turbo 3.8 durability?

[TType84]

hey guys.. i was reading a post about someone autocrossing their GN and i was wondering.. it seems like alot of TRs are good for 1/4 mile blasts and such but wouldnt hold up too well during sustained boost for long periods of time, or alot of hard on/off driving..

ive read a few posts where someones's dad drove his car pulling up a mountain road and was on the throttle hard the whole way and melted the headers or something, or cracked them really bad. a few other things like that.

ive noticed something like that too on my car.. if im in a big hurry after a few stop lights of a good amount of boost (not WOT by any means though) the knock gauge will start to light up when it shouldnt, but i think thats due to my intake getting heat soaked (it is a hotair afterall).. but anyway..

i was wondering what all would be involved in making a TR 'bulletproof' for extended periods of boost?

 

[Brian Mc]

wasn't that a movie with damon wayans and adam sandler?

 

[TType84]

yeah i have it on my shelf right now.

no ideas though, eh?

 

[6SENSE]

Water or alky injection.

 

[TType84]

actually propane was going to be the next step on my car (i just bought control arms to fix a bad wheel hop situation)

any ideas if propane would work? i know it cools the charge as well..

 

[GS70350]

I would say look at the buick indy development for ideas on this one. Those things made tons of power, ran super high boost, at High RPM levels, for hours on end. Im sure that someone who messed with those things would know what you gotta do to them to sustain boost and RPMs like that. I mean, sure its a stage 2 block, but the drag cars built for 1/4 mile with stage 2 blocks would surely act the same way as the regular 3.8 turbo under sustained boost and RPM and i bet they would overheat or something too. So dont tell me its the block that does it.

 

[Brian Mc]

probably the best oiling and engine cooling mods would help, ceramic coatings on the exhaust manifolds would help, big trans cooler, synthetic oil, maybe that water wetter stuff for heat transfer in the cooling system, running way more octane for the amount of boost, louvered hood or functional gnx style fender vents to get hot air out of engine bay, front mount intercooler, thas about all i can think of

 

[BM Computer Src]

I have run in several autocrosses as well as open course Road race track. The Autocross is not that bad, you might heat up the car to 180 or so. If you have a good high efficency 3-row radiator or a 4 row, than you should have no troubles. Remember, people with cooling problems are front mount users. It totally obstructs the path of air to the radiator.

I use water wetter, and RMI and water. No antifreeze. With a 3 row radiator at Sebring, (30 minutes of sustained boost, on and off and top speeds of 140) in the GN the temps got up to about 195-200 when I got back to the pits. My radiator was a standard 3 row, nothing special. My father in law, also running with his GN never broke 185 degrees, with his 4-row.

We both run alky injection, the SMC kit. With a good mix of Xylene in the tank to spike the gas just a bit. We ran the alky on low settings (#2 or #3) and it never runs low on the track. We ran less than 20 psi, which was more than enough for the road course.

The cars held up fine, though we both use synthetic oil, and external transmission coolers. My car had 155,000 miles (unrebuilt) and My father in laws car had about 45,000. I ran good enough to hang with a ZO6 on the track. My father inlaw, well lets just say hes a novice!
Hope this helps,
Bob