Lil more 5SFE oomph?

[CTG]

I'm not trying to beat on a rotten horse on this- I couldn't find an answer to this question.

I am not wanting a super-powered monster, but a bit more grunt would be fun.
I was thinking of a goal in the 165hp range. Maybe 4-6PSI boost? From what I've read you're looking at major money to get that NA.

Is this something that can be done on the cheap? I've read the CT26 might be an option?

Any guru's able to shed some light on this?

I don't have the money for a monster at this point, I'm thinking I'll have this car as a family car/DD and am aiming to keep economy fairly up.

[LynchburgCSI]

Do a 5-speed swap first. THEN looking into a CT26. There's a lot of info on the build in the sticky and if you search around. 165 shouldn't be hard to reach.

[Mister_Perkins]

*cough* i have a 5-speed for sale *cough*

[lemegacool]

did anyone noticed in his sig that he was already 5 speed

it can be done relatively cheap but you still have to buy expensive parts like a wideband o2 gauge and a piggyback...

dont forget that you will need to go spend some time on a dyno to tune your piggyback

[bigbird]

with that 5 speed (with a couple upgrades), a full exhaust, tuner, and some engine work (P&P, deep cleaning). you could get pretty close to thoes numbers. i wouldnt go boost, thats alot of time and money for what your goals are.

of course, you could try the 2az-fe (gen5 camry/tC) swap and get cake and eat it. youd be a first though.

[RichieRichJP]

If you want only 165hp or so, then what's the point for the performance upgrade?
You might as well sell your car and get a V6 Camry instead. If you incur any loss from trading up to a V6, I'm sure that any loss would be made up from the money you set aside for you performance upgrade.
No point spending money modding your car with 185K miles for only 30hp more. Save your money.

[CTG]

I work for one of the premier tuning shops in the area, so for a few beers and donuts I should be golden on the tuning. We have a pretty nice dyno as well. Can't say for sure what it is.
I dunno, the car is in pretty nice shape and I feel a bit like messing with it, just not making a monster. And I like boost lol.
Oh, I should have mentioned I'm at 6000 feet. So the factory 135 is more like 111HP.

[mrturrari]

The cheapest route like others have said is probably to buy a V6 Camry.

However since all Camry's have rev2 5sfe's with the knock sensor you can build a low boost turbo setup for pretty cheap too. Use the CT-26 turbo from an MR2 or Alltrack, 315cc injectors from a MkIII Supra, gen2 3sgte map sensor, boost controller, and all the piping, hoses and things needed to hook it up like a 3sgte. Upgrade your fuel pump and clutch too. As long as you stay below 10psi it will work and is pretty safe and it gives you 170-180whp. Go above 10psi though and you break ring lands so don't. Also if you use any other components you need bigger injectors and at least a piggyback if not full blown EMS. One last caution boosting a stock 5sfe is that you can't take it up past 17-18psi because of the ring end gap even if you have the fuel and tuning to do it.

I ran this simple setup on my stock 5sfe for 6 months before my oil pan split and leaked all the oil out. No signs of detonation when I pulled the motor apart. The biggest problem I had (other then a broken oil pan) was finding a reliable used CT-26 because most of them are just beat to death. Because of that and the fact that these setups are put together by their owners I would also not trust it as a daily driver until it had been running a while. It's always a good idea to have a second car if you mod the first one anyway. Many people have done this setup on MR2s and Celicas and the main things that killed them were over boosting and oil leaks. If you want more info I can show you where to look or answer any specific questions you may have.

You could also build an NA 5sfe with 150-160whp but that will run you $3000+. V6 or turbo fits the Camry platform better anyway because there is more car to get moving.