13 replies to this topic

[bakermanisbakin]

Any suggestions on which route to take?
I am driving to south of italy in my 1275gt in the summer and would like a little more grunt to play with on the magnificent curves and turn of the amalfi coast!!!
I am looking for a combination of reliability for the long drive down,and quick response for when i am on the coastal and mountain roads once there !
Can anyone help?

[Ethel]

I'd say turbos hold nearly all the cards, the only one that's debatable is the throttle response. I reckon a belt charger would have little or no discernible advantage if you were trying hard.

A belt driven charger might be quicker & easier to fit though.

[Cooperman]

Personally I like superchargers as they run cold, not mega-hot as a turbocharger does.
Turbochargers seem to have a 'sexy image', whatever that is in engineering terms. That does not make them reliable though.
Whichever you go for, make sure you do all the calculations correctly, get the compression ratio right and have a custom curved distributor to avoid the risk of the engine blowing up.

[DaveVader]

Personally, I'm going with a turbo and thus all my research and knowledge is on turbos and not superchargers.
I'm not sure I could tell you exactly why I went with a turbo, maybe because it's a more common mod, there's a vast amount of knowledge out there for it and some great results from 998 turbo minis all the way up to 1380 (which will be what I'll run).
You get a different power curve with a turbo (generally) I believe but it completely depends on your spec.

This is where I can tell you why I'm choosing to run a 1380 and not the more common 1293. Driveability. This car will be used as much as my wallet will allow, even if I'm just popping to the shops; the combination of bore size, cam and turbo will mean you can pootle along at 20mph like you're in a 998; you can then take it to a track and blast along at 120mph.

If I was you, I'd consider exactly what you want from the engine, how much it will cost to build, what you'll have to do to the shell to cope with the engine and the power and how much it will cost in fuel to get to Italy.

[new_zealand _minis]

problem with the eaton 45 suck through kit is the heat . thats the main killer

if my supercharged motor blows up again . im going turbo ... maby .. i like being the only known 1 of 2 people with eaton 45s on in new zealand

[bakermanisbakin]

I too am a big turbo fan,but am trying to go the route which eliminates turbo lag.
If any one has been to the amalfi coast will know what the roads are like !
Also I feel that by eliminating the lag when putting the power down also increases driveabilty and fuel consumption,also puts less sudden pressure jolts in the engine,thus making it less likely to got pop!!!
That is my theory anyway.

Is the temperature problem to do with the freezing up?
Because that can Aparentley be sorted by using a thermal block!/?
The joys of owning a mini startle me with confusion

[TopCatCustom]

I'm a supercharger fan, but to be honest neither really does it for me on an A-series! The last car I built had a trusty old Rover V8 and made 370bhp with a blower I rebuilt from the scrap heap myself

[Ethel]

The biggest advantage I can see for a run to Italy is the superior economy of Turbos. Surely lag will reduce the load on the gearbox since acceleration depends on torque. There needn't be much lag with a well designed system, and there's always Nitrous injection, if your pockets are deep enough; though, as you adapt you'll be on the throttle out of corners that bit earlier to compensate.

[DaveVader]

Head over to the turbo minis forum; you wont find many who complain about turbo lag, just chose the right turbo to fit your engine and you're sorted.
I'll be using a T3 (from the Metro Turbo) on the first version of my build, I had originally ruled this out on the grounds of it being too big, too old and not efficient enough, I then realised that a 1380 with a T3 will be fairly damn impressive.

[bakermanisbakin]

Is it more economical to run turbo , than to run supercharged ?
Ethel you seem to know what you are talking about! May I ask what you are runnIng?

[Wil_h]

Personally I like superchargers as they run cold, not mega-hot as a turbocharger does.
Turbochargers seem to have a 'sexy image', whatever that is in engineering terms. That does not make them reliable though.
Whichever you go for, make sure you do all the calculations correctly, get the compression ratio right and have a custom curved distributor to avoid the risk of the engine blowing up.

Are you insane, SCs get blooming hot. In fact the air temp comming out of an M45 will be much higher than any modern (or not so modern) turbo. If you are talking under bonnet temps, thenI bet there would be nowt in it between an SC an turbo setup (if they were both making the same power)

I too am a big turbo fan,but am trying to go the route which eliminates turbo lag.
If any one has been to the amalfi coast will know what the roads are like !
Also I feel that by eliminating the lag when putting the power down also increases driveabilty and fuel consumption,also puts less sudden pressure jolts in the engine,thus making it less likely to got pop!!!
That is my theory anyway.

Is the temperature problem to do with the freezing up?
Because that can Aparentley be sorted by using a thermal block!/?
The joys of owning a mini startle me with confusion

Turbocharged cars are no different to NA cars, there is always a compromise, if you want lots of power you need a big turbo, if you want a low boost threshold, you need a smaller turbo. Happily, turbo design has moved on leaps and bounds and this is now much less of a compromise.

Have a drive of a fiat 500 abarth, you would hardly know it had a turbo.

Is it more economical to run turbo , than to run supercharged ?
Ethel you seem to know what you are talking about! May I ask what you are runnIng?

Yes, yes and yes. The problem with SCs is that not only do you need to run them rich to keep them cool, but you need to drive the SC just as hard on cruise as you do on wide open throttle. With a turbo on cruise, it does nothing. My 998 turbo managed 50mps cruising to Le Mans last year, but it also has 120bhp. It starts making boost at a little over 2k and makes full boost at 3k. Luckily my car has 4 gears, so I can make the revs higher by selecting the correct one!!

[bakermanisbakin]

At the moment my mini is running a 1340 block with st4 head and 328 cam,
It has pressed steel rockers(roller tipped being fitted at mini speed as we speak).
What woild need to be done to make it reliable and quick fitting either of the aforementioned units?

[Wil_h]

Probably quite a lot. It will be too high compression and the valves will be to big (I'm guessing, if you make it too thin between the valves, the hotter burn from a turbo will lead to cracking).

So as a minimum you'll need a new head. Your pistons will likley be suitable though, most pistons are for moderate (up to 12psi) boost. The rest will be fine, assuming that you already have such things as cross pin diffs and a decent clutch.

[bakermanisbakin]

Thanks will
I like the sound of a twin turbo mate !!
Think I will check your web site out !!!!