Newsletter No 54
23 June 2008
Hi. There
Some time ago I received the following eMail:
Well the reason I am contacting you mainly is because
the okes at XXXXX aren’t replying to my messages so I will now try to consult
the only local expert I trust…YOU!
I bought a Supie the other day and I’m in the process
of restoring it. Of course some work will be done to the body and interior but
my main concern is the engine bay and its untapped wealth and power in it.
Well the engine is stock standard and I think the only
tweak thus far was the head that was schemed. I am looking to turbo it, but the
problem is that I have very little experience in turboed GSIs since I have
heard some fairy tales about the 276 schriek cams not really catering for
turbos (I think it’s absurd). I also noticed that the flywheel is just 20cm
thick compared to the 40cm of my other 2litre
Well I sadly also believe
in the philosophy of boosting the living shyte out of the engine and run a 11
second ¼ mile run. And I do admit that this approach is wrong, hence the
following questions!
I wanna boost the engine
above 2 bar so I was thinking a T72 turbonetics turbo should be adequate. Well
what will be the effects of 2 smaller turbos. I need your opinion please.
Recommendations on conrods and pistons, big-end and main bearings?
Read about this trick of
nudging a Isuzu Diesel Crankshaft into the sub-assembly and somehow with the
bore and stroke getting close to 2200cc (Is that possible)? Well it does make
sense to me to nudge 2x 300 degree billet cams into the head. What is your
opinion on the cams since I heard they are bad for low boost!
Any recommendations will
be appreciated, well is Nick’s racing doing turbo installations? If not then
please recommend trusted parts and components for maximum stability and
performance, even If I have to install it myself.
Will it be fit to run NOS
with the turbo? Will the expense be worth it?
Is there any tweaks to be
done to the suspension and diff, though the LSD should be strengthened a
bit, want max traction and the the absolute minimum wheel spin!
My very simple goal with
this car is to run a sub 11 sec ¼ mile! Opel needs to regain the respect it
deserves and the Wrx STIs and 351 Cleveland Motors with NOS haven’t made things
easy. Just wana proof that 2litre FWD cars can outperform the more seemingly
foridable 4WD subarus and V8 2 tonners!
Finally thanx you for
your great service that u are delivering to the racing community in
If you have some spare
time on your hands and a descent internet connection then check out this url: www.insanity.se
aswell as their kadett on youtube, search for “turbo converted opel
kadett gsi”.
*wiping a tear from my
eye*
* * *
Now how does one answer this one apart from
giving a little bit of feedback such as that we are currently running
the fastest Turbo cars in class in
The most important aspect of such a project is deciding whether
that person is going to do everything himself and accept responsibility or is
he going to commission somebody to do it for him ?
If the primary is the objective, he can only ask advice from his
suppliers, as a company such as mine will be loath to give out info because:
a) We are not making a profit from him.
b) If something goes wrong we will not be responsible but you
will go around “maar Nick het gesê of aanbeveel” J
c) His project is one of 100 we have seen and sadly most project vehicles do not excite us
anymore,
d) It is not morally justifiable
I had to make a decision here and I think it better that the “Enthusiasts” commission somebody else for their project. This ties into Newsletter 51
I made the following business decision; that it is likely that I will not be able to satisfy 99% of all enthusiasts, as their expectations are reared by articles that do not reflect the whole truth (for instance hiding the fact, that the project vehicle only ran for a few days before breaking).
Sadly, the boy racer projects seem to be more spectacular in their non- reliability shows.
I am still prepared to do development work for racing teams where the job we do on one motor get’s applied to a whole range, so development costs get split.
I can still do a one-of racer (as we have in
I will never be too enthusiastic of weekend drag racers, preferring more to build powerful endurance racers.
It is easy to make a 10 second street warrior, but to build one that lasts 200 000 Km+…
To give you an idea:
A professionally built, reliable, normally aspirated motor making 150 Hp/L will cost in excess of 100 000 Rand.
A Turbo motor making 200 Hp/L will cost far more than that, as the forces inside said motor are much higher.
When we go stronger than that we are not talking about money anymore, but rather “where can we get those parts made from unobtainium”.
A Reliable motor is not just slapped together by some guys with a lot of experience.
It is designed by an engineer, built by an experienced engine builder and then driven to death under controlled conditions, to find where the limits & weaknesses are.
Once a motor lasts those tests, it is then built in a small series and sold for the prices indicated.
This all means that I am geared towards ordinary modifications:
Tuning ,Head flowing, Exhausts, Cams etc.
My job does excite me, most days I look forward to improving some car J
I believe that is what counts !
For instance we
have now found a way using the Uni-Q to increase
the speedo-cruise capabilities of quite a few vehicles, such as the Lexus V8
Cruisers.
Of course we can also use the Unichip to adjust the engine management on vehicles that have been converted to a different motor.
On a MotorSport note, you might have noticed that leaded Race gas is
not readily available anymore. I still have 100 + litres. Want it ? Buy it !
What makes this good news, is that I can now concentrate on my development of Bio-Ethanol E85 as a racing fuel.
E85 is RON 104 rated, as well as having a cooling effect in the combustion chambers.
As a bonus, the carbon emissions on E85 are 50 % less than those of carbon fuels J
Racing fuels = racing cars.
Racing fuels are developed for cars running high compression ratios and/or boost pressures.
Special fuels are used for high RPM applications also.
Putting such fuel into a car not tuned for it, will often just reduce power, as Racing fuels will often just burn slower, needing more timing advance.
A car tuned for the old type leaded race gas will have to be retuned for E85, but will make more power as long as the motor was originally designed for a Racing fuel.
My Dynamometer has been officially
calibrated again, so you can take my Power figures as fact. Few other Dyno
shops in
That’s it for now
Nick
No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into
account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.
Isaac
Asimov, scientist and writer 1920 – 1992