Turbo Hondas

[freakie]

Just thought id post some common misconceptions regarding turbo hondas, because i often get alot of pm's from people who have heard from the most unreliable of sources. This is from my own PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, not hearsay. Its what I've done, been through, going through, rectified etc etc.

Common Misconceptions:

- Turbo Hondas do not handle well, being FWD, they break traction, unsettle the car etc.

FACT: Turbo Hondas will handle well if you give them a good setup! The belief that the turbo upsets the balance of the car is the most common one i hear, but with a good turbo setup for the engine/chassis and suspension, they are fast! If you use too small a turbo, the increase in torque can induce wheelspin/understeer. But like in anything we do on the track, you can dial it out (perhaps with compromises in other areas).


Ill add more when i get some more time.

[tinkerbell]

Common Misconceptions:

- high compression engines (11:1 and higher) cant handle much boost

FACT:

[Q_ball]

Common Misconceptions:

- high compression engines (11:1 and higher) cant handle much boost

FACT:

FACT: Higher compression boosted motors provide better throttle response vs a setup with lower compression.
High comp + boost : Low comp + boost = More power : Less power..

In saying that though, its all in the tune!

[Q_ball]

Common Misconceptions:

- turbo Hondas are dangerous to drive under full boost

FACT:
They are NOT dangerous to drive, torque steer is actually a lot of fun
Learn to drive a boosted fwd in a safe environment, prior to pushing it around dangerously on public roads!

[mugsee]

Common Misconceptions:

- high compression engines (11:1 and higher) cant handle much boost

FACT:

High compression engines can't handle as much boost as the same engine with a lower compression, but can respectively still hold a bit of boost.

(correct me if I'm wrong)

[DLO01]

Just something I have noticed over the years.

Fact:

Low comp guys can brag about how much psi they run.

High comp guys can brag when they beat the low comp guys and then can brag about how little psi they run.

[Wlee2]

fact 95% of the people who are actually serious about turbo charging their car would not generally ask a forum, if they were serious it would cause a insane riot of internet mechanics, forum moderators and Ecu resellers

People who actually want to do this project for whatever reason dont need convincing..

if they needed convincing.. it doesnt sound like something they are 100% wanting to do.

most people who actually do get to the stage of finishing their project had friends that previously owned one or have experience in one (my point is its usually information from outside a forum)

turbo honda Myths are just that Myths. its no point trying to disprove it.. its like rumors it still spreads..

me 2 cents ^_^

[mugsee]

fact 95% of the people who are actually serious about turbo charging their car would not generally ask a forum, if they were serious it would cause a insane riot of internet mechanics, forum moderators and Ecu resellers

This is not a fact, its an opinion.

[Wlee2]

This is not a fact, its an opinion.

if you consider ozhonda a car forum then its fact ^_^

although stats has been seriously skewered after some people got banned. =P

[tinkerbell]

it is still an opinion... baseless or otherwise...

[DLO01]

I would consider my setup in my ITR to be a top setup. I did all the work, bar tunning and welding. In saying that I took my time (6 months). Over that time the car was only off the road for 3 weeks straight. Never had a problem to date. Top parts, top install, top tunning. I can say that 95%+ of my research has been from the internet over a 4 year period. For the majority its from Ozhonda. If you have a bit of experience you can sift out all the crap. Its not about where you ask, its more how switched on you are and how organised you are.

[freakie]

Myth 2: Turbo Hondas have heat issues and will never run 10 laps straight without a problem, stay NA you will stay out of trouble.

FACT2: This is true depending on what you mean in that it has heat issues. But Thats like saying brakes will overheat etc etc. Truth of the matter is, you wouldnt go out on the track with an half assed car, so why would you go on the track without proper cooling? The truth is, turbo hondas do run into heat in their oil, water, and general under hood temps, but how hard is it to implement simple things like oil coolers, low temp thermostats, cooling fan switches, hi pressure radiator caps etc. In fact, those things I just listed were on my car when we had it running NA. Not too hard if you ask me. Also previous to AKmotorworks (Andy) tuning my car, we used to have heat issues, but he did a few tuning tricks and the car has never run into heating problems since.

Therefore FACT: Implement good tuning, good cooling measures, Myth busted.

[freakie]

Myth 3: Boosted Engines will always wear out/break faster than NA engines.

FACT3: My experience has shown me that this is not entirely correct. The better statement is, engines which are pushed, ie make more power than they were designed from factory are more stressed and hence have shorter life. My engine was running on close to 3 years and saw a fair bit of track time, no issues. When it was pulled down for a full rebuild, the parts all still looked good according to my engine builder. When I was NA, the same sort of reliability when it was low power. When NA and making closer to 170kws, the engine showed alot more stress, ie Oil control rings wearing unevenly, rod/bearing clearances out (9.5k rpms at times).

So its my experience that the more power you make, the more stress you put on your engine. The unfortunate (or fortunate depending on how you look at it) thing is that a turbo powered car will always make a fair bit more power both at peak and the area of its powerband, hence adding to the stress of the engine more than the NA engine in MOST cases.

[.::F[L]Y::.]

Common Misconceptions:

- turbo Hondas are dangerous to drive under full boost

FACT:
They are NOT dangerous to drive, torque steer is actually a lot of fun
Learn to drive a boosted fwd in a safe environment, prior to pushing it around dangerously on public roads!

well thats not entirely true. Your old rice rocket was pretty dangerous

[Chi]

Had parts falling off it while we were behind it as well lol