The Turbo K-car: a wolf in sheep's clothing
UPDATE: This car has been sold. The new owner has informed me he plans to compete with it in the Grassroots Motorsports $2009 Challenge
This is my 1988 Dodge Aries. It served me well as a first car, and provided reliable transportation through high school and into my first year of college. At the end of my first year of college it spun a rod bearing due to excessive oil leakage. Being the dummy that I was I didn't check the engine oil frequent enough and it slowly leaked. By the time the oil pressure light came on it was too late. The situation required a full engine rebuild. A stock rebuild would have been fine, but given the opportunity I could not leave "good enough" alone.
The car originally came with a Chrysler 2.5L naturally aspirated four cylinder. The NA 2.5L has great torque and low rpm response for a NA four cylinder motor but still leaves a lot to be desired in the performance department. For this reason, Chrysler produced a turbocharged variant of the 2.2/2.5L motors. The picture to the left shows the new 2.2L Turbo II which will be replacing the stock 2.5L in my Aries. This engine has slightly less displacement than the stock engine but makes 74 more hp and about 64 ft-lbs more torque than the NA 2.5L. Mechanically, this engine is a bolt in modification, with wiring being the only remotely tricky part as the turbo engines benefit from Multi Point Fuel Injection and better electronic controls than the NA engines.
To the left is a Photoshop rendering of what I plan to make the car look like when it is done. Most changes will be fairly subtle and many of the parts will come from other Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouths. This car should make a great sleeper when it is done.
THE UPDATE EVERYONE DEMANDED!!!
Video taken right before its maiden voyage with the new transmission.
