2ZR Turbo

[macbf]

Just received the turbo kits for a 2ZR Corolla from turbokits.com. This thread will cover my experiences in installing a turbo kit designed for USDM Corollas in my AUDM Corolla. The turbo kit I’ve purchased is designed for 2009+ Toyota Corollas with the 2ZR engine. Hopefully the information here can give you some insight into the US designed turbo kits for us Aussies. Primary focus for the installation will be for reliability as the car is my daily. Probably won’t be starting the installation for another month or two.

 

The link for the turbo kit: https://www.turbokits.com/tk-corolla-2zr-turbo-kit.html

 

The details for my car are as follows: 2010 Toyota Corolla Ascent Hatchback Facelift Manual (ZRE152R) with the 2ZR-FE engine. In Australia, they are branded as Corollas however, in most countries they are branded as an Auris.

 

The base turbo kit will come with:

-          TKC designed T28 designed turbo

-          Turbo manifold

-          3” stainless downpipe

-          2”-2.5” aluminum charge piping

-          Front mount intercooler

-          Forge BOV

-          Stainless braided oil feed and return lines

-          Stainless braided water feed and return lines

-          Mounting brackets

-          Hardware

I have also decided to option the following:

-          AEM FIC with base map and PnP harness

-          Thermal coating for the manifold, turbo and down pipe

-          550cc injectors

-          3” cold air intake

-          APR head stud kit

The cost of the turbo kit, the listed options and shipping comes to 8556.20aud.
The cost of importation (duty, gst, fees) comes to 1146.79aud.
In total to have it at my front door, it cost me 9702.99aud.

 

For intercooler and intercooler piping clearance, trimming around rad support is required. I have also decided to go with the AEM ECU as Grant from TKC confirmed that the PnP harness and base map will work with my car.

 

 

Engine: Through the research I’ve conducted, I am aiming to run close to 8psi. The supercharged 2ZR Lotus Elise produces 162kw. Mighty Car Mods were able to produce 138kw atw with their turbo 2ZR Toyota Yaris. TKC recommend running between 6-8psi. I have decided to go with the latter. I did ask if they made metal head gaskets for the 2ZR however they don’t. TKC recommended the OEM head gasket which is multilayered steel suited for all power levels. I will also be installing an ARP head stud kit for extra security. I am fairly confident the engine will be capable of handling 8psi. Car will be driven abusively from time to time so hopefully everything holds up. Will also be running a boost tee.

The manifold, turbo and down pipe have been thermal coated

Transmission: My car is manual. Gearbox code is EC60. I will also be upgrading my clutch to something that is more than capable of withstanding the increased torque. Undecided on which clutch I want to run specifically but I will be ordering my clutch from Clutch Industries.

Fuel Management: Will be running 550cc injectors that I have optioned from TKC. I also asked TKC if an upgraded fuel pump is needed however, they said the stock fuel pump will be sufficient. Will also be running the factory fuel rail.

ECU/Tune: Will be running an AEM FIC (piggyback ECU) with base map and PnP harness. TKC said the PnP harness will be a direct fit onto my stock ECU and the supplied base map will get me very close to the final tune and will allow me to drive to my tuner. This will be confirmed upon installation. After calling several tuners, I finally managed to find someone willing to tune my car. Will be doing a dyno run prior to installation and post installation to gauge power increase.

Exhaust: Currently running a 2.5” X-Force stainless cat back exhaust system. I am going to continue using this exhaust system post installation of the turbo kit with a high flow cat (most likely 200cell), therefore I am going to need an exhaust shop to weld some flanges and do some trimming (if required) to be able continue running my X-Force exhaust system with the new high flow cat and down pipe.

Gauges: I decided to go with the Just Racing Parts multi gauge. This will need to be paired with the JRP control unit. Will also be buying their OBD2 installation cable which allows me to plug the unit directly to the OBD2 port.

Other Mods: Will also be installing a catch can and pcv breather filter. I may also buy a turbo blanket and exhaust heat wrap.

 

 

 

 

[Squalled]

Car looks very tidy bud. Looking forward to your progress and findings.

[Hiro]

Will be interesting to see if there are fitment issues around the firewall like some of the 2ZZ turbo kits from the US (due to LHD vs RHD)

[macbf]

Update: New Clutch Installed

The installation of my clutch was completed yesterday. I was fortunate enough to be sponsored by UniClutch (who are owned by Clutch Industries). The UniClutch Sport has not yet been released to the general public so I am one of the first ones to trial it, however, they are in the later stages of their development. The UniClutch is designed to be a universal clutch kit. It is also designed so that the clutch pedal will feel factory once installed as opposed to having a heavy pedal which you would generally get from a heavy duty clutch (which is a great benefit for me as the car is my daily). It is a twin disc, dual core clutch system with forged and billet internals and its own integrated flywheel. The UniClutch Sport is also capable of withstanding up to 1100Nm of torque.

The boys from UniClutch came out to drop off the UniClutch Sport, do some filming and interviewing. After the completion of the turbo conversion in my car, they will be coming back around to touch base and do some more filming and interviewing. Within the box was an adapter plate (which I will discuss its use further below), the clutch kit and a centrifugal slave cylinder as that's what my gearbox utilises. 

The factory flywheel is left in but is not used alongside the uniclutch so there was no need for machining or replacement. The factory flywheel is used only to mount the adapter plate. The adapter plate allows the UniClutch Sport to be fitted. The adapter plate and UniClutch Sport come separated in the box. You are required to put the two together in the correct orientation in correspondence with your flywheel. Attaching the UniClutch Sport and adapter plate is fairly straight forward with hardware and instructions included. Once the adapter plate and UniClutch are together, it can then be fitted into the car.

After the car was put back together and the clutch was bled, I took it for a test drive. The clutch pedal felt exactly the same and the engagement of gears was a lot more responsive. The clutch does have a little more bite to it but it is definitely manageable. I am going to break it in for about 500km then give it a bit more abuse. Really keen to see how this will hold up against the turbo conversion but so far, I am very happy with it. I'll attach the link for their website below just in case you boys wanna have a suss. I am also on instagram so chuck us a follow! ig: macbfkdCBF00232.tifCBF00232.tifCBF00232.tifCBF00232.tifCBF00232.tifCBF00232.tifCBF00232.tif

https://www.uniclutch.com/

 

[macbf]

Turbo Conversion Commenced

Started my turbo conversion this week. Replaced my factory head bolts with ARP head studs. Timing looks good but car has yet to be started. At the same time, I've also replaced the timing chain, thermostat, water pump, timing chain tensioner and various gaskets and o-rings. Will also be installing a catch can as my inlet manifold had a decent amount of oil in there. 

For the turbo kit specifically, I'd say tapping the oil fitting into the block would probably be the hardest thing. I am yet to install the rest of the turbo kit (manifold, turbo, oil/water feed/return lines, downpipe, intercooler and pipes, injectors and the ECU) but it should not take more than half a day. Still waiting for a few o-rings and gaskets from Toyota. Turbo kit should be installed by early next week. Hoping to upgrade my stock fuel pump to a Bosch Motorsport 540LPH but will need to modify my fuel pump housing to fit, as the Bosch is significantly larger. 

So far everything has gone quite smoothly and am keen to see it running. At the completion of the turbo conversion, I will make a post further discussing the turbo kit, pricing, etc so you boys have a bit more information. 🙂

 

[Squalled]

Nice progress mate. I know there's still a long way ahead for you but you've made some great progress in a short amount of time. Your engine interals look great as well, doesn't have too much discolouration or build up.

[macbf]

Update: Car is Running

Continuing from my last post, engine is now back together. Car was started and is running fine. I continued working on the turbo conversion. ECU, gauge and wideband control unit were all fitted. Vacuum lines have all been fitted. Car underwent a heat cycle and everything was retightened. Intercooler and piping has also been fitted. The intercooler which was sent by turbokits.com is a better intercooler than what comes in the kit however is not 'specific' to this car. I did have to make brackets to be able to mount the intercooler. Luckily, I did not have to cut into my rad support for clearance. There are some areas in which the piping and rad support were touching but was just remedied by placing rubber in between them. I also did have to shave the tabs off my radiator grill as the tabs were very close to intercooler fins. 

My ECU, gauge control unit and wideband control unit will be mounted into my upper glove box. Currently, my glovebox is apart. Will need to mount the three control units and tuck the wires in behind the glovebox. I am currently running a wideband o2 sensor, water temp sensor, oil pressure sensor and boost sensor. Will be looking to fit a fuel pressure sensor as well but the 'hose' I was originally going to tee off was plastic covered in rubber so I will need to find a different hose. Wideband sensor was fitted into the downpipe. Water temp sensor was fitted into the top rad hose. Boost sensor was tee'd off from a line between my throttle body and blow off valve. Oil pressure sensor is tee'd off from my oil pressure switch. However, I suspect that it is leaking so it will need to be remedied. Fuses for the ECU and wideband control unit were also tapped into my fuse box. I also don't have any engine lights which is a good sign. 

I took my car for a test drive after I put it back together. Boost comes in at about 3000-3500revs. I unfortunately did not take note of how much boost was being created when I went for a test drive. Car is definitely a lot quicker and was only using about 1/2 to 2/3 of the throttle. Will still need to get the car tuned to properly gauge the power increase. I do have someone who is able to tune my car but is about an hours drive away. I am trying to find someone who is more local to me who is able to tune my car. Engine is essentially stock apart from ARP head studs. Looking to run anywhere from 6-12psi only if it is reliable. I estimate the car will produce between 130-150kw atw. This car is still my daily so reliability and drivability comes before power. 

Car still needs to be taken to an exhaust shop to have a flange welded onto the down pipe, that way I can continue to run my previous cat back exhaust system. I reckon the car is at about 90% completion. There are still a few things that I need to button up which I will do when I next find time to work on my car. I'd also like to give the car a wash as I've left hand prints everywhere :P. All in all, the car is coming together and am very keen to start driving it again once the tune has been dialled in and everything is completed, rectified and finalised. 

 

[GIR]

How did this project finish up mate , any issues creep up?

Im thinking of the same upgrades, but, I have a question around the registration. Here in NSW you cant turbo without it being offered as an original option. Did ypu get an engineer sigh off?

[macbf]

hey mate, car is back on the road. been daily driving it since may. issues that i currently have are fuel leak, afr gauge not working and no boost in first. fuel leak was a result of me removing the fuel pump to see if i upgrade the stock one. still need to diagnose afr gauge as the rest of the sensors from the multi gauge work. worst comes to worst, i will just run a separate afr gauge. no boost in first should be fixed by tune. car still is currently untuned but hoping to get that done before the end of the year. havent had any issues with police so far. driven past a few highway patrol cars and normal police cars. my car isnt really red hot however intercooler is quite visible. just dont hoon and my guess is you should be fine. i will eventually get an engineering certificate for the build just to save me the headache in the future when dealing with police