I was thinking about putting a turbo on my 1997 integra Ls. but my friend told me that its too much of a hassle to put a turbo on it. and that if I just put a Vtec head on it I would gain almost the same amount of horsepower with out the hassle of the turbo. deos any one have any suggestions on what is better, and how much horsepower each one would gain?

 

all i know is that you would NOT have the same amount of horsepower if you went LS/VTEC. The turbo may be more of a hassle b/c you have to take better care of it, but will give you a lot more in the end

 

Here we go again...

I'll bet anything this turns into another feud that long on opinion and short on objectivity. That being said, here are my two cents.

Comparing a properly built bolt-on turbo kit like the Greddy of Drag kits to a largely DIY Frankenstein LS/VTEC isn't really a fair comparison. The vehicle will drive differently depending on which route you take in tuning, how each motor is built and tuned. There are too many variables to be an objective comparison IMO.

So my best advice is to pick up Mike Kojima's book, Honda / Acura Engine Performance The ISBN is 1-557-883-84-X. It discusses both Frankensteins and Turbo motors in detail and will help you choose what's best for your long term goals. For 18 bucks, it's a damn good read & resource.

Good Luck.
Dave

 

if you leave the engine internals stock on both setups. IMHO the turbo would be much easier to install and would make alot more hp(~230 compared to 170-180).