98 Cobra Hellion/On3/? options and opinions

98 svt

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
23,964
Location
Massachoooosetts
Looking to go turbo on my 98 4v. I have an Aluminator 10.1:1 short block and rebuild heads from MHS. I'm looking to make 500rwhp and keep it around 10# of boost.
I've been looking at the Hellion single turbo kit, with the 67mm Precision turbo upgrade. Comes out to over $7000 with the tuner kit plus all the extras I checked off. Obviously Hellion is a good quality kit.

Lately I've been hearing that On3 has stepped up their game in quality and fitment. Their entire kit, with a bunch of goodies (67mm and all the goodies, plus me buying an MM K kit etc) comes in around $5500. Has anyone any insight as to whether anything has improved over there at On3? I'm very intrigued by the new forward facing kit. Does the MM K fit with this kit?

What others options do I have. I don't see much for the 96-98 4v
 

98cobra#1222

that's just my game
Established Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2011
Messages
613
Location
Greensburg, Indiana, United States
MM K won't fit with the on3 gen II kits. Their kit is designed around the UPR drag race k member, which leaves a lot to be desired if you have any intentions other than drag racing. I have an on3 kit and if I were doing it again I would go CG Fab and never look back. Will be slightly more expensive than the on3 but should come in under the hellion.
 

98 svt

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
23,964
Location
Massachoooosetts
MM K won't fit with the on3 gen II kits. Their kit is designed around the UPR drag race k member, which leaves a lot to be desired if you have any intentions other than drag racing. I have an on3 kit and if I were doing it again I would go CG Fab and never look back. Will be slightly more expensive than the on3 but should come in under the hellion.


I don't see a full kit for my 4v.
Also, what other K will fit with the gen 2 kit? I see they also offer the Team Z option.
What about Steedas K, etc?

Did you have to lose your foglights with the On3 kit?

Who else makes a full turbo kit for the 96-98 4v?
 

98cobra#1222

that's just my game
Established Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2011
Messages
613
Location
Greensburg, Indiana, United States
Not sure on what other k's work, I'm sure any drag race k will come close. I still have my fogs but it took some cutting and bending to get them to fit. Even with On3performance being a complete kit you'll still be buying additional stuff. I really don't think there is a such thing as a complete turbo kit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

98 svt

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
23,964
Location
Massachoooosetts
Not sure on what other k's work, I'm sure any drag race k will come close. I still have my fogs but it took some cutting and bending to get them to fit. Even with On3performance being a complete kit you'll still be buying additional stuff. I really don't think there is a such thing as a complete turbo kit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


The CG fab only seems to sell the hot side.
That's a lot more piecing together than a Hellion kit for example. Or am I missing stuff on the CG site?
What other options are out there?
 

jaxbusa

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2015
Messages
688
Location
Northeast Florida
The CG fab only seems to sell the hot side.
That's a lot more piecing together than a Hellion kit for example. Or am I missing stuff on the CG site?
What other options are out there?

That's all he offers. I faced the same issue. I wanted a Hellion, but I wanted a great handling car. I started looking at the upgraded parts on the Hellion site with the better K-member and other items. I just couldn't see spending that much on a 5 or 6 thousand dollar car. For what I wanted, I ended up getting a Vortech and a Maximum Motorsports Road and Track kit (it keeps your stock K-member).

I've read so many different opinions on the On 3 that I really didn't even consider it.




Sent from my iPhone using the svtperformance.com mobile app
 
Last edited:

98 svt

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
23,964
Location
Massachoooosetts
I'm really pulling for a turbo setup.
Not sure I want to spring the money for the Hellion kit though.
 

98 svt

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
23,964
Location
Massachoooosetts
I definitely don't have my mind made up. I have lots of research ahead of me before I make any final decision.
I was hoping to hear from some members that may have some of the available "kits".
 

98cobra#1222

that's just my game
Established Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2011
Messages
613
Location
Greensburg, Indiana, United States
I definitely don't have my mind made up. I have lots of research ahead of me before I make any final decision.
I was hoping to hear from some members that may have some of the available "kits".

I have an on3 kit which is suppose to be about as close to a complete kit as it gets but it's not. The hellion is probably about your only option for ready to bolt in "complete" kit. With the amount of upgrades and fixes I went through with my on3 kit I wish I would have just done a cj fab hot side and have a custom cold side made. Honestly would have probably been close in cost. In my honest opinion as far as turbos go there are 3 routes to take. 1) hellion 2) CG fab and custom cold side 3) full custom kit. The sn chassis's differ so much that it's tough for any out of the box to fit correctly. But that's where you pay extra for the cg fab or hellion stuff, it's quality is just superior.

With that said though if you really want to keep price as low as possible and don't want to go around to shops to see what a cold side would cost to have made up go for the on3. I'm not terribly disappointed in mine and it performs just fine. Just be sure to look into upgrading the turbo, wastegates, oil relocation kit, v band clamps, and count on having to have some pipes fixed. My downpipe and y pipe would not come remotely close to fitting so both had to be cut and welded to get them in the car. I'm not saying this to change your mind on the on3 just a heads up and to add the estimated cost for fixes into your budget. That's where I say a cg fab and custom cold side wouldn't be that much more expensive if you take the on3 and add in upgrades and fixes.
 

98 svt

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
23,964
Location
Massachoooosetts
Wow, thanks for all the insight.
What kind of #s do you see with the on3 kit?
How much boost? Which turbo. Did you use the UPR or Team Z K member? Any complaints about your K setup. Does it feel as strong as stock? Is it noisy?
I'll have to inquire about a custom cold side at a shop or 2.
 

98cobra#1222

that's just my game
Established Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2011
Messages
613
Location
Greensburg, Indiana, United States
Wow, thanks for all the insight.
What kind of #s do you see with the on3 kit?
How much boost? Which turbo. Did you use the UPR or Team Z K member? Any complaints about your K setup. Does it feel as strong as stock? Is it noisy?
I'll have to inquire about a custom cold side at a shop or 2.

My car made 700whp/680wtrq on 18-19 lbs of boost. We upped to 22lbs but ran into spark blowout. I'm running a turbonetics 7868 turbo with precision wastegates. UPR k member is decent quality and fit just fine, it is noisy though and no way it's as strong as stock. It's a drag race k through and through. Pops every once and awhile in tight corners and is just a tad louder than stock at transmitting road noise. Overall not terrible but something I had to get use to. I think this winter I am pulling my k member and turbo kit and going with a cg fab AC delete kit and a MM road race k member. My car's not a drag car at all so I'd like to get mine closer to a road race/ autocross capable car. It may be work calling CG fab and seeing if he would make a cold side, I thought I read a build thread where he did the entire turbo kit.

Honestly though for the on3 price I am happy with how it fit on my car, it makes good power and is completely streetable. Just after the amount I have spent on the entire car there's some thing's I would like to redo. One of those hindsights 20:20 kinda things. Where are you from? If it's close to southern Indiana you're more than welcome to come check my car out and take a ride in it and you can judge for yourself the suspension noise and comfort as well as the turbo kit quality.
 

98 svt

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
23,964
Location
Massachoooosetts
Thanks for the offer. I'm in MA. I'd love to go for a ride in someone's turbo SN.
Those are some impressive #s
I notice Lethal offers the Team Z K member as an option, but everyone seems to use the UPR.
I just wish there was a turbo system available that fit with the stock K (obviously not an option).
Did you replace all the clamps as well? Does that big turbo take a bit to spool? I'd love to see a dyno graph. Thanks again for all the help.
 

98cobra#1222

that's just my game
Established Member
Joined
Jul 12, 2011
Messages
613
Location
Greensburg, Indiana, United States
Thanks for the offer. I'm in MA. I'd love to go for a ride in someone's turbo SN.
Those are some impressive #s
I notice Lethal offers the Team Z K member as an option, but everyone seems to use the UPR.
I just wish there was a turbo system available that fit with the stock K (obviously not an option).
Did you replace all the clamps as well? Does that big turbo take a bit to spool? I'd love to see a dyno graph. Thanks again for all the help.

Not exactly, Caleb at CG makes an AC delete hotside that he says fits with the stock k. I haven't seen anyone run it but I spoke with him on the phone a while back and he said that was one of the options he offers. If you want to go that route maybe it's worth giving him a call to chat about it.

I replaced all the clamps as well as the downpipe flange and clamp. I start to spool around 3k and will be near full boost by 4,800rpm so it take a while but hits pretty hard.

Dyno by Kevin Lanter, on Flickr
 

98 svt

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
23,964
Location
Massachoooosetts
Awesome. Thanks again for the dyno sheet. I'll be sending CG an email in just a few minutes...
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top