I'm currently serving overseas and bough my new SE on my R&R leave. I knew I wanted a faster SE because I had owned and autocrossed one, one year eariler. I love the way it feels but it just doesn't have power so I decided it had to have a turbo. I thought about a TII swap however I want to do the engine build myself and I want to be able to race when i get home so I decided to let Ludwig Motor Sports take care of my build. Here is the current status of my build.

 

looks pretty good so far. Hey when you get back I am about 4 hrs from you i think. I am in Cross Lanes WV and I am planning a meet for the tri state area. Just wanted to see if you know nebody around your area that would be interested in coming.

 

Next year I'll be building a Turbo II engine and intalling a TII tranny, this N/A setup is just to hold me over for awhile.

 

I'm sure many here would attend.

www.kyrotary.com isthe local KY rotary forum. Just post a event date in the meet section.

 

What IC is that?

 

Its a IC from ebay. New and cost me about 250 bucks. My friend used one on his TII FB project and worked well so I bought the same one.

 

update...

 

What intake is that?

 

Its a S5 intake. The lower part of the intake has been modified for the turbo to fit. Ludwig Motorsports figured out a way to make it work by cutting the ACV and 6-port actuator mounting bosses off the intake he gained enough clearance. He then spent some time with a die grinder going over the intake to clean it up and make it look nice. He then took it to a welding shop to have the vacuum holes and the holes left from the 6-ports plugged up with some nice TIG work. After that he media blasted it to make it look factory new.

Before:

After:


It turned out really nice!

 

what turbo manifold it that?

 

its a S4 exhaust manifold with a custom spacer to allow room for the turbo

 

i take it there will not be an intercooler on this setup?

 

yes there is, look in the second picture. Its right in front of the radiator. The piping configuration is going to over lap, which sucks ***, but a TII intake wouldn't fit with out some crazy modification. So it has to be on the same side.

As far as everything else.

I'm using 680s for the primary injectors and 1600s for the secondaries.
Warblo 255lph fuel pump
S5 coils
Tial Blow off Valve

 

Update: Here's the way the intercooler setup will be. The charging pipes are going to be powder coated before final installation.

 

ok awesome, sorry i missed that. i'd get an air temp gauge tho because unfortunately with those pipes overlapping there is still going to be alot of heat soak but definately not as bad as without an i/c. Lookin good bro!

 

???

it has a huge FMIC, and haltech has an intake air temp gauge...

 

update...

The Haltech is done. My builder is waiting on exhaust gaskets he forgot to order. When they arrive everything will be bolted together for the final time and he'll start it up. The engine work is basically done. He is getting the gauges finished up tomorrow. He'll be ready to hit the street for a shake down Monday if the gaskets show.

Last time apart and haltech wiring finished. I really need to clean that engine bay when I get back to the states!

 

Id say so too that is one dirty engine bay. Should be fun though I cant wait till I turbo my SE.

 

are you doing a rebuilt or stock gslse rotors how much boost

 

The engine has mileage on it, about 160K. I don't know how long its going to stay in one piece. I plan on pulling the engine in the spring to do a freshen up on it. Clean, paint, new gaskets, apex seals, water pump, and a nasty street port. Its going to be low boost. I think my builder said about 7psi, whatever the wastegate will allow, not adding a boost controller to up the boost.... Yet!

 

What was your final cost?

 

ya i definetaly wouldnt have gone for a side to side flow i/c like that, that extra piping is going to kill you and cause more lag.

overall looks like it'll be damn fun tho!

 

don't know yet... still costing. The build is costing me a pretty penny, supposed to be about 40hrs of labor for installation of everything and tuning... the builder charges 30hr so about 1200 for labor. I have about 3K just in parts. I still have to get the rest of the exhaust and some new Falken Azenis RT-615's to go on my new rims I bought. Plus looking to spend about another 600 for suspension. So I'm sure by the time I'm done I more than likely could have bought a 3rd gen.

 

Tsi.. what kind of #'s are you expecting?

 

I'll be happy with 200whp, but I'd like to see 250whp. Not looking for crazy horsepower... just more than 135. Its going to be dyno'd when completed so i'll let you all know how much it ended up with. Used to have a SE about a 2 years ago that I autocrossed. I loved the car and how it handled but honestly it just wasn't enough power around the track to get where I wanted to go so I sold it and bought a SRT4. It has great power and handles great around the track, however it's FWD and I love the loose and out of control feeling the RX7 had. Plus I HAVE to be different... don't know always did so instead of buying a TII or a 3rd gen I had to have another 1st gen with a turbo. I was hooked to the first gen after owning one. Don't really car for the body on 2nd's, LOVE 3rd's but lets face it... really expensive and I'd have to mod it which would have been even more.