How early is too early for big turbo?

Someone tell me I am crazy for considering going hybrid/BT with only 500 miles on the car. Anyone out there that has gone with a turbo upgrade that early without issue?

I love this car but coming from a modded Fost I am itching to get more power. She is already tuned with an upgraded FMIC but I am craving some more.

I wouldnt throw a new turbo on it without being done with the break in period yet. Thats just me. I waited until 1000 miles before i opened it up, and I also got the mod itch. It doesnt at all mean that you bought the wrong car as some people state . I bought this thing to mod it and have fun with it. People dont always understand that. However if you are looking to go big turbo, figure out what kind of power you want and where you want it. Do your research first as not all turbos will work with bolt ons that are added before hand and as we all know they dont all spool the same. Example, hybrid with stock mounting position vs a legitimate bigger turbo where its all different. Hot side charge pipes and downpipes are the the main mating issues.

I completely agree about intentions to mod, I bought my car with future plans in mind but it took me two years till I swapped turbos. In those two years I did about 15 different tunes and lots of hardware but nothing I couldn’t easily remove if I had a warranty issue. At about yhe 2.5 year mark when my warranty was nearly out I upgraded my turbo.

My point is the warranty...the reason most people buy a new car is very much about the warranty....to void it immediately isn’t very intelligent in my opinion. Like I said if you’re throwing the warranty away and swapping your turbo you could instead find plenty of Fiesta STs all day long with 30k and no warranty for $12000 rather than paying $22000 for a new one and still having no warranty because you voided it.

I would like to keep the stock DP due to yearly inspection/emission test here in PA.

Thats fair. Warranty was originally my worry. My situation I threw it away tuning it within 3 months just because in my area people with full on turbo swaps have gotten their stuff fixed at our local dealers. That and if there was a problem I wouldnt be without a vehicle as I have others. My situation definitely may be different than most. I like warranty but thankfully these cars have proven to be pretty solid. Like you said about 2 years before swapping turbos, Im almost at a year and I still havent swapped yet. Im doing all the science-y things, kind of like you. Testing different tunes, and getting dynos of stock vs bolt ons and 91 and now to E30 as not a lot of people have done all of them. Once I can afford to swap then I will. Until then, shes a stock snail.

Sounds like you know what you want. I say go for it! I had an e30 FoST and FBO evo x before my FiST. I too am craving a bigger turbo, I'm just not sure how big yet.

Yeah I totally trust the motor, it’s not that, I’m just saying that if you’re gonna void the warranty you might as well get a used one with 20 or 30k and pay half the price. It’s about the principle/money, not the reliability of the engine.

He did invite us to tell him if he was crazy....I just don’t like throwing my money away, that’s crazy. If I had planned to mod mine immediately I’d have bought one out of warranty for half the price.

I did indeed and appreciate the honesty. I bought new simply because I wanted something that had not been driven to death by anyone else

Have you looked into the Whoosh catted DP? I'm not sure how it performs to emissions standards, but it may be an option for improvement that'll still pass the PA testing.

This. So much this. This is also the reason why I bought mine brand new. And because with the incentives they have been putting out, I could have got a used one with 30k miles for $14k or this brand new one for 17k that hadnt been beaten to hell. Its a bummer they are nuking production, but its making the purchase price fantastic.

Man, all this talk about "voiding warranty" on every car forum I'm ever a member of drives me crazy.

Look up the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act people!!!

The manufacturer HAS TO PROVE your aftermarket/modified parts caused a part to fail, it's on THEM to prove it. Swapping out a turbo would ONLY void the warranty on the factory turbo, along with any other FACTORY part that was replaced during the swap, unless the dealer/manufacturer can PROVE that the modded part caused other parts to fail.

SEMA has a whole team of lawyers that will help people fight these cases, and they almost ALWAYS win.

No no no.

Ford and all the other car people are smart, they specifically state in the manual and online and everywhere that adding aftermarket parts voids your warranty, no proof needed. The disclaimers are everywhere and it protects them and frankly it's smart. Also you will notice pretty much every aftermarket part (Cobb, Mountune, everyone) also tells you in their product description that their parts are only for "track use" and will void warranties.