Project Acura RSX Type S

The GReddy turbo kit doesn't include a blow-off valve. We know what compressor surge does to all conventional turbo bearings sooner or later, even big strong ones like on this GReddy turbo, and we couldn't stand driving around listening to the shooshing oscillations any longer. We installed a GReddy BOV on the inlet elbow just ahead of the throttle body (the ideal location and the only place it would fit on this system).

Key points visible here: at lower left, six-ribbed accessory belt and stock power steering pulley. Above that, an Ingalls Engineering Stiffy, which would be much easier to install if you happened to have the accessory belt and power steering pump removed. We didn't and ended up using lots of swearing instead. The Stiffy works together with the filled engine mounts to limit engine movement, hopefully enhancing reliability as well as performance.

AEM's high-flow fuel rail and three-bar MAP sensor will prove more important down the road as we turn the boost up.

We aren't sure how the failure rate on this part is less than 100 percent, as there is no brace included in the GReddy turbo kit for the end of the downpipe. Noticing the RSX sounded a lot more pissed-off than it should the first time we drove the car hard, we popped the hood and discovered that the plain steel downpipe had separated from the cast-iron turbine discharge elbow to which it was welded. We ground off all the old weldment, cleaned all the surfaces, and welded it again with nickel rod.

To keep the downpipe in one piece, we built this brace from 3/16-inch plate steel. It's similar to a brace the factory provides between the stock manifold and engine block but much beefier. It transfers loads to the block rather than the fragile weld joint above.

The BOV fits perfectly in the space available, just missing other parts on nearly every side. The upper radiator hose is in position to contact the BOV mounting flange, so we protected it with nylon harness loom.

This is the stock rear engine mount, which controls torque reaction in the direction of greatest compliance. To reduce the stresses on the downpipe caused by the engine rocking on its mounts, as well as attempt to keep the turbo farther away from wiring and plumbing on the firewall, we filled the front and rear mounts with 3M #8609 urethane window adhesive. This trick comes from Road Race Engineering, and was rally-tested before being passed on by Geek-at-Large Dave Coleman.

Thoroughly clean the engine mounts to be filled, then build a masking tape dam on one side. Fill with urethane from the bottom up and leave sitting out in the sun for a few days to fully cure.

When the tape is removed from the mounts, they are now solid. This controls engine motion very effectively, and, with the inherent smoothness of the K20A engine, the noise transmitted into the cabin isn't objectionable.