johnnymk
01-31-2002, 09:45 AM
From the latest issue of Popular Hot Rodding. Although the article is in a Hot Rod magazine, I am sure that the information is also appicable to all engines in general.
KENNY DUTTWEILER
Duttweiler Performance, Inc.
Longtime "Turbo God" Kenny Duttweiler has a well-established reputation as the finest turbo tuner in all of drag racing. When it comes to wild single- and twin-turbo high-pressure applications making obscene power, odds are Kenny had something to do with it.
When he came to the AETC, Kenny shared plenty of facts regarding turbocharger design and engineering with participants. He related the latest developments in turbocharger housings and materials, and shared real horsepower figures with the group (the twin-turbo small-block in Bob Rieger's Pro Street Championship-winning '57 Chevy carried a 2,000hp Duttweiler setup).
Kenny also discussed pipe sizing, choosing the proper turbo, turbo placement ("short headers are much better; keep things as tight as possible"), and the role of backpressure in a turbo engine.
"You're going to have plenty of backpressure in a turbo setup, but having the right amount is what's important. If the turbo is too big, it'll take forever to spool up and you'll have too much lag. If the housing is too small, you won't get enough boost out of it before it can't spin any faster. It's critical to have a turbo in place that will respond quickly to sudden increases in throttle, but have enough boost potential to provide adequate boost to the engine. The latest turbochargers have great impellers, both in design and material. They are lighter and more efficient than anything we had to work with in the past, and they spool up very fast for their size. The new stuff is great."
We asked Kenny if he'd worked with any staged (or stacked) turbo designs (where a turbo feeds directly into another turbo), and he said that using independent, isolated turbos, he'd never had any need to make more power. In fact, he'd yet to find a limit to the power he could produce that any modern race suspension could handle.
"When a guy calls up and asks for more power, we give it to him. Then, he calls back later and tells us his suspension, or driveshaft, or something else keeps breaking from too much power. If we ever find a need for more power beyond what we're capable of now, we might investigate staged setups, but we haven't had a need to yet."
KENNY DUTTWEILER
Duttweiler Performance, Inc.
Longtime "Turbo God" Kenny Duttweiler has a well-established reputation as the finest turbo tuner in all of drag racing. When it comes to wild single- and twin-turbo high-pressure applications making obscene power, odds are Kenny had something to do with it.
When he came to the AETC, Kenny shared plenty of facts regarding turbocharger design and engineering with participants. He related the latest developments in turbocharger housings and materials, and shared real horsepower figures with the group (the twin-turbo small-block in Bob Rieger's Pro Street Championship-winning '57 Chevy carried a 2,000hp Duttweiler setup).
Kenny also discussed pipe sizing, choosing the proper turbo, turbo placement ("short headers are much better; keep things as tight as possible"), and the role of backpressure in a turbo engine.
"You're going to have plenty of backpressure in a turbo setup, but having the right amount is what's important. If the turbo is too big, it'll take forever to spool up and you'll have too much lag. If the housing is too small, you won't get enough boost out of it before it can't spin any faster. It's critical to have a turbo in place that will respond quickly to sudden increases in throttle, but have enough boost potential to provide adequate boost to the engine. The latest turbochargers have great impellers, both in design and material. They are lighter and more efficient than anything we had to work with in the past, and they spool up very fast for their size. The new stuff is great."
We asked Kenny if he'd worked with any staged (or stacked) turbo designs (where a turbo feeds directly into another turbo), and he said that using independent, isolated turbos, he'd never had any need to make more power. In fact, he'd yet to find a limit to the power he could produce that any modern race suspension could handle.
"When a guy calls up and asks for more power, we give it to him. Then, he calls back later and tells us his suspension, or driveshaft, or something else keeps breaking from too much power. If we ever find a need for more power beyond what we're capable of now, we might investigate staged setups, but we haven't had a need to yet."