@MotoB -
I'm very interested in what you've had to say. Real experience... no hearsay! Yay! Personally, I prefer working with turbos over SC's as well... heat soak and numerous other reasons. Further, I don't live that far away from ALB, so working directly with them, as you did, would be possible.
Also, I'm kinda old at 56. That said, I've spent the last 25 years working exclusively with turbo builds and their tuning (I live at nearly 9000ft, so you might even call it a necessity -
at least that's what I tell the wifey when she asks me why there's another new turbocharger sitting on our porch, lol).
I'm certainly not scared to try it, as I also have a ton of practical experience. I was a fleet manager for about 7 years for Roadway Express in Chicago, and they sent me to a boatload of classes at the OE suppliers - like Garrett, Holset, IHI and others. My understanding is comprehensive, and I've built literally dozens of turbocharged engines - and tuned them - and have yet to destroy
any engine due to a tuning mishap. In fact, several of my older builds now have over 300k miles on them with ZERO issues... and using stock internals. Truth be told, the turbochargers themselves, if maintained and protected (heat) properly, should last longer than any engine you can build. I have a couple of journal bearing turbos running around (
not ball-bearing) that I've used in multiple builds, some with over 500k miles on the snail itself. In my diesel experience, we'd rarely see a failure prior to about 800k miles - most going over a million. SC's typically can't compete with that.
Tuning... it's sooo easy with a turbo system to shut the boost down to nothing, and then tune very carefully to ensure you don't melt anything, gradually increasing the boost as you learn and tune. I've done this work for quite some time on German stuff... Porsche's and Audi's primarily. Point being is that the SC numbers are pretty disappointing, in the grand scheme of things. A forced induction engine - be it SC or hairdryers - should be able to produce 2hp/liter - at the wheels - without trying extremely hard. That, of course, is assuming that the platform (block/crank/rods/pistons) can handle that level of output, and that the head(s) flow sufficiently. So, when I see guys working hard to achieve numbers under 600whp, that seems like it's not what it should be - not nearly. However, when I see your results, that's more what I would've expected. In the German world, I have a
moderately tuned 2.5 liter Audi that puts out 503hp/461tq at the wheels, and that's not atypical.
So, I'd love to know more. First
@MotoB - is there any chance you could share some under-hood pics of your install? I'd love to see how it all fits in the space, and how it's plumbed. Second - could you share your turbo selection - specifically the specs of the turbos, or just the manufacturer and model? Are your turbos water cooled, or just oil? If water cooled, did you install after-cooling for the turbo's? I'd really like to pursue this option... much more power potential, and a lot easier to manage heat and where/when you want the power... not to mention the fact that they don't continuously draw a bunch of wasted power driving them like an SC - even when they're not being tapped for power. Personally, I'm thinking - in Garrett terms - of something in the GT30R range. That's a spectacular turbo for engines in the 2.5 liter range, so a pair of them ought to be capable of delivering incredible torque down low - probably running the largest 1.06 AR turbine option to let it breathe on the hot side. Also, a pair of them is still large enough to deliver about 1000hp worth of air efficiently, and right smack in the most efficient zone within the compressor map... not my power goal, but simply means that with 6.2 liters to play with, it should be capable of being detuned to the extent of delivering huge torque, easily 600whp, all while not really working that hard. I might even try a pair of GT3071's if the 3076's are too much.
Sorry for the length here - but your post on the Hellion experience is the first
real turbocharging story I had yet to read... I was stoked to hear your experience, as I was pretty close to just pulling the trigger on a Procharger... I didn't know that turbo's were an option. But now I'm thinking entirely differently, and I'd like to start pulling the details together.
Many thanks,
Dave
