New info on 2.5L Boxster Twin Turbo upgrade

[BoxsterTwin]

http://turbowerx.com/index.html

Dyno comparisons:
http://turbowerx.com/page1/page3/page15/page15.html

Turbo vs Centrifugal Supercharger comparison:
http://www.turbowerx.com/page8/files/dc8d08f27dae529131fbfdda7261afbd-13.html

[BoxsterRS]

Will there be any videos of the setup or pics ?

[TriGem2k]

I'm still waiting on the kit for the 2.7L Engine...

[Porschekid]

Why does the site show pictures of the 987 for the 2.5l upgrade?

I will volunteer my car for testing of the 2.5L turbo in cold weather such as Missouri. How will we know it works if its only been tested in warm Texas weather?? That could be the deal breaker that costs you 30-50 sales. A worthwhile investment if you ask me.

[Jinster]

Do you have pics of the complete setup installed? The website only has pics of pipe components.

Can the boost be adjusted DOWN to 3-4psi? Reliability of the transmission is a big concern for me.

Thanks.

[BoxsterTwin]

Originally Posted by Jinster

Do you have pics of the complete setup installed? The website only has pics of pipe components.

Can the boost be adjusted DOWN to 3-4psi? Reliability of the transmission is a big concern for me.

Thanks.

Check out http://turbowerx.com/page1/page3/page14/page14.html.

The boost is a function of the wastegate, and 5psi is about the lowest you can set a internal wastegate actuator. Running at 5psi would be no issue for your transmission. The boost is not instant - very gentle, as far as drive train is concerned.

[Jinster]

Thanks for the pics.

I have a tiptronic. It's only rated to handle 320Nm of torque. The stock torque is 250Nm. So I can only safely run a 30% increase.

Have you installed this kit on any tiptronic 2.5L yet?

[BoxsterTwin]

Originally Posted by Jinster

Thanks for the pics.

I have a tiptronic. It's only rated to handle 320Nm of torque. The stock torque is 250Nm. So I can only safely run a 30% increase.

Have you installed this kit on any tiptronic 2.5L yet?

30% is within the normal design headroom.

No, no Tip installs yet. It wasn't a priority since most customers/inquiries have been Manual. However, we have looked at them and noted that the only changes would be involving the intercooler and scavenge pump mounting bracket. If/When we get a local customer (or a customer willing to allow the car to be transported here), we will definitely do it.

-Marc

[Gary Gaukler]

Looks interesting. Glad someone finally tackled a twin turbo setup.

In the picture, the IC seems awfully close to the exhaust pipes though.

How do you direct ambient air through the intercooler fins? Looks like the air would not want to take this path without some serious convincing.

Gary

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

My biggest concern would be Heat Management of twin turbos in a mid-engine setup. I have a mid-engined car w/ single factory turbo and despite having two NACA ducts and under-body channeling specifically to push massive volumes of cooling air through the engine bay, it still gets VERY hot. And this car has 30% more radiator surface and a cooling system w/ 1 gal. greater capacity than the Boxster. I've yet to be convinced that this issue won't have longterm effects on any number of ancillaries, Sensors, wiring harnesses and the tranny, especially the tiptronic. At least w/ a Supercharger (which has other issues) the Heat is not such a problem. Just my $0.02...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[BoxsterTwin]

Originally Posted by Gary Gaukler

Looks interesting. Glad someone finally tackled a twin turbo setup.

In the picture, the IC seems awfully close to the exhaust pipes though.

How do you direct ambient air through the intercooler fins? Looks like the air would not want to take this path without some serious convincing.

Gary

There is a low profile angled spoiler located at the back of the intercooler. It creates a positive pressure in the region directly under the intercooler, and that, coupled with the negative pressure in the bay, creates a very effective flow across the intercooler. We measured a 25-50F charge temperature drop under full boost, with 50+F occuring at vehicle speeds above about 30mph.

Surprisingly, none of the air pipes get even warm to the touch. Polished stainless reflects infrared extraordinarily well. In the begnning, we were planning to thermal-wrap various portions as needed, but it turned out to be absolutely unneeded.

-Marc

[BoxsterTwin]

Certainly a valid concern. We too were worried about the same thing as we started the initial design and testing. But it turned out never to materialize. We were all ready to thermal-wrap anything and everything, then after months of checking/measuring/inspecting we never saw any indication that anything was getting an excessive dose of IR, or convection heat. (We did tie the A/C refrigerant line up and away, and did aluminum wrap it for good measure.)

As we were fitting the turbos, we needed a bit more room towards the front of the engine. This was obtained by removing the 1' x 4' plastic belly pan. We think this action also increased the airflow around the header area substantially, and likely part of the reason we see no heat issues.

It is also interesting to note that in all the later Boxsters (and Cayman), Porsche placed cats in about the same region as we have placed the turbo. The cats get mighty hot and radiate about as much total heat as a turbo. Also interesting that although Porsche put shields around the rear cats, they did not place any shielding around the header cats.

The engine bay fan did not seem to come on any more often than the stock did. It would seem to come on typically when the vehicle was sitting idling for a few minutes, usually with the A/C on, and seemingly only on the hotter days. But then would shut off after a minute. It's possible it was coming on more often, but we just never noticed it as being more than stock.

-Marc

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

My biggest concern would be Heat Management of twin turbos in a mid-engine setup. I have a mid-engined car w/ single factory turbo and despite having two NACA ducts and under-body channeling specifically to push massive volumes of cooling air through the engine bay, it still gets VERY hot. And this car has 30% more radiator surface and a cooling system w/ 1 gal. greater capacity than the Boxster. I've yet to be convinced that this issue won't have longterm effects on any number of ancillaries, Sensors, wiring harnesses and the tranny, especially the tiptronic. At least w/ a Supercharger (which has other issues) the Heat is not such a problem. Just my $0.02...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

bump. Update?