When people ask how big your turbo is???

[Adam Connell]

What do ya tell them? I mean really, what is the "standard" for turbos. Money are to dollars as turbos are to what?

I have a gt3255, and I keep calling it a 54mm turbo, but then I hear terms like "trim" and they seem to describe a size also... Im getting lost I have a 73mm trim turbo... so what do I call it...

My boss told me he was a getting a 60mm trim turbo for his Srt-4(fast little car)...

then the last time I was at conleys they were bragging about their 91mm turbo car(and a 91mm turbo is retardedly huge!) and I got the impression that the 91mm was the intake side...

So do turbos get "measured" by trim or compressor wheel diameter... please straighten me out before I make a damn fool of myself like usual...

 

[SGRIM]

The "mm" size refers to the inlet side. The exhuast side is usually like .85 or .63 for buicks.

Hope that helps some:smile:

 

[forcefed3.8's]

Back in the day, I hung out with the DSM crowd. They would ask me what size turbo I had on my GN, a 16g? I had no idea what they were talking about. I told them TE51, and they had no idea what I was talking about. I have a buddy that has an SRT-4 for a daily driver, and still has his drag Malibu from high school (we all had fast g-bodies in high school). He asked me what size turbo I have now, I told him TE63-e. He had no clue. He just knew P-trim was a big exhaust wheel. Most people really don't know. Usually only the buick guys will know the designations for our turbos. Just tell them it is stock, want to race? Most people think these cars run 10's with just a chip and a paper clip anyway. All you have to do is type on your laptop, and you drop 2 seconds.:tongue:

 

[jpratt]

1. Wheel trim topic coverage

Trim is a common term used when talking about or describing turbochargers. For example, you may hear someone say "I have a GT2871R ' 56 Trim ' turbocharger. What is 'Trim?' Trim is a term to express the relationship between the inducer* and exducer* of both turbine and compressor wheels. More accurately, it is an area ratio.

* The inducer diameter is defined as the diameter where the air enters the wheel, whereas the exducer diameter is defined as the diameter where the air exits the wheel.

Based on aerodynamics and air entry paths, the inducer for a compressor wheel is the smaller diameter. For turbine wheels, the inducer it is the larger diameter.
Example #1: GT2871R turbocharger (Garrett part number 743347-2) has a compressor wheel with the below dimensions. What is the trim of the compressor wheel?

Inducer diameter = 53.1mm
Exducer diameter = 71.0mm


Example #2: GT2871R turbocharger (part # 743347-1) has a compressor wheel with an exducer diameter of 71.0mm and a trim of 48. What is the inducer diameter of the compressor wheel?

Exducer diameter = 71.0mm
Trim = 48

The trim of a wheel, whether compressor or turbine, affects performance by shifting the airflow capacity. All other factors held constant, a higher trim wheel will flow more than a smaller trim wheel.

However, it is important to note that very often all other factors are not held constant. So just because a wheel is a larger trim does not necessarily mean that it will flow more.
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2. Understanding housing sizing: A/R

A/R (Area/Radius) describes a geometric characteristic of all compressor and turbine housings. Technically, it is defined as:

the inlet (or, for compressor housings, the discharge) cross-sectional area divided by the radius from the turbo centerline to the centroid of that area.




I copy and paste from TurboByGarrett.com - Turbo Tech102

 

[Adam Connell]

Ahahaha, I was reading the post above this and started freaking out that this guy had all of this memorized... I dont know a whole lot of people who are THAT into turbos:biggrin:

Thanks guys, Im starting to get it!

 

[SVORay]

It's "Stock."



That is all they need to know

 

[blckgnx]

OK,OK The more I find out about these buicks, the less I know?? I'm so cornfused! The turbo babble stuff I'm not even going to try to learn, but I keep hearing about a "Paper Clip"!!!!! What in the world am I missing here? An old fart that still enjoys fast cars!

 

[Daniel Jost]

Bend it and stick it into the ALDL for some easy found time, it locks the TC as soon as it hits second gear, its kinda hard on the lockup on the TC though.

,Dan

 

[PowerKraus]

Now you gotta know there is going to be some _mart _ss reply. So I'll take the bait.

I always tell them it is a 63 ...when folded in half

 

[LUCKY1313]

The only real way to know is to learn all the way thats the differnt compainies measure & lable there turbos with.

Some one talking about a turbo & sizing it with a trim # is most likly talking about the TO4e famaily turbo & running a import car. They come in 46,48,50,57 & 60 trim sizes and range from 375hp to 600hp (or somewhere around there). The bigger the trim, the more HP.

T series turbos are measured buy the intake wheel (compressor wheel) The wheel is two sided. meaning it has a small diam & a large diag size to it. The T series turbos go off the small side measurement for sizing. A 70mm small side wheel is a T70.

Gerrett uses the big side of the compressor wheel (intake wheel) for instance a gt4088. This has a compressor wheel that the large side of the wheel measures 88mm & a 40 series exhaust side. Garrett is the only one that uses this exhaust side description.

Then there is all the compainies that mod there own turbos and have there own way of sizing them. The only way to trully understand is read and learn all the diff companies size turbo's and ways of discriptions. This does take a lot and seems imposible. But if you read diffent forums with differnt types of cars you start understanding each turbo type before you know it.


In the end the best thing to ask is how much air does your turbo flow. 50 lbs/m is around 500hp capable. 70lbs/m is around 700hp capable, and 40lbs/m is around 400hp capable. This will tell you what size turbo they have.


Jess