{"id":1772,"date":"2018-06-30T00:17:34","date_gmt":"2018-06-30T04:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/?p=1772"},"modified":"2018-06-30T01:08:13","modified_gmt":"2018-06-30T05:08:13","slug":"how-to-choose-the-right-turbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maxtorqueperformance.com\/staging\/index.php\/2018\/06\/30\/how-to-choose-the-right-turbo\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Choose The Right Turbo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Jeff Smith<\/a> <\/span><\/span>June 26, 2018<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/header>\n

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You don\u2019t need us to tell you that turbochargers are hot. The word on the street is as enticing as it is simplistic. Just stick a turbo on it and you\u2019ll make ridiculous horsepower. We once asked the guru of engine power, Kenny Duttweiler, \u201cHow much power can we make with a turbo on a 6.0-liter LS?\u201d His answer was succinct: \u201cHow much do you want to make?\u201d That meant that four digit power numbers are achievable.\u00a0However, in the vein of full disclosure, this won\u2019t be an easy, bolt-on, walk in the park process. If you are motivated, it\u2019s well worth the effort.<\/p>\n

We latched on to the learned souls at\u00a0Garrett Honeywell<\/a>,\u00a0who can trace their turbocharger lineage all the way back to 1936; it\u2019s quite obvious they know a little bit about turbochargers. Our story starts with someone who had already taken a stab at adding a turbo to a 6.0-liter LS engine for a street car. Several years ago, Justin Nall decided that a single turbo pushing air into a used, iron 6.0L truck engine seemed like a good idea.<\/p>\n

His machine is a choice, Lemonwood yellow \u201966 Chevelle with a 4L80E automatic, a decent PTC converter with 3,400 stall, and a 12-bolt rearend filled with a 3.31:1 ring-and-pinion. The car is not particularly light at 3,850 pounds. The engine sports 364 cubic-inches, with a Comp<\/a>\u00a0camshaft measuring\u00a0\u00a0.598-inch of lift on the intake and .591-inch of lift on the exhaust, with 234 and 230 degrees of duration at 0.050-inch, respectively. Other components include: Wiseco<\/a> 10.4:1 pistons, a set of CNC-ported production 243 heads, an Edelbrock<\/a> Pro Flo intake, and a stock truck throttle body. Overall, the combination is fairly mild. Nall lives in Minnesota, so he puts plenty of miles on his hot rod during the summer months.<\/p>\n

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Justin Nall\u2019s \u201966 Chevelle is a regular competitor on autocross courses, as well as spending lots of time on the street. He was looking for an upgrade for his current turbo, so we plugged some numbers in to choose a little bigger turbo.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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At the Summer Nationals event at the state fairgrounds in nearby St. Paul, he also has run the car on the chassis dyno. His initial turbo package was intended as a conservative choice to dip his toes in the turbo waters. Lately he\u2019s decided to up the game with more horsepower, so we thought this would be an excellent way to blaze a trail toward a more aggressive turbocharger. The Chevelle was previously capable of over 650 rwhp, and his goal was to push this to 900 flywheel horsepower; that puts wheel power around 800 to the rear tires. His fuel of choice is E85, because it offers roughly 105 octane, and the\u00a0engine really loves how the fuel cools the hot compressed air exiting the turbo.<\/p>\n

We accessed Garrett\u2019s website, and discovered a wealth of technical information that is divided into areas depending upon your technical level of understanding. If you are just getting into this, then the Basic area will deliver important foundation work for you to understand the concepts. The website also offers intermediate and advanced areas as well, so you can jump right into the area where you are most comfortable.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t want to run through the math, Garrett also offers its Boost Adviser<\/a>,\u00a0which makes the selection process a bit easier. But it\u2019s still a good idea to read this story, because along the way we will explain what all the terms mean and how they are used to help choose a turbo. Many of the details we will discuss here are based on knowing your way around a compressor map. If you\u2019re not familiar with what this is, it\u2019s important to do a little homework by reading all about this on Garrett\u2019s website. But we\u2019ll hit the highlights for you here.<\/p>\n

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