Turbocharged tuning
On the theme of keeping things simple we will break this down into "stages". Yes some of the internet will roast you for mentioning staged tuning but it just makes things a little easier to understand. You can't compare one tuners stage to another that is the only important thing to remember here.
All of the below packages will only be referencing the Avo turbo kits as that is what we prefer to work with and have a huge amount of experience with(hundreds of cars). All of these kits use an unequal length exhaust manifold and there is no equal length option, the strong subaru burble is only unleashed with a very open exhaust. If you are not a fan of the burble you will not get it with a quiet 2.5" exhaust, some people get worried its going to sound like a 90s WRX and it absolutely does not! Again we can work with all turbo kits on the market but the main aim of this is keeping it simple for quoting!
The beauty of the Avo turbo kit is we use the same base kit from 260bhp all the way up to 600bhp and beyond with just a few component changes so it is easily upgraded for future progression.
Stage 1 - 260bhp - £4950
As simple as it can get, the easiest and cheapest way to get forced induction on your GT86 or BRZ. Take a completely stock car and add an Avo Turbo Kit. You will have no problem with noise or MOTs as you will keep the catted front pipe and standard exhaust, the car will sound standard and fly right under the radar. The party piece of the Avo turbo kit is it looks OEM under the bonnet just like you would expect it to come out of the factory. This will net you around 260bhp with a strong mid range giving peak torque around 4000rpm which drops off towards the redline so you don't need to rev the car as hard to enjoy it, nice and safe on the standard engine, as long as you service it and keep it cool it will last forever like this. This makes a fantastic daily driver, there is no lag, the torque and power output is the same as the standard car up to 2500rpm, beyond this the turbo car takes off, you won't find any torque dips here! As this is the stage 1 kit the boost is managed mechanically purely by what the actuator gives you so there is no different modes of boost available on the cruise control stalk.
£4950 buys you the full Avo turbo kit, install labour, oil & filter change and an a custom ECU Ecutek tune. So drive in naturally aspirated and drive out with a nice increase in power and a large increase in torque.
We usually keep all the items required in stock as they are so popular. To complete the work we need the car for 1 week, so arrange either a place to stay or getting home and back to collect the car. Ideally drop off on a Monday morning and collect Friday afternoon.
Stage 2 - 280 - 300bhp - £5950
Take everything from stage 1 above but we turn the boost up! To do this reliably we add a boost control solenoid so we can control boost using the ECU which gives you up to 4 different levels of boost, adjustable on the move with the cruise control stalk. To manage this boost control we also need to add a 3 bar map sensor and now the torque is drastically increased, at 3800rpm right in the original factory torque dip, the car now gains approx 100ftlbs and what was a torque dip is now a climb to a peak at 4500rpm to 260ftlbs so the car accelerates hard from 2500rpm onwards. So many of our customers exclaim "This is how the car should have been from the factory!" it takes us to a feeling we have become much more accustomed to in modern day performance cars, you can now enjoy your car at much lower RPM and get a rush at much lower speeds without having to wring the cars neck.
Because the car now accelerates so briskly we also have to upgrade the clutch, we opt for an Xtreme stage 1 organic clutch. It feels no heavier than stock on the pedal and feels just like a standard car to drive, there is nothing worse than ruining a road car with a heavy juddering clutch!
This full package is £5950. The best bang for your buck power increase you will see whilst still keeping within sensible limits of the stock engine. Again look after the car well and it will last forever in this stage of tune, we have a handful of customers who have been using this setup for over 80,000 miles every day.
We usually keep all the items required in stock as they are so popular. To complete the work we need the car for 1 week, so arrange either a place to stay or getting home and back to collect the car. Ideally drop off on a Monday morning and collect Friday afternoon.
If you use the car on track or hard through the summer months we recommend the addition of an oil cooler, Avo make an oil cooler especially for this turbo kit which fits the GT86 or BRZ perfectly with proper ducting to the front bumper grille, it works exceptionally well.
The stage 1&2 kits use a 2.5" turbo elbow which is designed to match up to any 2.5" overpipe and exhaust system so you have free reign of pretty much any exhaust system available on the market. For over 300bhp we recommend a 3" system but volume increases dramatically with all off the shelf 3" systems. For 300bhp or less you have a huge range of 2.5" exhaust systems available for all tastes where aesthetics and sound are concerned.
Stage 3 - 300 - 450bhp - Just over £9000
With the stage 3 kit there are two ways to look at it. You have a stock engine and like to party, you are not scared if your engine fails or you have a built engine and want rapid turbo response with a maximum flow capability of 400bhp.
The stage 3 kit uses a slightly larger turbocharger to the stage 1/2 kit and a 3" elbow
The easiest exhaust option here is the catted 3" avo turbo back system, we have used this on a 450bhp car without restriction and will still pass MOTs, have a nice rumble note without being intrusive and droney in the cabin.
Add everything else from stage 2 with the oil cooler and your total drive in drive out price comes out at : £9021.25
On a stock engine this will put out low 300s(bhp) but you are pushing your luck here with a stock engine, some will last forever and some won't, at this point it is a "how long is a piece of string?" type question when it comes to "how reliable will it be?". If your main goal is reliability on a stock engine stick to stage 1 & 2. If you want to see the costs associated with a forged engine to unleash the full potential check out the below.
Note: The turbo kit replaces the standard exhaust manifold which has a catalytic converter fitted. For this reason the turbo kit is for off road use only.
A stage 3 turbo kit with a "rod only" forged engine build will be more than enough power for 99% of GT86 or BRZ owners. 400bhp in a GT86 or BRZ is a very very fast car and will show a clean pair of heels to much more powerful stuff on the road, with appropriate suspension, braking and tyre upgrades it will show a clean pair of heels to most things this side of exotics on track too!
We don't always keep the stage 3 kits in stock so we would need 6-8 weeks at least for one of these to be built and shipped from Australia. If it is on a stock engine we can complete the work in 1 week, drop off on a Monday morning collect on the Friday afternoon for the weekends driving! If it is on a built engine then time varies please email sales@fensport.co.uk to discuss
Stage 4 - 350 - 500bhp - £10,000+
At this stage you have well and truly come to the end of the limits of the standard conrods and the fuelling system. At these power levels and beyond you want a built engine with oiling modifications to withstand the extra power. Good news though you don't need to go too wild as the majority of the standard engine can take plenty of power, you just need a light engine build that won't require you to treat your car like its a fragile race car. You can still drive the car as normal in daily use if you want to without extended warm up and cool down periods! We have developed a fantastic "rod only" engine package that we have personally tested to over 500bhp with daily use but we comfortably rate it at 400bhp if you want ultra reliability. To see pricing on engine builds proceed to the engine build page below.
Fuelling upgrades
£510.00
We would really recommend an upgrade to our stage 4 avo turbo kit for up to 500bhp if you are coming from a stage 1 or 2 avo kit or building from a fresh stock car. If you have the stage 3 kit you can keep this for a maximum power potential of around 400bhp.
Stage 4 plus fuelling upgrades would be around £11,100 plus the cost of your engine build which varies depending on what setup you go for. Head over to the forged engine build page to get your cost for that.
We don't keep the stage 4 kits in stock so we would need 6-8 weeks at least for one of these to be built and shipped from Australia. Plus the time to build the engine and get everything fitted. Expect your car to be with us for 3-4 weeks and to be sensible expect 2-3 months from booking in till your appointment so if you are planning to have this done make sure you allow plenty of time to complete the project. Please email sales@fensport.co.uk to discuss
Stage 5 - 550bhp+ - £15,000+
At this point very little is off the shelf, the gearbox and drive shafts really need upgrading/changing to cope with the power. As of writing this December 2020 there are no bolt on gearbox options other than the samsonas sequential gear boxes but there are a number of options we can explore.
As everything at this stage is custom it does require a full consultation process where we would realistically invite you down to show you around our 600bhp race car, discuss options to see what you want to achieve and what suits your needs best so we can get a quote issued to you and go from there.
For booking or further discussion on any of the above please email sales@fensport.co.uk