Turbo
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To get there, you will either have to overspeed your stock turbo, or buy a bigger turbo. Nothing wrong with either one of these tactics, but understand what you are letting yourself in for.
If you overspeed your turbo, it WILL break. If your engine gargles the broken turbo parts, you just bought an engine. Not worth it, in my estimation.
If you put a bigger turbo on your car, then you'd better have a good combo already, because the reason you put a bigger turbo on it, was to allow you to run 25-35 psi of boost. You should definitely have a good understanding of how the engine management/timing/fueling system works. AND have figured out a way to deal with it. I say this because, as soon as you have a way to crank the boost to 25 psi and still have good air, (ie, big turbo), you WILL do it.
On the other hand, if you take *any* 2.3 turbo, with 35 lb/hr injectors, and add a good intercooler, good exhaust, and a good cam, raise the boost to 17-18 psi, you will make 280 hp, maybe more. You will definitely have more torque than 280 lb/ft. Most people should stop here. You will have a fast car, and it should last quite a long time with proper maintenance.
How can I say this, when there are SO MANY hop up parts for 2.3s available out there?
Just look at what Chris Thomason's damn near stock XR does on the dyno and the drag strip with only a larger exhaust, PE computer, large VAF, and a homemade intercooler! BTW, Chris ran low 14s on the stock EEC-IV and small VAF meter. Look at what my 88 Merkur XR4ti made with a 3" exhaust, Nick's Mass Air, an IHI turbo, and my Hot Street 3 cam. This car is so stock it's funny. See the dyno results table for dyno runs of both of these cars, and more.
IOW, quit chasing the big hp numbers. Just do the simple mods to make it run nice, and then focus on the rest of the car. To make *more* horsepower than this combo, is gonna require ALOT of hard parts, work, and tuning.
Is it worth it? It depends on your use for the car, and the depth of your pockets. For a car you have to count on, like most of the owners do, it could be a very bad idea. Very few of us have the privilege of being able to just "play" with the car, and not need it to get to work. I push the envelope, but I'm interested in what will break first, out there past the limits. I've gotten some very surprising results this way.
How fast do you want to go, still means, "How much money have you got?".
BTW, Only on an SVO are the stock brakes and suspension are even adequate for this fast a car. If you have a Merkur XR4ti, Mustang GT Turbo, pre-87 Turbo Coupe, or Cougar XR7, spend the money on bigger brakes, and sway bars, at a minimum.
Don't get me wrong, and certainly don't let me discourage you. You *can* build over 300 Hp, way over, in fact, but it's gonna COST you. We can help you do it, if you want . But try the proven combos first. You may become satisfied, or even disinterested in the car, long before you ever move on to spending big bucks on your engine.
And in the end can you afford it?