How Turbo Kits Work In A Car And Make Your Car Run Faster?
Most car racers love the sound of a powerful engine. The adrenaline rush from the speed and the high performance feels surreal for many. Professional race car drivers need these elements to get the desired results. But how do they do that? They get a turbo kit for significant improvements in their car’s performance.
In essence, a turbocharger is an air compressor powered by the exhaust. The volume of air injected into the cylinders directly affects power production. This is because the engine is essentially an air pump. The average air pressure, which is lower than 15 pounds per square inch, fuels a typical engine. Turbo kits provide high power by injecting air into engines at considerably higher pressure.
If you are a professional race car driver and want to buy a turbo kit, then you must know how turbo kits work. Here are a few things you need to know about it. Let’s start with what a full race turbo kit contains.
What Does Turbo Kit Comprise?
A turbo kit certainly does a lot of improvements in a car, but adding it to your vehicle is a bit complicated. Add the turbocharger or a supercharger carefully. Have a thorough understanding of forced induction conversions. If you are clear with the concepts the operation will be quick and smooth.
Here is a brief explanation of the full race turbo kit components:
• Turbocharger
One of the most obvious components of a turbo kit is the turbocharger. It is a powerful air compressor. The turbochargers work through waste energy coming from the engine exhaust. Before buying it, know that the turbo should have specifics matching the car engine and performance you desire. You cannot buy just any turbo for your car. So do your research and ask around to find the correct one.
• Intercooler
Do you want your racecar to function properly? Then having an intercooler is a must. Virtually every turbocharger system needs intercooling to give its best performance. It is a type of “air radiator”. This cools the compressed intake charger after exiting the turbocharger but before reaching the engine. Without an intercooler, pressurizing the air too much can overheat it and result in hazardous pre-detonation. Therefore, be careful with these little details. If it seems a bit much, take our car to a professional to handle it properly.
• Turbo Manifold and Downpipe
Next, a full turbo kit comprises a turbo manifold and downpipe. Turbo manifolds are a series of pipes or runners. It collects all the exiting gases which are channelized in a merge collector. You need a flange to secure the turbo on the manifold. Once that step is over you weld it to the merge collector. For the turbo to function, the turbo manifold installs the turbo on the engine and positions the turbine blades in theexhaust stream. The Downpipe integrates the turbo into the current exhaust system of the automobile by connecting it to the remainder of the exhaust pipes.
• Intercooler and Intake Piping
We know about the intercooler but what is an intake pipe in a full turbo kit? It is a device that stores kinetic energy. When the charge starts flowing towards the cylinder, this kinetic energy gets stored in the charge column through its velocity.
The turbocharger’s intake port, the intake manifold, and the intercooler’s compressor outlet are all connected to the engine air filter. It is done through the intake pipework and the intercooler. To withstand the added stress of the compressed intake stream, get a durable and standard component turbo pipework.
• Oil/Coolant Supply Lines
All turbos need oil supply lines. But what are they? The oil supply lines transport oil between the oil cooler and the engine. It helps to cool down the oil and aid in the lubrication of the bearings. However, it depends on the turbocharger water cooling whether you need coolant lines or not.
• Fuel Management
Several turbo kits need a fuel management system. It uses analytic software and telematics-based tools to read the fuel consumption information and enhance fuel economy. Fuel efficiency tells you how far a vehicle can go on a single unit of gas. Numerous cars need fuel control to ensure that the engine adds the correct fuel quantity for the additional pressure over the intake charge.
You may assemble your turbo kit using this tiny list. Just keep in mind that your finished kit covers all of these areas. If there is any confusion, call an expert to help you. They can even help you with a custom turbo kit.
How Does A Turbo Function In A Car?
A turbocharger increases a car’s horsepower. If you buy a typical turbocharger, you’ll see that it can add 50% more power to the engine. But ever wondered how that happens?
A compressor and a turbine are the two main parts of a turbocharger. About 30 times quicker than an engine, the turbine spins at up to 150,000 rpm. This happens while the turbine and the exhaust stream remain connected. The compressor is linked to the turbine via a shaft. Both rotate at their speed. It is in the air inlet of the car, and as it rotates, more air goes into the cylinders. The engine burns gasoline quickly and produces more power by allowing extra air to enter the cylinders.
The turbocharger power may take time to kick in. This is called turbo lag. To reduce the turbo lag, here’s what you need to do.
The inertia of the system’s moving elements can be decreased by switching to a foil bearing from an oil-bearing. This helps in reducing the lag. Since the foil bearing delivers lesser friction than oil bearings, you can expect better efficiency. At reduced engine speeds, a smaller turbocharger can generate a boost more rapidly. However, it may not be able to deliver the same amount of power at faster speeds.
Ways To Improve Your Car’s Power And Performance
Genuine performance fanatics keep thinking about methods to extract more power from a car’s engine. You can measure the performance of a vehicle in a variety of ways. If you are looking to improve your car’s overall performance, here are a few things to look into-
1. Replacing The Air Filter
Changing the air filter with a finer one is one of the simplest (and least expensive!) methods to increase engine power in any car.
The standard paper filters that come with the majority of cars do an excellent job of keeping debris and dirt out of the engine. Though, they may limit airflow as a trade-off for this. It indicates that there’s a limit in airflow. This means the engine cannot take in enough air thus limiting performance. An investment in a quality air filter made of sophisticated, breathable material will increase engine power instantly. It comes at a cheap cost. Additionally, changing the filter is a quick 30-second task. Just open the air box and switch the filters!
2. Colder Air
On winter days compared to summer ones, you may have observed that your turbocharged automobile feels more powerful. This is so because cold air stores more oxygen since it is thicker than warm air. Oxygenation is a key component of the combustion procedure. Oxygenation is a key component of the combustion procedure. As temperatures increase, air density decreases; your engine and turbocharger must work harder, reducing performance and power.
Installing a cool air feed is an efficient solution to solve this issue. But you should install it as far away from hot engine components as possible. You can install the cold air feed behind your vehicle’s front grille. Cold air feeds are quite affordable and typically easy to install. Although it may be necessary to make minor adjustments to the current air box.
3. CU Remapping
All contemporary engines are handled by the car’s ECU or (Engine Control Unit). It is a board computer that handles the settings for torque, fuelling, power, injection pressure, and injection timing. Each ECU is pre-configured with factory settings. However, these settings are typically not the optimum for your car. This is true especially if you want to maximize power and performance.
A performance ECU remap uploads configuration settings to your engine’s ECU. This process effectively optimizes your engine’s power without compromising dependability. It boosts throttle response, mounting torque outputs, and increasing BHP.
4. Exhaust
To boost the power and air intake of the engine, get rid of all this extra gas to work. This is where you get a new exhaust system.
If you get the correct piece of equipment, a performance exhaust may increase power. While you may purchase “performance” back boxes to make your engine sound better, they don’t offer any power increases (and in a few cases can hinder performance).
You should get a “cat-back” exhaust system if you want to notice any significant difference. Although it might be pretty expensive, it can give you a few additional BHP while allowing the engine to respire and rev relatively freely.
5. Upgrading The Intercooler
We mentioned before that increasing cold air intake creates major improvements in performance and BHP. Hence, with a turbocharged engine, an intercooler is a vital part of the process. Before the air penetrates the combustion chamber, turbochargers compress it. This creates high temperature, which heats the air, and the intercooler operates to keep things cool.
Today, many turbocharged cars have an intercooler. They are generally small and aren’t quite suitable to increase performance. You should invest in a large and efficient unit. If you place it in the grille, it will help keep the air relatively cooler. It will provide maximum performance and BHP.
Things To Keep In Mind In A Turbocharged Vehicle
Some think that turbochargers work like magic. As you are probably aware, the engine needs to breathe, but there are techniques to facilitate this breathing. When you have a turbocharged car, you need to consider a few things to keep it maintained. Let’s go through the five things you must never do when driving a turbocharged car.
- Don’t Run Your Car Immediately- We have a natural tendency to run our normal vehicles after starting them. But in turbocharged cars, things are different. In such a car, the engine needs to warm up. You also need to see that the oil goes to a proper temperature. This helps the car work efficiently.
- Don’t Switch Off Immediately- Make sure you don’t turn off your car after engaging in aggressive driving. If you wait for everything to cool down, the engine will have stable oil temperatures. This process makes it safe to turn off the engine.
- Don’t Lug The Engine- It’s not a good idea to drag your engine by driving slowly. But it should be ok if you shift up a gear. This overworks many components.
- Octane Fuel- You may already be aware of this, but don’t use fuel with a lower octane rating than what is advised. An engine with a turbo is often operating at a lower compression rate. Hence, you need higher octane gasoline to avoid knocking and other problems.
- Keep Check On The Turbo Lag- If you have a turbo that lags, do not crush the throttle. You can use two small size turbo instead of a large one to boost the engine. The smaller one spools faster for moderate speed and the large one starts at quite a high speed. This equally distributes the power in all rev ranges.
A Perfect Custom Turbo Kit Delivered!
Now that you know many things about turbo kits, it’s time to redefine your race car for a thrilling performance. There are companies like Red Eye Racecars who are experts in creating custom turbo kits for you. They also specialize in custom tinwork, chassis, roll cages, and exhaust systems. The affordable and cost-effective work is something to note about. The professionals’ experience and knowledge in this field have no limits. Trust their work and get ready to give a breathtaking show!