Turbo Charging the Aussie Kizashi

The Kizashi should soon show up in Australia. We look forward to seeing members from your region.
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maso-kiz
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2012 11:15 pm
Location: Sydney

Hey All,

Has anybody successfully installed a Turbo kit or had a custom turbo built into the Kizashi? I have a Kizashi XLS CVT and was thinking about getting a custom turbo setup.

Any thoughts?
murcod
Posts: 2279
Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2012 12:03 pm
Location: Australia

Have you Googled the one done in the USA? There was one in Australia in a review I found online a while back too. I think the CVT might be a problem with turbo charging, but I've read the manual trans can apparently handle the extra torque.
David
BM-Power
Posts: 90
Joined: Tue May 29, 2012 3:34 am

I wouldn't be turbo charging a CVT if I were you, they wouldn't be able to handle the extra power and torque. Even the "Turbo Kizashi Concept" shown in 2010 was a FWD manual version.

On the side note...has anyone successfully converted AWD CVT Kizashi to proper manual transmission?
BMW E46 330i SMG
Suzuki Kizashi 6MT
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maso-kiz
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2012 11:15 pm
Location: Sydney

Just found out from one of the service guys @ Suzuki that the CVT model won't be able to handle the extra torque without changing over more transmission components....

Is there a thread here with some good aftermarket suppliers?
I haven't even been able to find a Cold-Air kit for the Kizashi in AUS.
~tc~
Posts: 999
Joined: Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:33 am
Location: Houston, TX USA

You ARE aware there is a search function here, right?

RoadRace Motorsport has had a turbo kit available for over a year now.
2011 Sport SLS with nav Black Pearl Metallic
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KuroNekko
Posts: 5219
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

Turbos and CVTs (of the current technology) just don't mix. CVTs have that "rubber band feel" which is further exasperated by a turbo's boost. I have no personal experience, but I have read a number of reviews by auto journalists where they note this phenomenon. I am not aware of many CVT turbos, but one is the Nissan Juke. I have read that the CVT turbo combo makes for a rather bizarre driving experience in the Juke when it's pushed.

An ideal set up would be a manual turbo with AWD. This would avoid the CVT's rubber band feel issue. The Kizashi's manual transmission and chassis are said to mate with a turbo well. I would like to see AWD added for better control and to prevent torque steer. Torque steer is common on turbo FWD cars when they break the 250hp threshold. The Mazdaspeed3 is a notorious example of a torquesteery car. The VW GTI doesn't have the same issues, but then it's also not near 250hp.

A turbo manual AWD Kizashi would go head to head with the Legacy GT (also only available as a manual turbo with AWD) and the late Mazdaspeed6 (same: turbo, manual, AWD)

It would be great to see Suzuki rebuild themselves as an affordable performance-oriented brand like Mazda. The small budget-minded Japanese brand approach isn't working anymore. Suzuki is pretty much ignored by most consumers.
As Mazda remains as the only sporty affordable brand, I think Suzuki could give them some competition in this niche. Suzuki's dominance in street bikes could be used as literal street cred.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
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