The car is a 240 wagon, with a stock B230F engine and automatic. I like the car for its reliability and tough built but the gas mileage and power suck big time. OK I can live with 23mpg but merging on the freeway is almost unsafe specially if the on-ramp is slightly uphill, it takes a good 15-20 secs to get up to 65 mph. Are there any cost effective ways to improve the engine output ? How difficult of job is it to retrofit a turbo from the older turbo model 240s ? What is needed and can someone like myself do the job (I can do all maintenance related stuff including shocks, springs, timing belt etc but not a mechanic). Is it just a matter of bolting on the turbo manifold + turbo ? or is there some wiring/electrical issues that need to be dealt with as well ?

If retrofitting a turbo is not possible, are there any other cost effective ways to improve power ? NOS is not an option. I was thinking about the exhaust+cam+electric fan conversion but exhaust+cam might hurt the low/mid range power even more where I actually need it (2k rpm to 4k rpm).

What do you guys suggest ? I'd like to hear your experiences with various mods that you may have tried. I'm not trying to turn this car into a drag racer but just something I can safely merge on the freeway and not have to take it out of overdrive and floor it just to go over the speed bumps...jeez :)