Turbo Lag

[derek_ski99]

You know, I've done a lot of research on turbos. Theres a lot of obvious points, such as size determining lag and such, and the use of bi-turbos to also eliminate lag, while still maximizing horsepower. BUT, alot of people talk about lag being a serious issue with turbos, and one of the downsides to having a turbo. Well, to be honest with you, turbo lag has been virtually eliminated in this day and age. I was watching horsepower tv, and the guys seemed to agree. Saying that turbo lag is actually very overrated. I dunno, just thought I would mention this, with the amount of turbo talk going on right now.

On a side note, I was reading I believe Car and Driver...they had an article on Mr. Diesel, creator of the Diesel engine...I think it was in a comparo with diesel pick ups. Its a sad story...the guy killed himself, through himself overboard on a ship because his ideas werent really all that accepted. Turns out, around 90 years later, diesels are widely used. Bet hes either beaming up in heaven, or kicking himself.

[flalero]

Yeah, most turbo kits nowadays are designed to eliminate turbo lag. This all depends on the size of the turbo, the length of the header, and the amount of intake piping. Watching NOPI Tunervision on Speed, most of the guys that race in the NOPI series run very big turbos with lots of piping. They eliminate lag with the use of nitrous.

[Silentalero]

heather aka alerogurl21 might know a thing about turbo lag, lol...especially off the light ;)

[Final-Reality]

Don't forget the compression ratios of early, non-intercooled turbocharged engines was horrendously low, like 7:1 or there abouts because engine design just wasnt as advanced and engine knock was harder to eliminate, so low, low compression was their way of solving this. Such a low compression ratio will definately help create a lot of turbo lag... on a modern 9, 9.5 or even 10:1 CR engine will be very lively off-boost and of course on-boost :)

[jabartram]

Caterpillar, has just released a twin turbo motor, but its a low pressure turbo pressureing a high pressure turbo, turbo lag is eliminated and boost potientals are very good, impellars are titanium now, and we have seen a couple of high pressure turbo impellars dissenigrate.

[nguyen187]

i don't know if i could completey agree with you guys here, yeah i agree that it is nearly eliminated, but not completely. My car for instance doesn't really spool up to full boost til about 3300 rpms, there is lag, no questions about it, but you also gotta consider that with or without a turbo, the motor before those rpms really doesn't produce all that much power anyhow! I guess i coulda gotten a smaller turbo then lag wouldn't be such an issue, or spend $1900 on a ball bearing unit, but in reality it is there.

its just a game where if you get a small turbo to avoid lag than that turbo would be outta steam at the upper rpm ranges. and the if you were to get a larger turbo for more power then your gonna get lag. The other weekend when we went to the track there was a 900hp Supra, bad as hell, the car had more lag than anything i've ever seen, but when full boost hit, all hell broke loose!!!!!!! Its just a matter of efficiency and matching the turbo to your needs.

oh yeah i also saw that show horsepower tv, probably the reason why there is no turbo lag is cause they were using a fully built i think, small block chevy, there is quite a differece, 5.7+ liters!

[theirishgonzo]

i regulary get to drive a twin turbo stealth and it is a 92 but befor you get out of the 3k range it drives like a normal car with around 200 hp but after 3k the turbos are spooled up and it gets nasty and fun to drive with around 400 hp with the few mods i have done. the nice thing is it is a good dailey driver if you dont put your foot into it it drives nice and when you want the power you just have toask for it.

[-Alero-]

besides even if there is turbo lag , your car wil lstart to pick up at about 2.5 rpm's anyway. wich is kinda good because you dont wanna be peeling out too much and loose all your traction in a drag race, besides my car really picks up at about 3 rpm's anyways

[havik]

If you have no lag, you have no turbo. You also have no huge torque increase to look forward to. - Corky Bell

[PSI2High]

I own a turbo charged car myself. The size of the turbo makes a large difference in the amount of lag, but also the material it is made from. Personally I've not seen an RPM my turbo winds up at, I press the gas in no more than a second later you can heard the turbo spooling up and bam, I'm gone. The stage 3 kit (shich isn't released yet and I plan on getting) for my car replaces the turbo with a large one, although the wheel? is made with a new light weight material that has less lag than the stock turbo, even though it is much larger. So theres alot of things that factor into turbo lag from the size to the material, and probably even the manufacture. I really don't see lag as a problem although, just a way of teasing the guy beside you, making them think they have a chance the few moments untill my turbo sends me wailing down the track :lol: