go will be 8psi, but if i feel its running smooth then i might push it to 10psi, and then if its still running smooth which i doubt ill push it to 12psi, but yeh just hoping i dont blow the engine, cause if i do ill be spending the extra dollars and throwing a 6 into it!!

so youd spend all this money on a turbo set up that could produce decent power? and when it goes bang your going to rip out the engine? that youve spent all this money on... and put a 6, which wont havea turbo or any of this work in? :nuts:

so youd spend all this money on a turbo set up that could produce decent power? and when it goes bang your going to rip out the engine? that youve spent all this money on... and put a 6, which wont havea turbo or any of this work in? :nuts:

my exact thought as well

so youd spend all this money on a turbo set up that could produce decent power? and when it goes bang your going to rip out the engine? that youve spent all this money on... and put a 6, which wont havea turbo or any of this work in? :nuts:


Nah dude im saying if it does the blow my engine i will be replacing it with a 6!! no point in spending the same dollars on another 4cyl engine, this is all just a thought if it does blow my engine, which is highley unlikely as its a factory made turbo!!!

dont forget either this aint no 6k turbo conversion, more like 2,500 if that!!

Yeh i dont think i will!! i think the highest i will go will be 8psi, but if i feel its running smooth then i might push it to 10psi, and then if its still running smooth which i doubt ill push it to 12psi, but yeh just hoping i dont blow the engine, cause if i do ill be spending the extra dollars and throwing a 6 into it!!
Look mate, I suggest you do some reading up on the subject before you do anything else. The general consensus is that you don't want to go avove 7 or 8 psi on stock internals. Going to 10 or 12 would be pretty stupid without fitting a decompression gasket, especially since the 3rd gens don't have a knock sensor.

The knock sensor detects detonation(google/wikipedia it, you need to know about it if you plan to raise boost) and adds extra fuel and retards the timing.

if you blow your engine why not just rebuild it with turbo internals? its the smarter thing to do after you've poured all this money into it.

you really need to do lots and LOTS of research before you go any further, because you really have no idea whats happening with this at the moment, do so reasearch, sit down and plan it all out, otherwise your cars never going to be finsihed or funciton as it should.

yeh i have done all the research i possibly can that i actually understand!! The rest i leave to my mate when he installs it!! he will then tell me if it needs bigger injectors or fuel pumps or upgraded brakes or whatever the case, the only reason i asked here is because i know a few guys on here that have a lot of knowledge with turbo cars, my mechanic has said everything i have will do but he wont know untill he installs it all and takes it for a test drive, untill then he cant really say if it will need any other extra upgrades!!

Find out what the turbo setups are running on another car that has your same engine and mimic it.
Also i'm in agreeance with the rest, if you blow your motor, just rebuild with turbo parts (will be heaps cheaper than trying to fit a v6) and you wouldn't have wasted your money on all this turbo stuff AND you'll have a car that would probably be quicker than a v6 anyway.

^^ hahahah lol a few ppl have told me that even if i install the turbo, they will still thrash me with there stock v6. i laughed :badgrin:

but yeh i am hoping it doesnt cause stress to engine so i dont have to replace it at all!

^^ hahahah lol a few ppl have told me that even if i install the turbo, they will still thrash me with there stock v6. i laughed :badgrin:

but yeh i am hoping it doesnt cause stress to engine so i dont have to replace it at all!
Keep in mind running a 7psi setup would probably be about in line with a stock v6 3.5L. To get quicker would be your 10-12psi, but you would definitely need to upgrade engine internals at that point i would think.

^^ hahahah lol a few ppl have told me that even if i install the turbo, they will still thrash me with there stock v6. i laughed :badgrin:

but yeh i am hoping it doesnt cause stress to engine so i dont have to replace it at all!


its funny, cause its probably tru :bowrofl:

its funny, cause its probably tru :bowrofl:


Yeh it would be inline with a 3.5 v6 if i was running around 7psi, but it would still beat a 3.0L v6!! if a turbo 2.4L Te can keep up with a 3.5 v6 ill be happy, i think a 3.5 manual would still beat me in the long run though!!