I personally enjoy the pre-season fabricating, installing and tinkering almost as much as I do actually riding the sleds I build. It is a hobby that is addicting and compulsive to build and own well running mod sleds, as it does not take long to wrap up $20k, turboed or not. For the 5-10 or 15 days the average person rides it is borderline insane. I know as I own two full mods, one turboed and one on NOS as well as a new pro that is also turboed, but like I said, I enjoy working on them...
I have had many great trouble free turboed days on the snow in the last four years. However, I have had days shortened by failures as well; broken clutch springs, snapped chains, blown tracks, bent tunnels, smashed a-arms, failed electrical components and so on. Mostly minor things that can and do happen to stock sleds every day, but... some of the faiures I have had have been directly related to the added power of the turbo and the fact that everything around you happens so much faster on a boosted sled. (I have never lost a motor or turbo but have scored a set of pistons that I did not realize until a routine end of season ex. valve cleaning.)
With years of making power at elevation with naturally asperated mod engines it gives a person a good handle on all the little things that it takes to make a sled run well and how the entire sled works as a whole. Small simple things can cause major running issues and only experience lets you pick up on them quickly to avoid a spoiled day or worse yet, an entire trip.
The way I look at it is this. It has become too easy for any idiot (with a pocket full of money) to bolt on an extra 50-100 hp with the birth of the bolt on off the shelf turbo kits. Many of the people with turbo problems have never owned anything more than a bone stock sled with a "can" on it but now they have a turbo sled. How long do you think a naturally aspirated full mod motor cranking out 175 hp at elevation would last any of the turbo newbies. NOT LONG
I know it has been said before and I agree... alot of problems stem form poor fuel, poor install, and poor tuning ability. Exactly all of the things you learn from running and tuning mod engines. Now a days, take a stock sled and the average dumb dumb who bolts on a turbo and they too are making big power in a matter of hours without any clue how to deal with it. In my opinion, if you have not spent many hours tinkering on sleds in the past and enjoying every minute of it, DO NOT GET A TURBO.
If you do decide to purchase a turbo, listen to the others here who have been around the block and get it installed by a professional, run good fuel and plenty of it, and just take a few moments each day to take a good look at everything on the or better yet, a couple times a day as many problems start small.
I have run turbos for years and own kits from different makers that have been modified to work better and will personally never go stock again but, I enjoy everything they entail including the maintenance and issues that go along with them. Most enjoyable of all is the unmatched power they produce all day long every time the flipper is squeezed.
