TURBO!!!... Part I

There are a lot of ways to make your customized ride even faster. Most of it though revolves around the power-to-weight ratio principle. You can do this by either putting your car on a weight loss program or you can increase its power output. If you want to go for the latter then you might want to try adding turbo.
When people talk about race cars or high-performance sports cars, the topic of turbochargers usually comes up. Turbochargers also appear on large diesel engines. A turbo can significantly boost an engine's horsepower without significantly increasing its weight, which is the huge benefit that makes turbos so popular. Turbochargers are a type of forced induction system. They compress the air flowing into the engine (see How Car Engines Work for a description of airflow in a normal engine). The advantage of compressing the air is that it lets the engine squeeze more air into a cylinder, and more air means that more fuel can be added. Therefore, you get more power from each explosion in each cylinder. A turbocharged engine produces more power overall than the same engine without the charging. This can significantly improve the power-to-weight ratio for the engine (see How Horsepower Works for details). In order to achieve this boost, the turbocharger uses the exhaust flow from the engine to spin a turbine, which in turn spins an air pump. The turbine in the turbocharger spins at speeds of up to 150,000 rotations per minute (rpm) -- that's about 30 times faster than most car engines can go. And since it is hooked up to the exhaust, the temperatures in the turbine are also very high.
One of the surest ways to get more power out of an engine is to increase the amount of air and fuel that it can burn. One way to do this is to add cylinders or make the current cylinders bigger. Sometimes these changes may not be feasible -- a turbo can be a simpler, more compact way to add power, especially for an aftermarket accessory. Turbochargers allow an engine to burn more fuel and air by packing more into the existing c­ylinders. The typical boost provided by a turbocharger is 6 to 8 pounds per square inch (psi). Since normal atmospheric pressure is 14.7 psi at sea level, you can see that you are getting about 50 percent more air into the engine. Therefore, you would expect to get 50 percent more power. It's not perfectly efficient, so you might get a 30- to 40-percent improvement instead.
One cause of the inefficiency comes from the fact that the power to spin the turbine is not free. Having a turbine in the exhaust flow increases the restriction in the exhaust. This means that on the exhaust stroke, the engine has to push against a higher back-pressure. This subtracts a little bit of power from the cylinders that are firing at the same time.
So what can we find inside the turbocharger you ask?
The turbocharger is bolted to the exhaust manifold of the engine. The exhaust from the cylinders spins the turbine, which works like a gas turbine engine. The turbine is connected by a shaft to the compressor, which is located between the air filter and the intake manifold. The compressor pressurizes the air going into the pistons.
The exhaust from the cylinders passes through the turbine blades, causing the turbine to spin. The more exhaust that goes through the blades, the faster they spin.
On the other end of the shaft that the turbine is attached to, the compressor pumps air into the cylinders. The compressor is a type of centrifugal pump -- it draws air in at the center of its blades and flings it outward as it spins. In order to handle speeds of up to 150,000 rpm, the turbine shaft has to be supported very carefully. Most bearings would explode at speeds like this, so most turbochargers use a fluid bearing. This type of bearing supports the shaft on a thin layer of oil that is constantly pumped around the shaft. This serves two purposes: It cools the shaft and some of the other turbocharger parts, and it allows the shaft to spin without much friction.

Let the Sparks Fly!

Let’s face it. All us tuners have thought at some point in time that the really important parts are the big parts. Yeah, we seldom divert our attention to the minute parts because we think them too insignificant to devote much attention to. This is far from the truth as it happens. In fact it is utter nonsense come to think of it. Like the spark plugs for one. These babies are not more than the length of your palm however these play an extremely important role in your car whether you race or not. Spark plugs help with the combustion to produce optimal outputs for our vehicles. Plus, even the most mundane task of starting up your car cannot be accomplished without a functional set of spark plugs. However, if you are a racer you might want to consider purchasing a specialized set for your vehicle.

For racing teams, using the proper race plug can mean the difference between finishing at the front of the pack and a DNF (did not finish).

There are three steps to consider when choosing a race plug.

Step One: Shell Design

Determine the plug type that the cylinder head/piston will accept. Factors to consider are thread diameter and pitch, thread length, shell seat and hex size.

Step Two: Electrode Design

There are a number of factors to consider regarding electrode design and configuration. Should the plug use a fine-wire center or standard electrode? Should the plug have a full-coverage “J-Gap?” Should the choice be a cut-back or an angled ground wire? Should the nose be projected or not? One rule of thumb is to attain as much projection into the cylinder as possible, although in some cases, piston clearance could prohibit the use of projected plugs.

Step Three: Heat Range

Correct heat range is critical to maintaining peak performance throughout the event. A plug that is too hot can result in pre-ignition or detonation. A plug that is too cold could cause an engine to stumble, misfire or foul. Factors to consider when choosing the heat range of the plug include temperature, cylinder pressure, horsepower, fuel delivery (turbo, supercharged), fuel type and piston-to-head clearance.

Choose well and only from trusted brands and retailers so you’ll definitely get your money’s worth. Opting for knock-offs could mean a loss for you or even damage to your car. So don’t be a cheap-ass miser. Get only the best for your ride!

A Little Bit of Street Racing History

Car enthusiasts all over the world take part in illegal street racing. Street racing is a part of history and has been around as long as the automobile itself. The dangers and consequences are high, but it is only exceeded by the excitement and entertainment that one gets from competition.

Racing, which is usually done at the racetrack, has easily found its way to the local streets. Drag racing is the most common form of illegal racing. What is supposed to be a quarter mile has transformed into light-to-light street racing. Traffic racing can also be seen on a day-to-day basis. Cars weave in and out of each other and try to get past ever one during rush hour.

These types of street racing seem to serve as a means to entertain. To some driving fast is fun, why else would there be cars such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche? If these cars were made for just modes of transportation then why are they not built to go the speed limit or have a top speed of seventy-five? Simple, because these cars were built for speed as well as entertainment. Consumers can spend up to millions of dollars on a single car because ordinary just isn’t fun.

The most ideal area for street racing would be on the back roads outside of the city.

. . .

People will race wherever they can even though it is illegal, unless there are enough racetracks to race on twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The death rate of the racing crowd is 14. I think this is a great alternative but for a few young car enthusiasts the money to go to the track can be better spent on their vehicles. It is human nature to be competitive and in a competitive world there is going to be an infinite amount of competitions, street racing is one of them. Every town will have its own spots for cruising, sometimes the spot is a main street, and other times it’s a big loop that goes around a merchant area. Street racing is dangerous but it’s also that danger that makes it so exciting. In addition to the spots for cruising and large parking lot gathering places, each town also has its own law enforcement agency. Large parking lots have become another popular area for street racers to meet. Local authorities have made an effort to cut down illegal racing by simulating the street-racing scene at the track.

Street racing can cause road rage and life threatening accidents. Within the last three to four years it's doubled if not more in popularity," said Justin Lim an auto shop worker . Here street racers can coordinate when and where to race each other.

Although street racing has been around for decades, it has recently exploded with popularity from the younger generations. It is a part of history that will continue until the end of time. Every once in a while this will occur, but this kind of racing happens very rarely.