Hello all,
I thought some members would be interested in an update on the turbo conversion I had done by Dan Lawson of Competition Engineering in Phoenix, Arizona. I first gave details on it back in January. Anyway, I have about 1000 miles on it now. The quick update is that I am totally blown away. The car is everything I hoped for and more. More importantly, I HAVEN'T LAID A WRENCH ON IT SINCE I GOT IT BACK. Well, I did change the oil! Considering the scope of the conversion, this reflects design and workmanship of the highest order.
As a review, the original Pat Downs built, CB Performance 2165 was turbo'd with 20 lbs of boost. That's right, 20 lbs. I thought this was going to be way too much but, obviously, Dan knows what he's doing. The only engine mods were a head spacer to lower compression, larger cylinder hold down studs, and new oil pump. That's it.....Estimated horsepower is 300, which seems reasonable. My 2006 Mitsubishi EVO MR has a 2.0 with about 17 lbs of boost and makes about the same
The transmission was disassembled to put the tallest gears possible in it. It now has 3.44 final gears. With the rear tires I have, redline is something like 145-150 mph at 6000 rpm.
The turbo is a T03/T04 hybrid (I wanted boost at lower RPM) with a Tail boost controller. Dan made up all the intake and exhaust tubing himself and it's a work of art.
The real genius is the intercooler and cool air intake system. I wanted to run regular pump gas and I wanted reliability. This just isn't going to happen with the normal 'draw through' turbo that most people put on Spyders. You can't use an intercooler with a 'draw through' system. So, I wanted a 'blow through' system with intercooler. Intake temperatures will be several hundred degrees cooler with an intercooler. More horsepower, more reliability, pump gas.
The cool air intake would benefit any member with a Spyder. What Dan did is make a custom air inlet scoop under 1/2 of the grill over the engine (the other half is where the intercooler sits). This hooks to the fan shroud on the motor. The engine gets only the coolest air and my feeling is that there's some sort of ram air effect here. Why? Because--before--the original oil temp gauge on the dash ran about 1/3 from the bottom. Now, it barely moves off the peg. And we installed another oil temp gauge which--most of the time--doesn't move off the 140 degree peg. The hottest I've ever seen it is 150 and that was in the high 90's and idling in traffic. Dan did add a remote oil cooler with a fan set to come on at 180. It just never comes on.
Another genius thing he did was add an MSD electronic ignition that actually retards the timing as boost builds. As I understand it, it's set to retard the timing 1 degree for each pound of boost (it's adjustable). So, at 20 lbs of boost, I believe it is retarded 20 degrees. This is essential in an engine without a knock sensor.
It also has a fuel/air mixture gauge and I can monitor it for proper ratio (not on boost!, but a passenger can look at it).
The engine has an adjustable rev limiter and shift light. The rev limiter is set to 5800 and I have the shift light set to 5400.
Ok, Ok, how does it run? Awesome doesn't describe it. I don't drag race it, but prefer to run people on the highway from maybe 60 or 70 on up. So far, it has easily blow off a last generation Z06 Corvette, 911 Turbo, Mercedes E class AMG, various 2006 regular Corvettes, brand new Carrera S, Cayman S, Subaru WRX STI. Anything and everything. And it's not even close. I would say that, up to now, the Spyder is at least 10 lengths better than anything I've run from maybe 70 to 140.
Except for the Z06 and Turbo, I pretty much just leave it in fourth and floor it. Initially, they get a big jump, as the car doesn't begin making boost until about 3500 and the monster power starts at 4500. But it's so much fun to see them pull away several car lengths and then pass them like they're stuck in quicksand.
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