Mike Licht
I was here first
- Joined
- May 23, 2001
- Messages
- 4,642
Caution advanced tech discussion and opinions contained in this thread use caution when entering 
If we look back at the history of turbo Buick performance we seem to move in waves. At first it was keep the stock injectors and turbo, then it was keep the stock cam, then it was the small 200/200 cam and locked converter, slowly we adapt to bigger parts and more power. We have been in the mode we are in for a while now with lots of people using similar combos and being successful but like always someone has to step up and try something new or different for everyone to move forward. Power is about mass air flow, we have cylinder heads, intake and exhaust systems pretty well maxed out, the two biggest variables left are turbos, where technology changes very fast and camshafts. There is no doubt the recent changes in turbos like billet wheels and advanced turbines have made turbos better, we have small turbos going faster than yesterdays big turbos. There is more to come we are testing some new turbos that are pretty amazing in what they will do and what we can do with the camshaft to get more power. These new turbine wheels are allowing us to open the exhaust earlier to get more drive pressure and large torque increases. Camshafts is one spot where for some reason the Buick guys always go small even when everyone else keeps getting bigger. Bigger cams make power. We also need more valve spring than what we have been using. The austemper roller core can handle about 250 on the seat and 500 over the nose for spring pressure, hydraulic lifter tech has not advanced and since the 885 short travel is gone we really don't have a good replacement race lifer, (the Morel is good but not short travel) recently I have been experimenting with solid roller cams and I am going to tell you that they work well, do not need constant adjusting and do not set off the knock sensor. (We just added a drop in solid roller lifter to the web store) So the way I see it the next big thing is more aggressive cams with fast lobes, possibly solid cams, cam timing different than what we use now, much more customized to the head and turbo combo. New generation turbos will be part of the plan. I see Bison moving in a similar direction and I applaud his effort and forward thinking. What do the rest of you see as the next big thing?
If we look back at the history of turbo Buick performance we seem to move in waves. At first it was keep the stock injectors and turbo, then it was keep the stock cam, then it was the small 200/200 cam and locked converter, slowly we adapt to bigger parts and more power. We have been in the mode we are in for a while now with lots of people using similar combos and being successful but like always someone has to step up and try something new or different for everyone to move forward. Power is about mass air flow, we have cylinder heads, intake and exhaust systems pretty well maxed out, the two biggest variables left are turbos, where technology changes very fast and camshafts. There is no doubt the recent changes in turbos like billet wheels and advanced turbines have made turbos better, we have small turbos going faster than yesterdays big turbos. There is more to come we are testing some new turbos that are pretty amazing in what they will do and what we can do with the camshaft to get more power. These new turbine wheels are allowing us to open the exhaust earlier to get more drive pressure and large torque increases. Camshafts is one spot where for some reason the Buick guys always go small even when everyone else keeps getting bigger. Bigger cams make power. We also need more valve spring than what we have been using. The austemper roller core can handle about 250 on the seat and 500 over the nose for spring pressure, hydraulic lifter tech has not advanced and since the 885 short travel is gone we really don't have a good replacement race lifer, (the Morel is good but not short travel) recently I have been experimenting with solid roller cams and I am going to tell you that they work well, do not need constant adjusting and do not set off the knock sensor. (We just added a drop in solid roller lifter to the web store) So the way I see it the next big thing is more aggressive cams with fast lobes, possibly solid cams, cam timing different than what we use now, much more customized to the head and turbo combo. New generation turbos will be part of the plan. I see Bison moving in a similar direction and I applaud his effort and forward thinking. What do the rest of you see as the next big thing?
I've done some interesting reading about timing the last couple years that looks like it would move over to turbo engines quite nicely. The benefit of what I'm thinking would be the ability to run a turbo that's 'too big' with a less restrictive exhaust housing while maintaining dynamic compression.
