Turbocharging a V8, advice

Turbocharging a V8, advice

Author
Discussion

fatjon

Original Poster:

2,233 posts

214 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
Just a minor correction. The AJP is not a heavily reworked Rover V8. It's a totally unique all alloy flat plane crank screaming racer. It was originally designed by MCD (Al Melling) for a Lola F1 car but they went bust and it was reworked/detuned for TVR and used only in the Cerbera and Tuscan racer. It was not replaced by the speed6 engine as such, for some years both were available but the production costs of the V8 meant TVR dropped it and carried on only with the less powerful S6 engine. The 4.2 AJP makes around 360BHP and the 4.5 a quoted 420BHP. In reality the only way to get above 400 with the 4.5 is to rework the engine management. Because of the basic F1 layout of the AJP it weighs in at 140Kg fully dressed, revs to 8Krpm and has huge potential for even higher power outputs. The 4.5 propels a Cerbera to 60 in 3.8 seconds and on to 190Mph+ so definitely not to be confused with a Rover V8!

http://www.mcdeng.co.uk/html/tvr.html

stevieturbo

17,275 posts

248 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
BlownC4 said:
Why quote 4 cylinder engine mods ????? This is all about V8,s , they are very different in the way they make power, 4,s are all about the imaginary BHP figures whereas V8s are about torque, i have absolutely no interest in BHP its a mathamatical equation supposedly derived from torque but never works that way on 4,s simply because they use revs to develope power, V8s use displacement and pure torque to move.
I have friends, with 4 cylinder cars, that will annihilate any car you've ever built.....and Ive no idea what power they have, as quite frankly their owners dont care. Its going fast that matters.

An engine is an engine, the same rules apply for making power. And not everything I was referring to was about 4cyl engines.


Everyone has their own ideas....you stick with yours, everyone else can move forward and build more powerful, and efficient engines, of all varieties.

BlownC4

34 posts

188 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
stevieturbo said:
BlownC4 said:
Why quote 4 cylinder engine mods ????? This is all about V8,s , they are very different in the way they make power, 4,s are all about the imaginary BHP figures whereas V8s are about torque, i have absolutely no interest in BHP its a mathamatical equation supposedly derived from torque but never works that way on 4,s simply because they use revs to develope power, V8s use displacement and pure torque to move.
I have friends, with 4 cylinder cars, that will annihilate any car you've ever built.....and Ive no idea what power they have, as quite frankly their owners dont care. Its going fast that matters.

An engine is an engine, the same rules apply for making power. And not everything I was referring to was about 4cyl engines.


Everyone has their own ideas....you stick with yours, everyone else can move forward and build more powerful, and efficient engines, of all varieties.
oooohhhhh lol carm down stevie, i was warned about this forum,lol.

If any of your 4 cylinder friends have a car that they drive everyday week in week out and drag race it , and the vehicle is easily capable of 200mph then i accept the challenge.lol

I only answered a question in the begining, if only we new what this AJP engine was going to be used for?

Still not to worry, i thought that this forum was about petrolheads discussing our hobby and giving advice and learning from others , obviously i was mistaken and its about a handful of ppl who think things MUST be done their way or no way.

You boys carry on ,i shall just watch until the day the inevitable post appears about "today my engine blew" .

Just as a matter of interest how many of you actually drive your high powered modified vehicles everyday,winter summer etc ????

Chillout!

fatjon

Original Poster:

2,233 posts

214 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
track days and drag strip only. it's going in an omega shell

Boosted LS1

21,189 posts

261 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
Blown c4, I think Stevie drives his car on a more or less daily basis plus he brings it to the Pod from Northern Ireland which is a very respectable drive for a few days racing.

stevieturbo

17,275 posts

248 months

Wednesday 10th September 2008
quotequote all
BlownC4 said:
stevieturbo said:
BlownC4 said:
Why quote 4 cylinder engine mods ????? This is all about V8,s , they are very different in the way they make power, 4,s are all about the imaginary BHP figures whereas V8s are about torque, i have absolutely no interest in BHP its a mathamatical equation supposedly derived from torque but never works that way on 4,s simply because they use revs to develope power, V8s use displacement and pure torque to move.
I have friends, with 4 cylinder cars, that will annihilate any car you've ever built.....and Ive no idea what power they have, as quite frankly their owners dont care. Its going fast that matters.

An engine is an engine, the same rules apply for making power. And not everything I was referring to was about 4cyl engines.


Everyone has their own ideas....you stick with yours, everyone else can move forward and build more powerful, and efficient engines, of all varieties.
oooohhhhh lol carm down stevie, i was warned about this forum,lol.

If any of your 4 cylinder friends have a car that they drive everyday week in week out and drag race it , and the vehicle is easily capable of 200mph then i accept the challenge.lol

I only answered a question in the begining, if only we new what this AJP engine was going to be used for?

Still not to worry, i thought that this forum was about petrolheads discussing our hobby and giving advice and learning from others , obviously i was mistaken and its about a handful of ppl who think things MUST be done their way or no way.

You boys carry on ,i shall just watch until the day the inevitable post appears about "today my engine blew" .

Just as a matter of interest how many of you actually drive your high powered modified vehicles everyday,winter summer etc ????

Chillout!
Actually one of then did 210mph in a standing 1.25 mile run, and he did drive it to the venue, although it was not a daily driver.
So it isnt just capable...it has actually done it.

There is nothing to be warned about. Everyone has their own ideas. But the reality is, stating that any boosted engine over 10psi must use a CR of about 8.0:1 is just ludicrous.

And when pushing the boundaries, anyone who hasnt blown an engine, clearly isnt going very fast. Its an unfortunate fact of life with reasearch.

Im sure if we all stayed at 8.0:1, and 11psi, we'd all go rather slowly, but very reliably.

BlownC4

34 posts

188 months

Thursday 11th September 2008
quotequote all
Stevie this bit simply isnt true.

Im sure if we all stayed at 8.0:1, and 11psi, we'd all go rather slowly, but very reliably.

I know of many dragcars and hotrods running less boost with this CR and hitting 9.0sec and one in particular this weekend coming will i suspect dip into the 8,s. The low CR gives you reliability you can then add 10 11 12 psi and NoS etc and run consistent low 9 and 8,s ,its not just the motor that makes you go fast, gearing is crucial, last year i ran a 32 model b with a BBB with very little work on the motor to prove this very point, it started in the high 12,s and after many runs ,diff swaps and calculations it ended up runing 10.41 WITHOUT a blower ,BIG cam,NoS or high CR ratio,ON STREET TYRES and not street strip just big wide street only tyres, the one thing it did have was BIG torque as standard, it was normally aspirated using a 750 vac secs holley and open headers ,nothing special, no tricks nothing.The point i was making to quite a few racers was that you dont need to keep banging thousands into an engine to run quick , you need to work clever, match the torque with the gears and you can have a very quick,reliable car without sacrificing reliability.

Now fatjon has stated the vehicle is going to be used for track and strip we have more of a clue as to what spec the engine could go to.

I know your car steve and its very impressive and noway am i doubting or dismissing your or anyone elses experience or comments but Fatjon asked for advice and its all well and good saying you need to have big boost and high CR,s but maybe just maybe he would want good reliable power with longevity without spending thousands.

There are 2 sides to every coin and i was posting my opinion for someone who was apparently new to V8,s.

You have to remember what is was like for you when you first started with v8,s , sometimes we forget the starting point and expect others to jump straight to our level which we are used to and strive to go further but a V8 newbie needs to start gently, it wont take long to catch up as the mods are outhere, much more so than when we started.

wizzbilly

955 posts

194 months

Thursday 11th September 2008
quotequote all
depends what the car is used for i think

lower compreshion for daily drive with plenty of boost

higher compreshion for track /drag car

stevieturbo

17,275 posts

248 months

Thursday 11th September 2008
quotequote all
lower compression for a daily driver makes even less sense.

Why build a less efficient engine thats going to get used more ??

For a race engine, that may be held flat out for long periods, lower compression may have some benefits.

But for most other applications, as low as 8.0:1, is the territory for a serious high boost engine.

Although in saying that, Ive a friend who runs a 2.0 4cyl with 10.0:1 and 45psi boost.
I dont know how he gets away with it myself !!!!!

GreenV8S

30,227 posts

285 months

Thursday 11th September 2008
quotequote all
stevieturbo said:
Although in saying that, Ive a friend who runs a 2.0 4cyl with 10.0:1 and 45psi boost. I dont know how he gets away with it myself !!!!!
If you're measuring boost pressure in the intake manifold as normal then what you're measuring is how hard you're having to force air into the engine not how much is actually getting in. If it isn't breathing well then you could have masses of boost and still not get much air into the chamber.

stevieturbo

17,275 posts

248 months

Thursday 11th September 2008
quotequote all
GreenV8S said:
stevieturbo said:
Although in saying that, Ive a friend who runs a 2.0 4cyl with 10.0:1 and 45psi boost. I dont know how he gets away with it myself !!!!!
If you're measuring boost pressure in the intake manifold as normal then what you're measuring is how hard you're having to force air into the engine not how much is actually getting in. If it isn't breathing well then you could have masses of boost and still not get much air into the chamber.
Its breathing very well.....GT40 based unit last time I checked.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

191 months

Friday 12th September 2008
quotequote all
I'll admit some of this is WAY above my experience and knowledge..

But I'll pass on what I've read elsewhere.

The low CR (8.5:1 I think) of the Mustang Cobra (2003/4) appears to be the limiting factor for many race engines. Mostly because they have the blowers running at as high a level as is efficiently sensible, yet the engine will still take more.

A higher CR with less boost would probably see more HP.

The LS engine builders I've spoken to in the US seem to say 9.1:1 CR is good for superchargers and works well with street used turbo setups. The lowest they seem to say use is 8.5:1 but only with BIG turbo's and for such a setup.

GreenV8S

30,227 posts

285 months

Saturday 13th September 2008
quotequote all
stevieturbo said:
Its breathing very well.....GT40 based unit last time I checked.
Maybe very late closing on the inlet to reduce the effective CR? Otherwise, I'm puzzled how he's getting away with it.

stevieturbo

17,275 posts

248 months

Saturday 13th September 2008
quotequote all
He's using big cams....and he's been at the top of his game for about 10 years now.
Obviously not on pump fuel either...