America's last, best hope

[Zanza]

I know nothing about engines, so can you explain why in a dumbed down way? Just too much power in too small a package?

As far as I understand it from talking to engineers, getting that much power out of 2 liters means a lot of mechanical stress from high revs, very high turbo pressure etc. I wouldn't be surprised if the turbo charger needs to be replaced at some point.

[Zanza]

Did you ever buy that Merc, viper? Or did you go for the Evo after all?

[CountDeMoney]

This one looks like it's crying over America's future in the auto industry.


Your cars suck. Good day sir.

Nonsense.  It says "I'm an American, and this is my massive cock."

[DontSayBanana]

As far as I understand it from talking to engineers, getting that much power out of 2 liters means a lot of mechanical stress from high revs, very high turbo pressure etc. I wouldn't be surprised if the turbo charger needs to be replaced at some point.

Not if the turbine's well-designed, but that's what really makes or breaks a turbocharger- how well the turbine matches the output of the compressor.  I've only heard of that kind of horsepower coming out of a stage-III or even a stage-IV turbo, so that probably means the compressor's going to be doing more of the heavy lifting.

[Zanza]

I have no idea what a stage III or IV turbo charger is. Google suggests it's only for after-market turbo chargers.

As far as mechanical stress goes, it's what I heard from developers and aftersales people in the automotive industry here. In the end, they actually design and build cars, so they should know. 

[DGuller]

I have no idea what a stage III or IV turbo charger is. Google suggests it's only for after-market turbo chargers.

As far as mechanical stress goes, it's what I heard from developers and aftersales people in the automotive industry here. In the end, they actually design and build cars, so they should know.

My guess is that Germans are way more conservative with boost than other automakers.  You can easily add power to turbo engines just by adding boost, but the long-term costs of it are uncertain and probably high.

My Jetta has a 2 liter turbo engine rated at 200 hp, and you can add about 40 more just by flashing the ECU, which allows more boost.  If you upgrade some parts, you can add even more boost.  IMO, that's kinda dumb, though, the stock engine is enough to earn me a ticket for either recklessly excessive speed, or unsafe acceleration, without really trying.  Besides, there is only so much power front wheel drive cars can take before it starts getting pointless.

[CountDeMoney]

My Jetta has a 2 liter turbo engine rated at 200 hp, and you can add about 40 more just by flashing the ECU, which allows more boost.  If you upgrade some parts, you can add even more boost.  IMO, that's kinda dumb, though, the stock engine is enough to earn me a ticket for either recklessly excessive speed, or unsafe acceleration, without really trying.  Besides, there is only so much power front wheel drive cars can take before it starts getting pointless.

You can still add a lot more horspower by changing out the air intake system, the exhaust, installing a 3' spoiler and adding a Puerto Rican flag to your rear view mirror.

[KRonn]

My Jetta has a 2 liter turbo engine rated at 200 hp, and you can add about 40 more just by flashing the ECU, which allows more boost.  If you upgrade some parts, you can add even more boost.  IMO, that's kinda dumb, though, the stock engine is enough to earn me a ticket for either recklessly excessive speed, or unsafe acceleration, without really trying.  Besides, there is only so much power front wheel drive cars can take before it starts getting pointless.

You can still add a lot more horspower by changing out the air intake system, the exhaust, installing a 3' spoiler and adding a Puerto Rican flag to your rear view mirror.

[DontSayBanana]

I have no idea what a stage III or IV turbo charger is. Google suggests it's only for after-market turbo chargers.

As far as mechanical stress goes, it's what I heard from developers and aftersales people in the automotive industry here. In the end, they actually design and build cars, so they should know. 

Stages are just the way the companies differentiate their turbos- my point was that I've only seen 70-100HP boosts on really high-end turbos.  III and IV are high-end and ultra-high-end (don't think I've ever seen a IV on a street-legal car).  Again, though, a common factor is that the higher you go, the broader the gaps in the rotors (slower turn for less resistance), so the higher you go, the more the compressor's doing the actual work.

EDIT: Doing a little more homework on this, and the trick seems to be reboring the engine for an ultra-low compression ratio.

Also, at Seedy.

[Zanza]

When I made my original comment, I had OEM engines in mind as that's all I know. The stage concept does not seem to exist there and OEMs obviously only build street-legal cars.

I am sure that for aftermarket stuff like you describe here, the lifetime of the components will be even less.

[mongers]

What the article doesn't mention is Caddy is also unveiling a new behemoth in 2013, the XTS.

The thing looks like it's grimacing because it's trying too hard to look like a Bentley.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

well, it's certainly no babylon 5