How do you like your turbo car?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Apr 30, 2019
Messages
673
Location
kansas
For those of you who have bought cars that have turbos from factory, how do you like them in comparison to previous generations? Do the turbos give you any troubles and how does it affect your driving experience?
 
Originally Posted by Silk
It's 24 years old and does a good job. If it breaks down I'll throw it away.


I'm curious... I assume you're talking about the Volvo in your sig? I've got to know what it is... some type of R model I assume? Running 15w60, I've got to think it's a bit left of stock...
 
I couldn't imagine buying a car that DIDN'T have a turbo.

Tons of extra power and torque, one moving part and cheap to replace in the unlikely chance it fails. What's not to love?

Last I checked a new turbo for an F-150 EcoBoost is under $400. That's nothing.
 
17 Buick Regal GS 2.0T car runs great, drive it like all my other cars, nothing special,
cheers3.gif


gm-2-0l-turbo-i4-ltg-2.jpg
 
I had a early 90s Dodge Daytona Shelby turbo. It was fun back then. It also had a stupid amount of lag. Never had a problem with it though.
Ive had 2 turbo diesel 2500 trucks, F150 3.5 ecoboost with twin turbos, and a Jeep Wrangler 2.0T since. Never had any engine issues with any, save for a water pump, and one bad injector on one of the diesels.
The 2 gassers have almost zero turbo lag. One diesel was close to stock with stock turbo and slight lag, but nothing annoying. The other diesel was pretty modified and would have a moderate amount of lag but then go like a rocket when it lit. Yeah it was one of those loud redneck smokey trucks. But that was 15-20 years ago and I was pretty young.

Anyway Im a fan of turbos.
 
Last edited:
Extended family has 3.0 Volvo T6 (84,000 miles being traded in for Volvo supercharged and turbo Volvo SUV), Ford Edge 2.0 ecoBoost, Escape 1.5 & 2.0 ecoBoost, F-150 3.5 twin turbo ecoBoost. Fiesta 1.0 ecoBoost. & MB 2.0 turbo ..Miles from 12,000 (F-150) - 109,000 (MB). All run very good. No problems but at these miles..(under 50,000 except Volvo & MB) that should be the norm. I drive them when I change the oil (I maintain all of them and more). Smooth, little if any turbo lag (except most do not like being floored from a standstill without a little torque braking). Mileage is decent for their class. I would not hesitate to buy a turbo car/SUV/truck.
 
Originally Posted by HyundaiAbuser
For those of you who have bought cars that have turbos from factory, how do you like them in comparison to previous generations? Do the turbos give you any troubles and how does it affect your driving experience?


I love mine. I have a 2019 CX5 GT-R, and have never owned a turbo vehicle before.

Previous cars:

1993 P71 crown vic with 5.4L motor swap
1995 LT1 Trans Am Auto
1988 Mustang GT with crate motor and TKO500
2001 WS.6 LS1 6-speed
2002 Infiniti G20
2011 Z06 corvette
2012 370Z
2010 Jeep GC w/HEMI/QD2
2015 CX5 Touring AWD 2.5L

The CX5 GT-R feels most like the LT1 Trans Am, mixed with the LS1 Trans Am. It doesn't really hit hard on the big end, and it's a tiny bit "soft" at under 1200rpm or so. It doesn't have that INSTANT punch of a big cube engine, and if you've driven 427's, etc. you know what I'm talking about. That INSTANT response. It's just not there "off idle" like my Z06 or LT1. It's similar to the LS1 though. It's not soft to the point that most people will care, it's just not that instant shove that allows you to spin the tires with precision at idle and get that half-turn or whatever "posturing" at a redlight. However, it also has ZERO "lag" feeling. The turbo spools near instantly once you're off idle. Full torque by 2000rpm. In this way, it feels just like my LT1, minus that 650-1000rpm "off idle punch" you have from a light. It noses over a bit after 5K, just like the LT1.

Power "under the curve" for daily driving is great. So much so that my average mpg is about 2 greater than in my 2015 CX5 with a 2.5L engine WITHOUT the turbo.

The one fly in the ointment is environmentals. Mazda has aggressively tuned for cold weather boost creep, and under 20*F, the engine takes a big hit on power. This is not new, or exclusive to Mazda, but it isn't brought up much, I guess because most people don't pay it any attention. I notice though, and dislike it. However, it's worth the price for the fuel economy and all of the other good traits vs. the current crop of 6 and 8 cylinder engines, in some applications.

Overall, very pleased. Only 30K miles on it, so no real reliability data.
 
Mini Cooper S: total POS from a reliability perspective. But very fun to drive.
Supercharged Ecotec 2.0 ( LSJ ) - super reliable, now at 141k miles. The only thing I can think of that needed repair was a $25 sensor.
Ford Escape 2017 with 2.0 Ecotec. So far, so good at about 32k miles. zero engine problems- only issue was a noisy front wheel hub replaced under warranty.
Yamaha Turbo Seca 650 - probably the reason why turbo motorcycles had such a bad reputation. Ultra bad turbo lag, but seemed to be reliable. Insurance costs forced me to sell it.
 
I love the 1.4T in my Jetta. It blows the 2.sl0w in the other Jetta. The 17 Jetta gets around 39-40MPG and the 12 Jetta gets around 32-33MPG. Plus the new Jetta is waaaay more funn than the older one.

Germans and Americans for the most part have the Turbo game down. They've been doing it successfully for a while. I'm still hesitant on Honda turbos though.
 
I wish that same CX5 2.5T engine were in my 2017 Mazda6. However, I have a manual transmission, and I do believe the 2.5 T in the CX5 would be best in an automatic transmission version of the Mazda6. I know it is available... (only with the 6AT) and it does NOT have Mazda's stupid, stupid {!!!!} 2 cylinder de-activation system that is giving all manner of grief at www.Mazda3Revolution.com . For me - I'm torn between wanting the 6 speed manual, and wanting the turbo. The 6 speed manual in a close-to full-size car is a kind of European thing. Keeps driving interesting... but is no hot-rod. Every time I start (on a down-gradient) in 2nd gear... and go to 4th, and then to 6th I remind myself that MY Transmission Logic Module (which sees the road ahead, and intimately knows my intentions) is superior to the TCM in an automatic... at least for some things!
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by 14Accent
Originally Posted by Silk
It's 24 years old and does a good job. If it breaks down I'll throw it away.


I'm curious... I assume you're talking about the Volvo in your sig? I've got to know what it is... some type of R model I assume? Running 15w60, I've got to think it's a bit left of stock...


It's the T5 - good power with a flat torque curve, put your foot down and it gets up and goes, no lag, no big power hit, just strong everywhere. It's economical for it's size, until it goes on boost and then it's not very economical at all ! Power, handling, comfort, load capacity...it's a lot of car for $500. The rear main leaks, I'm a mechanic with access to everything needed to do the job, but I'm not going to, the 15W-60 sorts the leak to my satisfaction.
 
Originally Posted by Cdn17Sport6MT
I wish that same CX5 2.5T engine were in my 2017 Mazda6. However, I have a manual transmission, and I do believe the 2.5 T in the CX5 would be best in an automatic transmission version of the Mazda6. I know it is available... (only with the 6AT) and it does NOT have Mazda's stupid, stupid {!!!!} 2 cylinder de-activation system that is giving all manner of grief at www.Mazda3Revolution.com . For me - I'm torn between wanting the 6 speed manual, and wanting the turbo. The 6 speed manual in a close-to full-size car is a kind of European thing. Keeps driving interesting... but is no hot-rod. Every time I start (on a down-gradient) in 2nd gear... and go to 4th, and then to 6th I remind myself that MY Transmission Logic Module (which sees the road ahead, and intimately knows my intentions) is superior to the TCM in an automatic... at least for some things!

I agree that I like rowing my own, but the CX5 6-speed/Turbo combo is EXTREMELY good. Extremely. Very very intuitive. Literally the only thing you have on it is the ability to see the road ahead, but it engine brakes and does all the things intuitively when you brake, etc.
 
contemporary turbo cas use small turbos and clever wastegate control to hit full boost at 1800rpm and they fall off a cliff after 5500rpm. the idea is to give a very broad plateau of torque with lots of area under curve.

some of us have grown up with high revving NA engines whose power increases with RPM, which makes the current generation of turbo cars feel very dull and very artificial to drive. If I wanted loads of boost and loads of power at 2k rpms I'd buy a diesel, I like a curve to climb with RPM for driving enjoyment, a very broad and flat curve just feels boring to drive.
 
Originally Posted by Malo83
17 Buick Regal GS 2.0T car runs great, drive it like all my other cars, nothing special,
cheers3.gif



Have the same 2.0T LTG in our 20-15 Malibu. Just over 65,000 miles. Has been rock solid.
We drive it like all the other cars. No issues. Does pretty good moving the Malibu.
 
Originally Posted by Olas
contemporary turbo cas use small turbos and clever wastegate control to hit full boost at 1800rpm and they fall off a cliff after 5500rpm. the idea is to give a very broad plateau of torque with lots of area under curve.

some of us have grown up with high revving NA engines whose power increases with RPM, which makes the current generation of turbo cars feel very dull and very artificial to drive. If I wanted loads of boost and loads of power at 2k rpms I'd buy a diesel, I like a curve to climb with RPM for driving enjoyment, a very broad and flat curve just feels boring to drive.


A friend of mine has a wrx sti. My cx5 will beat it 5-60, because it's so laggy, but it has insane pickup for only 310hp vehicle of its weight after 3500rpm or so, and driving both, it feels so much faster 5-60. 1/4mile, it's a dead ringer for his ex gfs v6 2018 mustang. I've flogged both cars. The Sti felt way faster.

Area under the curve is where it's at for actual performance. Peaky power is super fun though and preferable for feel goods.

This is why the s2k was such a fun! car. I loved those, but they were twitchy. Not bipolar like a viper or older P car without all the electronic wizardry, but still had some twitch. I personally like my cars super predictable, because I legit do not have the skill level to get all one can get out of the twitchy ones.

My .02
 
Originally Posted by ls1mike
Originally Posted by Malo83
17 Buick Regal GS 2.0T car runs great, drive it like all my other cars, nothing special,
cheers3.gif



Have the same 2.0T LTG in our 20-15 Malibu. Just over 65,000 miles. Has been rock solid.
We drive it like all the other cars. No issues. Does pretty good moving the Malibu.


2018 2.0T LTG, no issues either. Enjoy it with the 9 speed, nice all around experience.
 
Love the 2.0T in my GTI. Power comes on early and strong so there's no need to rev it high. There's no waiting for power like the Camry or Tacoma, just drop a gear or two and it's gone! Also returns really good fuel mileage.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top