Wolfe's .02 Cents on Turbos

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"I love turbos, but I don't think they can hang with a supercharger. I've worked on both, and the supercharged cars can accelerate themselves much quicker than the turbos can. A great 330 time for a supercharged car is in somewhere between Low 2.50's to a "Bad" 2.65. I don't think there has been a turbo car go quicker than 2.70. They(turbos) don't accelerate well in the early part of the track. But on the other hand, the turbos are the best powerplant for small tires and heavy cars."

The problem with a turbo car isn't the lack of power that they make, it's where it makes it at. If you look at a blower car timeslip and compare it to a turbo car timeslip you will note that from the 330' marker and on, the turbo runs just as good if not a touch better than a blower car, the problem is, the turbo car is usually .15 slower to 330. The turbo cars have load related HP and the blower cars have instant HP that doesn't need a load to produce itself, or for lack of a better term, acceleration HP. Also on a typical turbo car that makes 35 LBS of boost in high gear, usually it will only produce somewhere around 25 in low, 28 in second, 32 in third, etc. Now this is provided that you have the gates smashed, and also a clutch car. Then you might ask, why not run a converter? Well they have their problems too. I can't speak for anyone else but our car usually has 15% slip in the lights. Yes there are converters that don't slip that much but they also don't run anymore speed than we do either.

I was shocked to read this...
 

CutlassRacer

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Read through that thread the other day. Lots of interesting information in it that is for sure!

The cars being talked about are primarily NHRA Pro Mods, where a turbo car has yet to be successful.
 

basketcase

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CutlassRacer said:
Read through that thread the other day. Lots of interesting information in it that is for sure!

The cars being talked about are primarily NHRA Pro Mods, where a turbo car has yet to be successful.


I believe the principle behind it could be applied to any form of racing. Pro Mods obviously just do it on a larger scale, but racing is racing and power is power.
 

CutlassRacer

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Yeah, he does mention that they are great for "limited tire" racing, which I agree with.

I think you will see somebody go over 250 with a turbo Pro Mod, this year, maybe even a little faster. There are some serious turbo Pro Mods being built now that they are allowed in the class.
 

basketcase

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CutlassRacer said:
Yeah, he does mention that they are great for "limited tire" racing, which I agree with.

I think you will see somebody go over 250 with a turbo Pro Mod, this year, maybe even a little faster. There are some serious turbo Pro Mods being built now that they are allowed in the class.


What was also amazing (and the reason for the original post) was Jegs, who has essentially unlimited resources (i.e. money and connections) couldn't sort out a turbo pro mod. I'm curious who else will be able to step up and actually do something, if Jegs couldn't.
 

CutlassRacer

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I think along with the big name JEGS, there was the assumption that the car needed to be competitive very quickly. For me, the top of the game with the turbo stuff right now is Petty and Proline. Can you imagine what Lynch's drivetrain would do in a lightweight Pro Mod car?
 

basketcase

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CutlassRacer said:
I think along with the big name JEGS, there was the assumption that the car needed to be competitive very quickly. For me, the top of the game with the turbo stuff right now is Petty and Proline. Can you imagine what Lynch's drivetrain would do in a lightweight Pro Mod car?


Same thing it does now, make a record setting pass once a year.
 

Excelerater

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never liked they guy anyways....
 

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