It is hard to peg when Turbo made the transition to the import scene. In the street truck world, the 1988 C1500 pickup marks an earth-shaking pivotal point and many say the 1992 Civic is the C1500 of the import scene. Judging by the pages of Turbo, this is way wrong. The year would be 1990 and the cars would be the 300ZX, 3000GT and the Diamond Star 2.0-liter Turbo. The groundwork for these cars was laid by the Dodge 2.2 Turbo, Starion and 1985 to 1990 Z-Car; in 1990, the aftermarket rushed to support these new, big-power turbo cars. Another contributing factor was electronic fuel injection. Turbo was years ahead of the curve with its coverage of Buick Turbo Regals, which flexed factory turbo power, sequential EFI and distributorless ignition many years before such technologies went mainstream. The 1990 cars all made use of advanced ECUs, which made them even more tweakable.
Regardless, the following excerpt in the March 1991 issue from a letter written by a Starion owner illustrates that the transition was already in full swing.
"I read your response to a complaint from a Nissan 300ZX owner that recent issues of Turbo have far too many articles on big-block turbocharging applications, including those for the Mustang 5.0."
Felix Benitez, North Bergen, NJ
We get the same letter today, except the complaint concerns... "small-displacement, four-cylinder turbo applications including those for the Honda Civic."
The March issue is a window to a decade past. It is interesting to check out the advertisers; some are still around, others have gone the way of the dinosaur, and still others have seen Turbo levitate away from their market. Content wise, HKS-modified Diamond Stars ran 151 mph as measured by an optical fifth wheel; the Archer Brothers and HKS took the SCCA Super Production class championship; the Dodge Stealth has its debut; and a GMC Syclone turbo truck attacked the salt at Bonneville. Other tidbits include the Silver State Challenge open road race, a turbo Miata, intercooler temperature testing, Part 2 of a series on fuel injection (which would prove a common theme in the years to come) and tuning tricks for the Porsche 930.
While it is wise to look back and evaluate how far you have come, don't spend too much time with your head turned. Life moves pretty fast and where you are going is most important. As quickly as the import market has evolved, it's still moving too fast to see the final destination. The best thing to do? Hold on and enjoy the ride.