The '94 / '95 Mustang turbo
system is back!
The difference - the buyers are
now a whole lot more experienced. Gone are the days when
the word “supercharger” conjured up ill-conceived
perceptions of low end boost and a fabled lack of temperature
rise. Today’s buyer is fully aware that the
centrifugal supercharger lacks the low-end boost response of a
turbo and most of its power exists in the top 25% of the rev
range. It has also come to be common knowledge that the
Roots blower is a very low performance device with a great
propensity for making heat and little else. Today’s buyer
has become fully aware that there is more to forced induction
than a blower, a belt, big tubes and a fuel gadget.
Additionally, there remains some
significant reliance on turbos by the global OEM manufacturers (e.g.
Rolls Royce, Ferrari and Porsche). Also it is standard in the
trucking industry to run turbos for over half a million miles
between overhauls and they regard this as an extremely durable
forced induction mechanism.
Today’s buyer has become aware that
engine durability stems from minimizing the high charge
temperatures induced by the boost and compression ratios. In that
regard, the centrifugal and the turbo are the same compressor
styles, but all other superchargers make more heat. The
turbo and the centrifugal are, therefore, the least abusive on
engines. Today’s buyer also sees the turbo taking over Ford
drag racing (when not penalized by additional weight), and producing speeds and times recently believed to
be only pipe dreams.
So, the market is different today and
buyer knowledge is the reason.
~Telling the truth~
Why the Turbo?
We contend that the turbocharger is the most superior part with
respect to all forced induction mechanisms. Primarily, due to its ability to
vary its RPM independently of engine RPM.
Power
The turbo will always have the power advantage due to the fact
that it requires less power from the engine to
drive it than any belt driven supercharger. Belt driven
superchargers siphon off between 8% and 20% of the crank
power, depending on circumstances. The turbo only steals 2% to 3%
from the crank, and gets the rest from
the wasted heat and flow energy of the exhaust. Why give up
10% if you don’t have to? Would 10% be the difference
between winning and losing?
Durability
Two areas establish the turbo as a highly durable mechanism; the
trucking industry and the 24 hour Le Mans
Endurance Race. Just call truck repair facilities for the
first category of information. Le Mans is a different
matter. Porsche has publicly stated that their
engineering department considers street versus race wear rates
as 1000 to 1. While perhaps a little high, one needs to
assemble really good data to dispute Porsche.
Regardless, consider that this race covers 3,500 miles in 24
hours. Porsche says this is equivalent to 3,500,000 street
miles and its also done without an oil change. The race has
been won by a turbocharged car in the majority of events in the
last 40 years. Please note that the factory team of
Cadillac and Audi racers were all turbocharged.
So, what does it take for you to have a
reliable turbo? Two things: use a top notch synthetic oil
and change
it every 5000 miles.
Low RPM boost
Either low rpm boost is really not that desirable, or there are
lots of centrifugal supercharger users that have
been fooling themselves. All other things being equal, the
proper turbo makes all of it boost before the
centrifugal makes much of its boost. Ask yourself if you
would prefer 10psi of intercooled turbo boost at
3000 rpm, or 3psi from the centrifugal supercharger. It is
easy to imagine which is pulling harder at that point.
Why is this so? How does the turbo do
that, particularly when they share the same style compressor?
Easy
again; the turbo can speed up relative to the crankshaft, the
centrifugal supercharger cannot. You will be
mightily impressed with the performance of a centrifugal
compressor when it is allowed to speed up prior to the engine.
Economy
The turbo enjoys approximately a 10% economy advantage.
Reason being; parasitic drag. When the
fuel costs eventually get high enough, I’ll wager that every
supercharger maker in the world will be frantically
designing and tooling up to build a turbo.
Throttle Response
It is common for someone who has never driven a
turbocharged car to complain about the lack of throttle
response due to turbo lag. While this is a dumb position to
get caught in, it is also the wrong information. This situation is primarily the
fault of poor system design, poor engine management or poor turbo selection.
When the driver of the Turbo 5.0 applies throttle, there is
actually a small amount of boost in the system at
that instant. With a small amount of boost available to push its
way into the manifold, rather than just atmospheric pressure, the
driver will notice a small, but perceptible improvement in
throttle response. With all of the advances in bearings,
compressor and turbine design, housing design and engine
management, turbo lag has become a non-issue. We have F1 teams of the 1980's to
thank for much of these improvements.
Now, to dispel the Myths!
But I can’t stand the lag.
Just answer one basic question. If you are cruising along
at 3000 revs and decide to nail the throttle, would
you prefer the minimal boost the centrifugal will “instantly”
offer, or the 10psi that the turbo will reach in less than one
second? If you are cruising at 4000 rpm’s where the CS
can actually make some boost, but not yet its maximum, its
response is no faster than the turbo. Rest assured that
with a turbo, at a cruise of 4000 revs, you can’t get your
foot to the floor and off again without the turbo reaching full
boost. The CS will respond quickly too, but it won’t
reach full boost. That number is reserved for the absolute
redline.
But turbos are hard to install!
The idea that one type of system is simpler to install and
therefore better is not sound logic, if the more complex system
has offsetting merit. Consider that ten extra hours spent
installing a superior system quickly fades from importance if one
drives this thing for a couple years and enjoys that difference
everyday. Struggling without an intercooler and without a
proper fuel system for two years makes 10 more hours up front
seem like a bargain. And it is a bargain.
The fabled turbo heat problem.
Invariably a supercharger salesman will point to the turbo and
flatly state that when it is glowing red hot, it will
melt everything under the hood. The problem is knowledge and
integrity, not the turbo. Iron and steel begin to glow red
at around 1100 F. The stock exhaust gas temperature is well
in excess of that, thus the stock exhaust manifold glows when the
car is driven hard. No damage is done in the stock condition and
none will be done by the turbo.
The turbo doesn't have any power.
Although we would like to tout power with quotes of enormous
numbers, the power is really going to be what you make of
it. Heads, manifolds, cams, exhausts, boost pressures, turbo
sizes, all have such a huge influence on power, that naming a
specific output is utter folly. However, you may rest
assured that whatever preparation path, if any, that you take
with the engine, the turbo will provide substantially more power
than any other form of forced induction.
Flexibility of power improvements
Unlike any other boost maker, the turbo can be made to change
boost at the flip of a switch. Boost can be changed in the middle
of a drag race if so desired. Try that trick with anything else.
Boost can be made to run as low as 3 psi at full throttle, or
well past 30 psi, but the success will always lie with keeping
the boost consistent with the engine preparation.
Major Component Description
Exhaust manifold: A mild or
stainless steel tube fabrication. This manifold will flow well up
to rates equivalent
to 700+ bhp.
Wastegate: Customer choice
of Turbonetics or Tial. Both have the primary feature of great
heat rejection, thus assuring a long happy life. The gates are
also configured to be compatible with modern remote controllers.
Turbocharger: The Garrett
Airesearch TO4 series turbo is the real workhorse of the industry.
It has been kept modern with the latest in high efficiency
compressor wheels and shaft seals. We source our head units from only
reputable manfucturers, such as Turbonetics, Innovative Turbo Systems and
Precision Turbo. Many of our competitors utilize rebuilt or used turbos to
increase their profits. They assume customers won't know or won't care. Single
ceramic ball bearing and dual steel ball bearing CHRAs are readily available.
We also like it for the extreme durability it offers, in part due to the
optional water cooled bearing section. A choice of three turbines, six
compressors, and five different A/R ratios gives us the opportunity to size the
turbo right on for the end user’s needs.
Turbine Outlet Pipe: The mild or
stainless steel turbine outlet pipe (downpipe) is 3.0 inch in diameter and
ideal for power outputs to 750 bhp. We’ve put the wastegate
dump back into the exhaust far down the pipe to avoid the
power robbing turbulence right behind the turbine outlet.
Compressor inlet & Intercooler
tubes: All tubes are fabricated from high quality mandrel
bends, bead rolled on the ends and powder coated with black
wrinkle finish. Custom colors are available at no additional charge. Silicone
intercooler hoses are used throughout, and retained by ABA or T-bolt clamps.
Intercooler: The intercooler is
an aluminum fabrication sized for approximately 750 bhp. The air
temperature going into the engine, as stated so often, is the key
element in deciding life or death for a forced induction engine.
The hotter the air, the sooner detonation sets in. Further
to the safety benefit is a virtually free 12% to 14% gain
in torque due to the cooler, more dense air. The sanity of not
having a proper intercooler in any forced induction system
can only be explained by the maker’s accountant. It is fundamental engineering that an intercooled
forced induction system is
both safer for the engine and more powerful than a system that
has no intercooler. For a more graphic picture, here’s the
way it stacks up: The air temperature entering the engine from a
typical non-intercooled centrifugal blower at 6 psi of boost is
so hot that the intercooled turbo must develop over 30 psi of
boost to equal the blower’s temperature gain.
Anti-surge/bypass valve: The by-pass
valve is an air diverter when cruising so the blower or turbo
will not need to make boost that would only pile up on the
throttle plate and load up the blower. Thus far, no makers
of centrifugal blower kits see fit to include this
feature.
Warranty
All items of our system carry a one year warranty. Our warranty
does not extend to any stock components. Some items carry the
warranty of the original manufacturer.
Service After the Sale
In our view, the purchase and installation of our system becomes
a mutual project between Cartech, the installer, and the end user.
We are committed to making this a good experience for all
concerned. We know our product and we are here to help if needed.
Terms and Delivery
Delivery time will be 20 business days uncoated and 35 business days with
thermal coating. 50% deposit
is required with the balance due upon completion. All shipping is
by UPS or RPS unless requested otherwise. Returned goods are
subject to a 20% restocking fee. Cancellation fee is 10%. Form of
payment is Mastercard, Visa, Discover, American Express, Cash/Cashier's
Check/Money order.
