How to Twin Turbo a V6 Camaro

by Richard Rowe
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Although the small block V8 made Camaro famous, the fact is that most lost a few cylinders between the dream and the sales floor. Although V6 models are far from the quickest out there, you don't need to swap in a fuel-hungry V8 to make Mustang owners sweat. Modern rear mounted turbo systems can produce huge power, fit in almost any chassis regardless of engine bay clearance and are a lot more linear and easier to drive than common sense might suggest. Be aware that exact installation times, procedures and mounting locations will vary greatly by kit and model-year.

Step 1

Remove your car's stock catalytic converter back (cat-back) exhaust system and install the dual exhaust system either included with your kit or recommended by the manufacturer. Install the turbo mounting up-pipes in place of the stock mufflers.

Step 2

Bolt the turbos to the up-pipes with the supplied hardware. Install the electric oil pump in the trunk. Plumb and wire the pump to your car's electrical system and plumb the oil feed line to the turbo oil inlets. You can choose to include an oil cooler inline between the pump and turbos if desired.

Step 3

Install the oil sump as low as possible, making sure that it's at least 4 to 6 inches lower than the turbos to prevent oil drain back. If you lack the space to install the sump lower than the turbos, you'll need to use a dry sump-style scavenging pump instead of a standard oil pump to drain the turbos.

Step 4

Connect the turbos to the Camaro's throttle body inlet with the supplied tubing, brackets, silicone connectors and hose clamps. If you're using a universal rear mounted turbo kit that doesn't include these items, you can have a custom system bent up for you at your local exhaust shop. Use a pair of small diameter pipes instead of a single large pipe to reduce turbo lag and increase throttle response.

Step 5

Install the fuel injectors, fuel pump or supplemental fuel system, either included with your kit or recommended by your kit's manufacturer. Most manufacturers will recommend a turbo-specific, aftermarket computer chip or reprogrammable fuel management unit for engines using more than seven to eight psi of boost. However, you may wish to keep boost levels under that. One pound of boost is worth about an 8 percent improvement in power on most engines, so seven psi of boost should be worth about 100 horsepower on a 180-horsepower engine without requiring a new computer.

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