New to turbo engine's is this normal?

Welcome, sorry but I can't help you. Someone here I'm sure can!

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tgarison said:

Hey everybody,

This is my first post in the forum. I am coming from a 99 Pontiac Grand Prix with a 3.8L N/A engine which has plenty of torque and power, anyway when I'm driving my 13 cruze 1.4L turbo, it feels like it has no power below 3000 RPM after that I get all the power all at once seems like. If I didn't know better I'd say the engine was not building boost. What gives? Is this normal? I have even gone as far as leaving the stock resonator on and cutting off the muffler in the back but all that seemed to do is make it louder, didn't do much for power or torque.

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Welcome to the forum!

It took awhile for me to get used to being generous with the gas since the engine is so small and the car is so heavy. When it's not in boost, it's running on less displacement than many Harley Davidsons. But the turbo is meant to spool quickly so it should be into max torque at 1850 RPM for the auto and 2500 RPM for the manual.The turbo 1.4L engine really prefers 93 octane otherwise the computer will retard the timing to prevent knock and you get no power. Also the car is really picky about the spark plug gaps, you may want to look into that. It's actually on my list of things to do.

What transmission do you have, and what trim level is your car? Also which octane fuel have you been using?

Hey chevraski,

My car has a 6 spd auto., is a LT model and I tried running premium fuel and didn't see much difference in performance in the higher rpm's compared to regular gas, maybe a little bit better mileage but that's it. I'm also running a K&N drop in air filter if that matters.

turbo96 OUCH!! The transmission went out on mine that's why I don't drive it anymore

Higher octane will definitely make a difference in the *lower* RPM range. Run a tank or two of 93 and let the ECU adjust to it - especially in summer.

Also search up the thread "hesitation gone" and toss in a set of those spark plugs. The stock ones in the car just don't run as well as they could and power is neutered as a result. The 1.4L has a good bit of low end grunt when it's not fighting off knock. It sure as heck doesn't have anything for top end power.

Edit: on computer now, here's the link
http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/34-gen1-1-4l-turbo/21850-hesitation-gone.html

tgarison said:

turbo96 OUCH!! The transmission went out on mine that's why I don't drive it anymore

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The best part is I have no recollection of it at all!

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I've watched the boost pressure in my 2012 A/T and it doesn't really start to build any meaning full boost until about 2500 RPM, You'll feel the surge around 3000 if you have it floored between the 2500-3000RPM range.
A typical boost level I used to see was about 13-14 PSI when the car was stock, With my BNR tune I get about 20-21.5 which helps a ton with the cars performance. Also, This engine has CVVT, however I'm not sure at what RPM it is actually changed to increase performance...

Personally I like the surge in power, It goes from nothing to something almost instantly, But still in a controllable manner.

Hey Jblackburn

I wish I new that 2 wks. ago when I replaced the spark plugs in my car, it still had the OEM plugs in it with 111,115 +\- miles on them and the gap was around .035 anyway I replaced them with ACDELCO iridium plugs and set the gap around .028 if I knew that copper core plugs would have worked better I could have saved some money and got them instead.#kickingmyself

tgarison said:

Hey Jblackburn

I wish I new that 2 wks. ago when I replaced the spark plugs in my car, it still had the OEM plugs in it with 111,115 +\- miles on them and the gap was around .035 anyway I replaced them with ACDELCO iridium plugs and set the gap around .028 if I knew that copper core plugs would have worked better I could have saved some money and got them instead.#kickingmyself

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The OEM plugs are ok - just make sure you've got them gapped at 0.028" and you're running 91 or higher octane. You should start to feel the turbo around 1800-2000 RPM. The turbo is spooled up by that time. It should be a smooth ramp up of power. Just remember, the turbo in the Cruze isn't designed for raw power but to assist a very tiny engine drive a 3,500 lb car with a reasonable amount of oomph.

The coppers don't last long at all. Very hot engine... Iridium if you actually want it to last 50k+ miles.

Im struggling with high intake temps and no power in the low rpms. After 20 minutes turned off, the intake will heat soak to 140°F . It will actually command 10% leaner across the board for the first 2 minutes until the intake temps go back down to 100°F

Water meth helps alot! I have it turning on really early in the summer. Wish i had a 2nd circuit that sprayed the intercooler.

The coppers have a short lifespan, but they're cheap and perform the best IMO. Maintenance is frequent, though.

But yeah, the BKR plugs - iridium or copper - just plain perform better at low revs. The IFR stockers are in there for longevity and low maintenance, and that they do - at the expense of low-end grunt.

jblackburn said:

The coppers have a short lifespan, but they're cheap and perform the best IMO. Maintenance is frequent, though.

But yeah, the BKR plugs - iridium or copper - just plain perform better at low revs. The IFR stockers are in there for longevity and low maintenance, and that they do - at the expense of low-end grunt.

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Everything I've experienced have agreed to this, I tried both BKR iridium and copper, I do coppers every 12-15k miles because I notice a rough idle and they're easy and cheap enough to do, I ran 87 octane for about a year with stock, ran very rough, large hesitation, bad gas mileage and little lower. switched to copper plugs and noticed a slight loss in hesitaion and a smoother ride, started running premium 91 octane and I get about 3-4 more miles a gallon, all hesitation gone, smooth ride, and a little more power.. it's not a racecar nor was it designed to be though.

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Cruze's 1.4T has a very steep climb in power output starting at 1800 RPM. It gets stronger yet above about 2,800, but it's much less drastic a transition. I did a muffler delete on mine as well, and you won't notice any actual power gain - just slightly quicker turbo reaction. Modern engine management systems look for a power target - when the computer sees through sensor data that it has been met, it cuts throttle, boost, cam timing, etc. and plateaus there, so better exhaust flow isn't going to make more power, just make the power easier to get. Properly gapped plugs, high(er) octane gas, etc. will all help smooth the sharp jumps in power output.