Chris_Lum

heh, well skill i can work on. Care to elaborate on the facilities and money part? Are you saying i'll need a lot of money to replace broken/worn parts? If so, what parts should i expect? This is the type of info i would love to hear, so i can decide whether or not it's worth it to try keeping a turbo track car running. I also won't be competing or anything, just maybe 5-6 HPDEs a year.

cthree

Like a shop with a lift and machine tools and enough money to replace an engine every year. In other words if you aren't a fully equipped race shop I wouldn't bother trying to do it on a race car. On an occasional track car figure it will need to be in the shop on a regular basis.

Chris_Lum

what would be needing to be fixed/replaced on a regular basis?

twohoos

^The motor.

Chris_Lum

lol ok, you guys are being so vague. So you saying my motor will probably blow? throw a rod?

cbender

Are you actually looking for information on the parts that are likely to fail (and what you might do about them), or are you simply hoping that, despite what's already been written, someone will pop up and say, "oh, don't worry about it; you'll be fine." ???

My take: the advice you're being given is probably right. For an occaisional-use track car, you probably won't have any problems. Start to drive the car hard and regularly on the track, however, and parts are just going to fail on you, including (with almost certainty unless you've already built it) the motor.

During the time I had mine, I suffered (in rough order of when things happened), clutch problems, fuel tuning problems, oil-temperature problems, coolant temperature problems, fuel delivery problems, turbo center cartridge failures, etc. Around the time I had concluded that valve overlap was the next big thing I needed to address for a car used regularly on the track, I sold it. The buyer blew the engine within a year of owning it.

Oh, and unless you've got a vented hood, you'll start melting stuff in the engine bay. Even with a vented hood, stuff will start to go funky, particularly anything that's not metal. And, if you've not already done so, plan on upgrading your rear diff.

Bottom line: there's no doubt that you can run a turbocharged car on the track, but if you're really looking for a forced induction track-toy, just sell yours and put on a supercharger. You'll probably go several seasons before you actually need to fix a whole lot of stuff.

Chris_Lum

Thanks Cbender, your post is exactly what i was looking to hear. I wasn't looking to hear a "don't worry you'll be fine" nor was i ignoring other posts, in fact, Cthree said for an occasional track car that i'd be in the shop on a regular basis! So you saying that i probably won't have problems is somewhat different than the advice already given.

The list of parts that you went through is exactly what i wanted to hear though. And the comment about melting stuff is good to know also, no one ever mentioned that before. I was looking for information that would help me make a decision--so thank you!

Although i won't be going to the track competitively, I'll more than likely go N/A when i decide to start going back to the track. Doesn't sound like it's worth it to try to keep the car is good condition under FI. My car only has 15k mi on it, so i'm not looking to damage it so soon!

cbender

My sense is that you'll probably do just fine for a handful of events, but nobody really knows. Unlike a supercharger setup, how "safe" is "safe" depends hugely on your fuel tuning, particularly during on-off throttle transitions. That, in turn, depends on the hardware and the talent behind the settings used in the software. It's a whole lot easier to tune boost when it's a linear function of engine speed (which is the case for superchargers), and it's really difficult to get the partial throttle tuning with a turbo dialed in under anything other than track-conditions. You might want to bring your tuner along to the track to do some real-time datalogging to see how your logs look.

But don't turn up the boost -- with the stock compression, adding more than 7-8 psi of boost really is pushing the limits of what the motor can handle. Keep an eye on your coolant gauge (and oil temp, if you have a gauge or a sensor hooked into your EMS). And give the turbo a LOT of time to cool down after coming off the track. Open your hood when you get into the paddock to let the excess heat escape. And be sensitive to your boost gauge, as wastegates are sometimes too slow to prevent boost spikes, and (on the track) it's easy to forget to actually look. Watch your EGTs -- I smoked a center cartridge or two -- and your exhaust for signs of smoking.

Bottom line: yeah, you'll probably be fine. Go enjoy. Worst case, something breaks. You wouldn't be the first person to have to go buy parts. It kinda comes with the territory.

CB

Chris_Lum

Thanks for the advice. I may try an HPDE or two, but the more i think about it, the more i don't want to risk the well being of the car. It's my first nice/newer car....i had no problem throwing my integra around the the track, but my integra didn't cost 22k! Plus, i'm not a HUGE fan of FI....it's fun, but i love revving the crap out of N/A honda engines! This may just be the excuse i was looking for to go back to N/A. =)

Like i said though, i'll probably try an event or two so i'll be sure to come back to this thread to let people know how the car has done. Hopefully i won't have TOO much to report

LegendaryHarry

unless.... you build the motor for boost like lower compression pistons and such?

i mean if your gonna fork out couple grand on cooling parts or have a couple grand for the "just in case ish breaks fund"

wouldnt building the motor for boost make it as reliable as oem?

just something i was thinking about for your situation.