So does anyone have an opinion on the Squires Turbo System? The site is ststurbo.com, I tried to link it but I suck. Anyway the turbo mounts where the muffler normally does. The owner has the system on his Tacoma and uses a Unichip. The numbers are very impressive at 4lbs of boost and get reeeally impressive at more boost. Some positive reasons for the location, but I can see some downsides as well.
I know the true rockcrawlers would probably not like it, but for the explorers and highway queens, it might be a viable solution. Also not sure on the price, you have to contact them for that.
Having a 4 hour drive to the site this week I was thinking about just this. Not knowing what I'm talking about I was thinking what the possibilities were in mounting it where the cats are and then moving the cats to where the muffler is.
You could make up a front pipe similar to what is there now which would act like a header to the turbo.
Less turbo lag.
Hotter exhaust temps
For protection a set of Hanna sliders already has a skid plate in that spot.
I have seen the numbers and they are impressive, but I still can't understand how this would work. Turbos require hot exhaust gasses to spin them, and by the time they have travelled four feet they aren't nearly as hot or moving nearly as fast. That means WAY more lag, plus you have to run oil (and potentially coolant) lines all the way back to the turbo and hopefully keep them from getting too hot. Add in the vunerability on a rig that is wheeled and I don't see this as being a very good option.
I read about this system a couple years ago, so the info is a little hit & miss in my mind now. Here's a few things I can remember about it:
Positives:
- At first glance, seems easy to integrate due to lack of a custom exhaust manifold.
- Adds a nice power increase
- Seems like it could be done pretty cheap since you don't have a full manifold
Negatives:
- Requires careful placement due to the increased heatsink under the vehicle
- Requires turbo protection for offroad use
- Requires an electric pump to return oil back to the pan since the turbo sits so low & gravity is no longer your friend.
- Does not make maximum use of exhaust energy since it cools some before reaching turbo
- Lag
- Probably Limited to integrated wastegate turbos, but it's possible that an external wastegate could be done if there's space for it under there. Either wastegate would require a vacuum line to be run under the vehicle and protected.
- Still needs all the other supporting items that a full turbo installation requires (fuel pump, fuel regulator, injectors?, piggyback ecu, & a sound motor to start with)
- Pressurized air piping run to intake manifold is very long and this creates pressure drops and lowers efficiency. Also another pipe you need to find space & protection for.
- Air intake is now under your vehicle, unless you run a pipe under there for that too. That would be yet another pipe to find space & protection for.
- An oil line run under your vehicle that needs protection.
- Good luck with rock crawling or a water crossing with all these things considered. Even a relatively easy trail could dent or snag something mounted under the vehicle and do serious damage.
I'm sure there's more pluses and minuses that I'm overlooking right now, but you get the idea. This is why 99.99% of all turbo installations use a manifold to mount the turbo higher than the oil pan and safely in the engine compartment. It just makes better sense in the long run. It CAN be done differently, but you have to understand all the risks and complications. Everyone is always looking for a better way to route the 80's exhaust and cats to protect them better. Imagine finding space for all the other piping and lines that are required and protecting them properly. It would turn into a more expensive route in the long run. If you really want to do it, make sure to do it on a mall cruiser that never leaves the streets.
I agree on the vunerability, but the intake can be routed anywhere. No reason you couldn't use the stock air box. The oil is returned to the engine by a small 12v pump. And hey what's one more skid plate among friends. I can see the downsides, but also some of those are also benefits.
Call me crazy, but I think it is very intriguing. I enjoy looking at all of the options.
Will I be ordering it soon? no way, don't have the dough, but someone may find it useful.
I read the article about it in the July Off Road. It seemed really smart to me as it keeps a lot of the heat out of the engine bay. And the numbers did look really good. I'm not an engineer so I have no idea if the principles are good or not. But if it was reasonablely priced I'd probably try it. The Safari Turbo is cool but it costs more than I paid for my entire rig.
That system makes power waaay up in the rpm band - great for drag racing or zooming around a line of cars but terrible for real world driving, like towing a travel trailer up a long grade. Maybe they could taylor the boost for more low end grunt, but there is NO way I would even consider the kit the way it is now.
And that isn't even considering the vulnerability of the system and the incredibly stupid location of the air filter.
$3000 for a universal application they said would work with the 80 series. But, he said they are having a sale in July. So? Is this an alternative? I don't know I would really like to try it but I don't have the coin to do it right now. Plus I think turboing a motor with over 200k on it is sort of silly. I'd want to start with a fresher motor.
