Turbo placement - where is best ?
 

Been looking at all the various kits available trying to analyse where is the best place to put a turbo on the 8 so I thought it would be worth discussing.
Some initial thoughts ......

On manifold :
pros
*stealth
*Lower centre of gravity
*less heat to the engine bay

cons
*size of turbo able to be fitted
*more prone to road damage (stones etc)
*no bling factor
*hard to get to to work on
*some suggestion that exhaust ports get overheated ?

In engine bay:
pros
*Bling - looks nice
*Easy to get to for repair and tweaking
*can fit any size turbo you want

cons
*excessive heat in the engine bay
*lots of extra exhaust pipework to crack and leak
*possibility of frying electrics close to turbo

Rear mounted:
pros
*takes heat away from engine area
*long pipework for extra cooling
*adds weight to rear - better than adding it to front

cons
*easily damaged pipework and turbo
*Difficulty running pipes of decent diameter
*not as efficient ?
*rare
*Intake air - difficulty getting clean/dry air

The pros for the manifold mounted turbo are very important and the cons don't bother me.

best is very relative. Lower center of gravity and balance would be the deal for most. I'd like an in ur face turbo though, lol. My car isn't set up to handle for the most part anyways...

From an installation point of view...there are advantages to the "in your face" installs. After putting in a Mazport Type 1 kit.....I realize the type 3 Kit would be a lot easier to fit the Turbo in :D:

I'm going to have to go with rear mounted.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/a...9000e3a63d.htm

Hmmmm... a twin remote turbo ....

I didn't catch that episode before that setup was really cool. God they make it look so easy on that show. I highly doubt that tuning on an Rx8 could be as easy as that, haha.

i wonder who voted for rear mounted?????:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

beers :beer:

manifold. Only con is its hard to work on. The air is hotter there and will spool fastest.

i think its logical to use a rear mounted turbo if a kit comes for the 8.
reason is the pros of that set-up will REALLY benefit the 8 in terms of heat and reliability... 8's can't run huge turbo's and are not meant to be boosted fuckin high with stock high comp rotors anyways... so this is what will save the 8 from all those poorly tuned fi 8's from an early death...

i already know those with the current greddy kits or anything else thats manifold mounted may disagree... however, i don't have a turbo and i think somewhat my opinion are not biased.

so if they did come with a rear mounted turbo kit by the time my warranty is over...i just may consider one with that set-up. for the right price of courses.

i mean, whats so bad about the rear mounted??? longer tubes? drop of 1 psi?
from what i recall... the t18z or the small greddy turbo still has room left to be boosted higher, right? and speaking in all modesty, i would not run the 8 with boost to make the 8 over 300whp. so this may be good.

someone make a kit!

someone is already making a kit https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-major-horsepower-upgrades-93/rotorocks-remote-turbo-stage-ii-126645/

the direct cons of a remote or rear mounted turbo setup is cost. Thats a lot of piping that you are going to have to pay to get fabricated.

And if you watched the video, lubrication is also a problem that needs to be addressed.

Ummm.. his kit is already made.. just upgrading it...

But I like the whole top-mount action.. it's easy on the eyes and easy to get to.

Rear mounted has the additional con of having NO access to clean air for the intake - I've only seen bastardized efforts at locations, even the best of them is in a wheellwell - awful!


S

^^how i felt... too bad there is "always" a trade-off.

this is so mind boggling. sure there's some way of having a better air-box location. even in the trunk?...hmmm...nah.
we need a pic of a stripped car.

yeah...i guess a lil further back from the manifold is the best place. as long as it can be far enough back to not vent heat back into the engine...
just noticed...what if your cat blew out? for those who choose to stay with a cat...your turbo is fucked with the rear mount...bad idea.

i know you know more than me.. so bear with me. :lol: but i dont think so. im sure some sort of roof mounted (or side mounted behind the rear door windows or thereabouts) air ducts could be built. supercars do it all the time.

the real problem i see is that you would be exposing the turbo directly to the street. and as i use my 8 as a dd, i just dont see that as plausible. but maybe its fine.

i'm sure in the case of that sts corvette, if it was a hard-top version, some scoop or whatnot could've been fabbed up to use an airbox in the trunk.
kinda like a turbo mr2 style...if you think about it...the concept is similar.

i've grown accustomed to seeing in front of the engine. i think it's cool for a couple of reasons. having access to it and having more size options are among the most important of the reasons. access was my biggest complaint for my MR2 and i suspect sizing may be an issues with my current Rx-7 project. i won't be turbocharging my current Rx-8, but i might in a future project and i think the front placement is the ideal solution for my concerns.

True, i forgot about that, I wonder how the STS turbo handles that :lol:

Likely you would have to get a metal core cat to make it work.

Mine blew, nothing happened.
That cat is dual core, remember? 1rst half burns and clogs the second half. You are done. no more boost, no more GO, Turbo is safe and sound.

Ask me how I know :)


There is nothing wrong with hanging the turbo in the back.
The intake placement is also not an issue. intake filter sitting inside the rear fender is perfect. It is about 2-3" higher than your tail pipe tips, there is never water there even at high speed hitting a huge puddle, and the air up there is as clean as it gets anywhere else, plus it is truly cold.

Ask me how I know :)

There is no risk of exposing the pressure pipe. 2" alluminized steel pipe fits perfectly well on the other side of the differential (parralel to exhaust) held with the cross braces. It is no more exposed to anything than your exhaust pipes.

turbo itself is not afraid of water, and you have much higher chances of ripping apart your muffler (and you don't see it happening anywhere do you?), than damaging that turbine, by banging it on something.

By the way all of this questions and issues were addressed long ago in my "another turbo" thread, where the initial build took place more than a year ago (and almost 30,000 miles)

Vlad

correct me if im wrong but the Mazsport type 2 is a front mount engine bay turbo while the type 1 and 3 are on the manifold right?

rotorocks: Could you show me where the filter sits (with a picture) I'm VERY interested in your kit, I'm just wondering if I should get a custom box w/ duct built (or maybe you might incorporate one into your design) for the filter.

http://lh4.google.com/vdarevsk/RlNRh...jpg?imgmax=800

See where the oil pump is located, above the exhaust tip?
Exactly in the same spot but on the opposite side, currently I have stuffed the intake filter. If you ever looked under that fender, you'll see how big, clean and secure of a place that pocket is.

Wow.......... My eyes hurt :icon_no2: