My unusual turbo build

s4060

Registered
Okay so this story isnt going to be interesting for some of you, but personally I like reading about peoples builds so I thought I'd give back in a small way here...

So I have been racing my Supra in Time Attack for the last 10years, and basically to take the car to the next level I would have to strip it. Im not willing to do that to such a beautiful car, so it's getting the bolt in roll cage removed, Recaro seats back in and a new paint job. Then it will be a weekend cruiser and event machine. So, I had to find a replacement for the Supra, 'cause I like speed, I choose a motorbike engined Open Wheeler. I choose this for a number of reasons, first; I have had R1's all my riding life. Some with 5000kms, some with 20,000kms and one with 40,000kms. I have ridden them all the same - HARD (not mechanically hard, just hard). So I know that bike engines, are 'race ready'. They do stupid high revs, they put up wiht extreme punishment and they are designed to do so!

So I researched and bought a hayabusa powered open wheeler. Mostly for the amazing torque curve, which is what matters most in racing. Also I choose it for it's durability and the experience out there modifying it. Once i had the race car in my shed I started researching and found out that the hayabusa engine doesnt do well in corners unless it has a dry sump (remember the race car doesnt lean over like a bike). So I coughed up the stupid amount of coin for a dry sump. The car also had a fuel leak and dodgy FPR along with suspect fuel rail and an ECU that had injector drivers that were burned out and only worked every now and then. Obviously I got a good deal on the car. Now I am still plodding through the installs/fixes for the above.... whilst I do that I know in my heart the 170hp it is making wont be enough to keep me happy. So enter Powerhouse Motorcycles. People say he knows turbo engines, everything I read puts my confidence in him, why would I go anywhere else?!

First I needed a donor engine. Choice of choices is a Gen 1 for turbo's (most know the block and valves are better). I know the gen 2 crank is better but given the dry sump and long flat torque curve (not need to rev it like crazy) we should be safe there. So I get one cheap for $AU4,000 it's a street fighter that is ugly as sin and rough as guts, but the owner was an ex-racer and had treated the engine with respect. I pull the engine and sell the frame, pc3 and bits for $1,900. $2,100 bone stock engine.

So bone stock is no good to me.... Enter Powerhouse! I jsut love that name! hahaha! So I give them a bell over email (Im in Australia and honestly if I was in the states Id just drop the engine of and laugh when I picked it up done by the best) any ways we start the ball rolling. My first thought was to shoot for 300hp on the stock motor, cause I have the room to run a decent intercooler and can also run e85 easily.... now during this email session with Powerhouse, I find a "deal" on some Carillo rods for $AU500. SOLD!!! I u se inverted comma's because that deal.. made me reconsider the 300hp goal..

Now as you all probably know, rods are the first point that the engine goes (350hp as long as the tune is good). But then I start reading... most of what I read is pain and anguish for those who keep stock internals and then turbo.... I think most know where this is heading.. I end up ordering Wosner pistons to go with the Carillo rods, then take Powerhouse's recommendation on some parts that will make it bulletproof at 400hp (think ape, arp, cometic). Now I have similar views to powerhouse, if a part doesnt do the job and/or isnt quality, I dont use it. You know when you get a part from Powerhouse or a recommendation its a "no BS" situation. Frank KNOWS what works and what doesnt.

So here I am. Almost finished installing the parts that were suspect and getting a turbo engine built to replace the current one.... though the turbo engine wont see the track for about a year (ive gotta get the current one all sorted with logs for what is normal for temps, knock, pressures.. also have to size the coolers to suit the current one and also calculate cooler sizes for 400hp. So the car is 319kg wet. Has:

Suzuki Hayabusa 2007 Generation 1 1298cc, built by John Coonan.
External electric water pump with twin PWR radiators
HD output shaft with output shaft support
630 chain and Subaru diff
New 1st gear wheel just fitted, bottom half of engine overhauled
Crank, pistons and rods standard Hayabusa
Head gas flowed by Jim Gallager, over size Kibble White valves
Tighe Cams with adjustable cams sprockets
Gonzo exhaust system
The second set of injectors have been removed and now running single set ( I have ID1300cc's to be used for turbo engine) and bosch fuel pump
Oil Cooler removed and new 40row cooler installed with -16 lines.
Tuned to 170hp on 98 octane fuel.
SBD Motorsport Dry Sump installed

Few pics for you guys:


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Very cool car. I do a lot of turbo Busa T-Rex’s, sand rails, and open wheel race cars as I’m one of the few guy that knows how to build those engines, but also tune them as I’m one of the few that has a dyno to accommodate those chassis.

This will be arriving here in a few weeks:
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Currently a stock gen 1 engine. The driver of this car finishes 2nd or 3rd in the championship points every year and he’s out powered by 150hp... the guy can drive.

It will be getting one of our supercharger kits and a stand alone ecu. I’m confident he’s gonna be the champion this year with the new found power once we can get it dialed in.
 
WOW! That is friggen cool! When you get it out you need to share some videos with us so we can all see you tearing it up. Thank you for sharing!!
 
Thanks all for your kind words!

Yes Aerial atom would be fun and fast, and street legal, not sure where else you would drive it though. Also it weighs over 600kg (almost twice mine). Weight is the great killer in racing.

Should have some videos at the end of Feb. I will be sure to post them up. Won’t be turbo vids, but it should be entertaining none the less!
 
Okay, I know I promised videos.... but I decided to use the run in Feb for a testing run for both the motor and setup..... both were terrible, it had terrible mid oversteer and entry understeer. On top of which the water temps were spiking. The water temps were due to the location of the water temp sensor and also the new electric water pump (EWP).

Let me explain.. the Electric water pump had an air pocket so its efficiency was vastly reduced. It was already a small pump, so that meant it was completely inadequate for pumping through the two radiators. This was further exasperated by the difference in water temp between the sensor and the head. Basically I had the EWP to come on at 70DegC, buuuuuuuuuuuuut the temp would boil in the head before the temp sensor would see that temp, so the pump would only come on after the water in the head was over temp.... boiling water just causes steam. Steam causes more steam and all of a sudden you have an overheating engine....

As you can imagine this is all really easy to say now with 20-20 hindsight vision, but at the time it was a real head f*k to work out! So now the EWP comes on 5 seconds after the engine starts (it idles at 2500rpm for oil pressure) and then shuts down 180secs after teh engine stops (to help cooling). I remounted the EWP so all should be good.

SO! Bear with me and I will have some videos from the 6th April.

For those that desperately want vid (or are bored with a beer in hand).... here is a terrible video from testing (so nowhere near full speed):

 
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Okay, I know I promised videos.... but I decided to use the run in Feb for a testing run for both the motor and setup..... both were terrible, it had terrible mid oversteer and entry understeer. On top of which the water temps were spiking. The water temps were due to the location of the water temp sensor and also the new electric water pump (EWP).

Let me explain.. the Electric water pump had an air pocket so its efficiency was vastly reduced. It was already a small pump, so that meant it was completely inadequate for pumping through the two radiators. This was further exasperated by the difference in water temp between the sensor and the head. Basically I had the EWP to come on at 70DegC, buuuuuuuuuuuuut the temp would boil in the head before the temp sensor would see that temp, so the pump would only come on after the water in the head was over temp.... boiling water just causes steam. Steam causes more steam and all of a sudden you have an overheating engine....

As you can imagine this is all really easy to say now with 20-20 hindsight vision, but at the time it was a real head f*k to work out! So now the EWP comes on 5 seconds after the engine starts (it idles at 2500rpm for oil pressure) and then shuts down 180secs after teh engine stops (to help cooling). I remounted the EWP so all should be good.

SO! Bear with me and I will have some videos from the 6th April.

For those that desperately want vid (or are bored with a beer in hand).... here is a terrible video from testing (so nowhere near full speed):

That was awesome to watch and listen to! Thanks for the share. :thumbsup:
 
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