At this year’s PRI show, we got to see Turbonetics [1] hardware aimed at both ends of the spectrum – from street legal performance to full race madness. On the saner side, their systems for manual-transmission Mustang GT’s and both LS3 and L99 5th Gen Camaros are 50-state street legal, and offer guilt-free turbo performance and straightforward installation that can be accomplished in an easy weekend by the do-it-yourselfer.
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Of course, sane is boring, so they’ve also rolled out their new EF5 (as in F5 tornado) turbos which feature forged billet aluminum or titanium compressor wheels and are designed for extreme pressure ratios of up to 5:1, putting boost levels of 50PSI well within the envelope.
[3]Turbonetics' EF5 turbochargers are capable of very high pressure ratios thanks to their advanced billet alluminum or titanium compressor wheels and advanced aerodynamics.
Another interesting development for hardcore racers is the Nelson Racing Engines [4] line of “mirror image” turbochargers, built exclusively for NRE by Turbonetics. Tom Nelson explained that the development costs of building “flipped” turbochargers for TT applications are substantial, but by partnering up with Turbonetics, they’ve accomplished something extraordinary. Unlike a conventional twin turbo setup, these 72 and 88 mm turbochargers allow a truly symmetrical layout between cylinder banks and easier fabrication for both custom street and full race applications.
[5]These new mirror image 72 and 88mm turbochargers are available exclusively through Nelson Racing Engines.
[6]The innovation on the new NRE mirror image turbos goes farther than just making them spin opposite directions - a split turbine housing design has a provision cast into the mounting flange for a diverter mechanism that will allow the turbo to spool like a much smaller unit at low RPM without sacrificing wide-open flow.