# 1.4L Turbo and Horsepower



## H3LLON3ARTH (Dec 16, 2011)

Trifecta performance 

h3llion


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## Swampassjr (Mar 25, 2012)

H3LLON3ARTH said:


> Trifecta performance
> 
> h3llion


i see they make a tune for this car, but that didn't answer my question.


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## H3LLON3ARTH (Dec 16, 2011)

Oh sirry bout the hp I never understood that either

h3llion


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Swampassjr said:


> I JUST got this 2012 Chevy Cruze LTZ RS as a graduation present and i am beyond stoked for it!! I went from a 2007 G6 GTP modded out to 270hp and a 140hp turbo engine is taking a hit on me (power wise). Dont get me wrong, i LOVE the gas mileage that this car gets compared to my G6, but when i was looking up HP numbers for the turbo vs non-turbo, i was seeing both were rated at 138hp, with the turbo torque only rated at 20lbs more than the regular 1.4L engine.
> 
> Why isn't the HP rating more for the turbo? are there mods (such as a tune ect...) that unlock this engine for it's full potential? I read a post about a sport/economic mode for these cars, where do i find this? Thanks for the responses!


There's more to power than a very simple HP and torque ratings. A LOT more. 

You'd be inclined to believe that since the Civic and Cruze are both rated for 138hp, that they'd feel the same. You'd be dead wrong. In fact, the Civic is laughably slow compared to the Cruze with the 1.4L Turbo. Why?

The Cruze makes 100% of it's 148lb-ft of torque at 1850rpm. The Civic makes 100% of its 124lb-ft of torque at 4400RPM. Its not just about power, but about the power curve; where you make the power. The Civic Si can make 200hp, but it needs to rev up to 7000rpm to make it. That's probably why my 95 "land yacht" Regal with 170hp pulled the same 1/4 mile times as the earlier gen Civic Si before I started modding it.


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## Swampassjr (Mar 25, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> There's more to power than a very simple HP and torque ratings. A LOT more.
> 
> You'd be inclined to believe that since the Civic and Cruze are both rated for 138hp, that they'd feel the same. You'd be dead wrong. In fact, the Civic is laughably slow compared to the Cruze with the 1.4L Turbo. Why?
> 
> The Cruze makes 100% of it's 148lb-ft of torque at 1850rpm. The Civic makes 100% of its 124lb-ft of torque at 4400RPM. Its not just about power, but about the power curve; where you make the power. The Civic Si can make 200hp, but it needs to rev up to 7000rpm to make it. That's probably why my 95 "land yacht" Regal with 170hp pulled the same 1/4 mile times as the earlier gen Civic Si before I started modding it.


I understand that this turbo makes a huge difference in low-end power, but does the tune by this company actually unleash its full potential? I just dont understand why a turbo added onto the same engine should produce the same amount of horsepower than the normal engine. The first thing i want to do is an intake, what is the best way to approach this?? Like i said, i'm not trying to make this car fast, i just want to open it up a little bit!


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Swampassjr said:


> I understand that this turbo makes a huge difference in low-end power, but does the tune by this company actually unleash its full potential? I just dont understand why a turbo added onto the same engine should produce the same amount of horsepower than the normal engine. The first thing i want to do is an intake, what is the best way to approach this?? Like i said, i'm not trying to make this car fast, i just want to open it up a little bit!


Its not the same engine. The N/A is a 1.8L, and the Turbo is a 1.4L. 

The Trifecta performance tune is the absolute best way to get power. I think its somewhere around 44hp and 66lb-ft of torque added *to the wheels*. It makes it a whole different car from what I've heard. 

As for intakes, go with the K&N intake if you want the turbo sound. If you don't care much for the turbo sound and just want a to free up some airflow, see my the link in my signature titled "how to bypass the intake resonator."


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## Swampassjr (Mar 25, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Its not the same engine. The N/A is a 1.8L, and the Turbo is a 1.4L.
> 
> The Trifecta performance tune is the absolute best way to get power. I think its somewhere around 44hp and 66lb-ft of torque added *to the wheels*. It makes it a whole different car from what I've heard.
> 
> As for intakes, go with the K&N intake if you want the turbo sound. If you don't care much for the turbo sound and just want a to free up some airflow, see my the link in my signature titled "how to bypass the intake resonator."


44hp to the wheels?! Can you give me the link to this company's site?? Thanks for helping me out!


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Swampassjr said:


> 44hp to the wheels?! Can you give me the link to this company's site?? Thanks for helping me out!


Trifecta Performance Custom Tuning :: Home Page and News


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## Swampassjr (Mar 25, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Trifecta Performance Custom Tuning :: Home Page and News


how much should this tune cost me then? I dont see a set price for a 1.4L T tune. It looks as if these tunes are custom made, at about a starting price of $450.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Swampassjr said:


> how much should this tune cost me then? I dont see a set price for a 1.4L T tune. It looks as if these tunes are custom made, at about a starting price of $450.


Trifecta Performance Custom Tuning :: Order Custom Programming

Its further down the list. $350 for the tune, and $200 for the cable that allows you to flash the tune. You can return the cable to get a refund on it if you don't plan on keeping it to flash any tune updates they come out with or to flash your car back to stock should you want to take it in for service and not want your dealer to know you've tuned it.


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## boats4life (May 28, 2011)

Depending on where you live there may be a trifecta dealer nearby. My suggestion would be to do any engine mods first, THEN go over to Vince (owner of Trifecta Performance) and let him know whats on the car so he can tailor the tune to you specifically. K&N intake and either a custom or magnaflow/borla catback, then the ZZP O2 housing and mid pipe will open the car up as much as you want right now.


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## Swampassjr (Mar 25, 2012)

boats4life said:


> Depending on where you live there may be a trifecta dealer nearby. My suggestion would be to do any engine mods first, THEN go over to Vince (owner of Trifecta Performance) and let him know whats on the car so he can tailor the tune to you specifically. K&N intake and either a custom or magnaflow/borla catback, then the ZZP O2 housing and mid pipe will open the car up as much as you want right now.


I really like the headlights that you have in your sig, where did you get those? haha


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## boats4life (May 28, 2011)

Haha, another user from here didn't like them on his red LTZ, so I bought em for 300 from him. Not sure where he got them, but they're all over the internet:

11 12 CHEVY CRUZE LED STRIPE HALO ANGEL EYES PROJECTOR HEADLIGHTS 1 PAIR BLACK | eBay

6000K HID 11-12 Chevy Cruze Dual Halo Angel Eye Projector LED Black Headlights | eBay

6000K HID 11-12 Chevy Cruze Twin Halo Ring Projector LED Black Headlights Lamps | eBay


The last ones are cheapest and come with an HID kit.


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## Skilz10179 (Mar 22, 2011)

Swamppassjr, take a few days and search/read the posts on this forum before you start any new threads. Every bit of info covered in there thread plus so much more is already posted here.


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## Higgs Boson (Mar 7, 2012)

Do a little research if you want to understand why some engines make power and why they make power the way they do. I'll get you started:

As XR stated, it's not about one number (140hp @ 5000RPM), that is like a business' balance sheet, a snapshot in time. What you want is the financial statement, the story told over time; the area under the curve. A car with 100 HP can be faster (all else equal like weight, gearing, etc) than a car with 150 HP if the car with 100 makes 100 HP from 3K to 6K and the 150HP car ramps up to 150 just to peak there for a moment. Peak HP numbers don't mean a whole lot in the real world.

Next, engines don't even make horsepower. They DONT! They make torque, which is a measurable rotational force (engines rotate internally - crankshaft - measured over time by RPMs). So the WORK the engine is actually doing is making torque. Horsepower is only a mathematical calculation based on torque over time. The more torque your engine makes over a longer period of time (RPM range or power curve) the more HP it will make as a result or byproduct.

Use a bit of the info I have shared with you and Google the rest, I have work to do, lol!


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## rngrmyk (Sep 5, 2017)

Thank you for the info


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