Where are my auto enthusiasts?

[*SHRacerX*]

(05-18-2022, 11:36 AM)fredtoast Wrote: Turbo's today are so much more efficient than back in the '80's.   It costs a ton of money to take an engine apart and add power with different heads, cams etc. But a turbo swap can be pretty simple and a more modern turbo can add tons of power.

With my Integra I added a supercharger to a normally aspirated engine that was already tuned for high performance.  The problem with doing this is that normally aspirated performance engines have a high compression ratio and engines designed for boost have lower compression ratios.

So it is much more efficient to upgrade a turbo on an engine that was originally designed for boost.

I am not familiar with the 4.9L V8, but I have seen some crazy stuff done to that V6 that was in the Grand National.

Yeah, the turbo 4.9 is the engine that "could have been" for Pontiac.  The early 3.8L turbo V6 wasn't the world beater it later became at first.  The engine got more and more refined with newer technology over time.  The 4.9 could have been the same, but we will never know.  It died in 1982.

The Buick 3.8L was amazing.  My dad had a Grand National and the power was insane.  There was an article called "sideways at any speed" and that was pretty accurate.  What perhaps amazed me most was how smooth the engine was in that car.  

One of my other dream cars is the 1989 20th Anniversary Trans Am because it was powered with the Buick Turbo V6.