Turbo,
Thank you for making such a great magazine. When I buy a car magazine that's what I want, a car magazine not some trendy superficial magazine with more ads and girls than cars. I previously subscribed to three different car magazines and you guys by far are the best (and only one I still subscribe to ... hehe). I love the tech articles and product reviews, especially when you try out several different products and provide your results (the exhaust article are great). Thanks for being the best sport compact magazine out there. Keep up the great work!
Paul Pinos-Via the Internet
Thanks for your feedback. I am glad you like the changes we have done so far with the magazine and we will continue to put forth the best damn tech magazine out there. We feel strongly about product testing, that way you can be sure you get the best product for your vehicle. Also, our testing keeps the manufacturers in check and encourages them to develop the best quality products possible.
Robert Choo,
Congratulations on your promotion, so far you are doing a great job. I don't see anything that needs to be changed in Turbo magazine, the magazine is fine, please don't turn Turbo magazine into a [name of another magazine] variant with all that babble, and uncalled-for junk. [Name of other magazine] has nice feature cars, but their editorial and fill sucks. The only things I would like to see more of in Turbo magazine is more D.I.Y. articles for those of us who like to get our hands dirty, product comparisons, and tests on everyday cars so that way your readers will know about the products they plan on purchasing, or have already bought, and more features of real race cars that aren't street legal, i.e. 1320 cars, rally cars, road race cars, cars from other countries that have unusual engine swaps, and insane turbo setups. Maybe Turbo magazine can hold an import vs. domestic battle at California Speedway, or Irwindale from stock to full blown, a dyno war day would be great and to back it up the winner would have to prove their horsepower on the drag strip. Other than that, don't change a thing and keep up the excellent job.
DM-Los Angeles, Calif.
we completely agree with your comments and are glad to hear that you enjoy getting your hands dirty and want to see more D.I.Y. tech articles. As you all know, Turbo editors are never too shy to get underneath the hood and get into the mix. I can't say the same for other magazine editors that rely upon shops to do their dirty work. Additionally, Turbo will be featuring more cars from across both ponds (e.g., Japan and Europe) as we can all learn from the different tuning approaches they utilize. This will give you the opportunity to gather creative ideas to implement on your own vehicles.
The idea of having a dyno day is a great one and something that we are working on. Thank you for writing in and giving us your suggestions. Keep them coming readers!
Turbo,
What I would like to know is if it is necessary to idle your engine to protect your turbo. How long must it idle, if necessary? Do you perhaps know how long it takes the turbo to slow down from maximum spinning speed? What kind of bearings are currently being used in turbos? We are having an debate about turbos here in South Africa and would appreciate any feedback on this regard.
Corrie-South Aftrica
That's great that we have readers as far away as South Africa. You'll have to e-mail us some photos of your cars there for Readers' Rides. In terms of your question, proper cool down time is extremely crucial when you drive the car hard or on the track. The purpose of allowing the vehicle to idle after a hard run is to allow proper cool down time of the turbocharger. Oil is fed into the turbocharger when the engine is on and besides lubricating the bearing assembly of the turbo it also cools the turbo by removing heat from the center cartridge. If an engine is shut down after a hard run the heat generated within the turbocharger can be hot enough to cook the oil (a.k.a. oil coaking), turning the oil into sludge that can eventually destroy the turbo by blocking the oil lines. The amount of cool-down time depends on how hard the vehicle was driven. Driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic would require about 30 seconds to a minute. A couple of hard laps at the track and the vehicle should be left running for about five minutes.
Regarding your question on how long it would take for a turbo to slow down from maximum speed depends on many variables (engine size, turbo size, ball-bearing, compressor and turbine blade weights, etc.) but we have seen a turbocharger spin for about a minute from a full boost run on a Supra.
Lastly, the two most common types of bearings found in turbochargers today are conventional bushings and full-ball bearing turbochargers.