Supercharger / Turbo - which is easier to drive in the wet

The Pupat · Postby **The Pupat** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 2:40 pm

Blue94t:

You're probably right but big laggy turbo that come on hard can be a real handful. A mate of mine looped a WRX on the skidpan once when the dirty great big turbo he was running came onto boost on a straight bit of road, he's not a bad driver either, so those big ones can catch anyone out of slipery surfaces. But that car was fine to drive if you kept it below 5000RPM. So I reckon you are right in that they aren't hard to drive in the wet if you are gentle but can be a real bitch if you are trying to use any of the power they can make.

Boags · Postby **Boags** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:53 am

Warpspeed wrote:I agree, if you have a low compression engine it will need a fair bit of throttle opening off boost just to get moving.

Then boost goes from zero to 18psi in about 300 Rpm, and you are trying to tell me THAT is going to be really EASY to drive when it is wet and slippery. You must have a lot more talent than me my friend.

Not talking about a mild turbo conversion, but something much more serious.

Maybe at WOT, not at closed/slightly open throttle. If it is that extreme, you would have 4000rpm to use before you were anywhere near the turbo.

Take off in second gear(or third) and keep the revs low. There is no reason that it should be a problem, unless you try to use the power.

Boags

Blue94t · Postby **Blue94t** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 3:24 pm

Warpspeed,
When it is wet and slippery I tend to drive off boost. I have dríven quite a few big turbo cars and there is really not much point taking them out in the rain, the power is simply unusable.
It can require a fair bit of throttle to get a low comp, high boost engine off the line, but if you know when it is going to start making boost you can control it with the throttle.
So as I stated before, If you have good throttle control you should be able to drive almost any car in the wet with no wheelspin.

Pupat,
I understand what you are saying about your mate with the WRX, but I will bet that he was giving it heaps as he was on the skidpan (safe place with stuff all to run in to). I imagine he probably has a lot of respect for the power his car makes and wouldn't be treating it the same way on a wet road in traffic or with lots of potential hazards(power poles, signs etc) to run in to if things go wrong.

Jake

The Pupat · Postby **The Pupat** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 5:21 pm

Yeah, of course. He reckon's he could drive it all week without even coming close to getting positive pressure in the intake manifold. Not surprising when it went from 0 psi to 20 psi like a light switch at 5000rpm. Like I said you could drive it around but to get any useful power down (IE even close to what the car was capable of) then you had no hope in hell in the wet I'd say.