I'm not offended Dave.
Yes, I was being just a little sarcastic, LOL, and I do consider you a friend as well. You ask great questions and have learned a lot.
But....I would like to see you get a little more experience about building motors & gearboxes, what they can and can't do, and being on track so you can actually speak from real experience before being so anal about telling everyone what works and doesn't work though about things you post.
Just saying
...don't be another keyboard racer.
One thing I've learned over the years racing NSX's is that what works in theory on a keyboard doesn't always work in real life in racing or in the pounding our cars take continually while on track. There's a big difference in doing causal track day sessions and going out on track and really pushing the car hard lap after lap and not letting up for 30 minutes at a time.
I've run NA, SC and Turbo over the years in NSX's I've owned and have seen the benefits and negatives to all of them. How stock motors handle the various FI outputs and what their short comings are.
I have real experience building motors and gearboxes and have seen first hand what they go through by these various outputs and levels from 400 HP to 800 HP. I can and will surely tell you that any stock motor running 450+ rwhp with high torq numbers can not handle it for very long when tracked on a continuous basis hard, nether can the gearboxes. They were never designed to handle twice the rwhp power or torq.
Torq is a major factor on gearbox failure, period. I have broken enough of them to know. Ask FXMD how many they've broken that Nick and I have rebuilt for them. They now have 4 or 5 as spares
Nick has developed a SC (More on that to come) that we are in the process of testing that is making 500+ rwhp with less torq and since the power curve is so linear it is much easier on the gearbox than turbo's are because of the way they hit. Now, I've never driven a twin turbo, so indeed that could be totally different. But then again, I don't have the budget to spend twice as much
I'd rather spend my money out on the track for tires, brake pads, rotors, etc...
On a race track, how we put the power down is a big factor of being fast and the wear and tear on the various components. You can have all the power in the world and if you can't put it on the ground or things continue to break, it's worthless. How much power we run is a balancing act of maximizing power/handling in the class we run, who we run with and and end the end, how fast we want to go. Again it goes back to usable power on the ground and being able to control that power. Which becomes a personal issue and driving style. Whats good for one person may or may not be for everyone or everything.
Many factors come into play when you decide to compete, budget, maintenance, repairs, what class your running in and skill level.
As far as turbo's go, no doubt twins are the way to go to a point. Since they are in fact usually smaller and have less lag since and they spool up faster. I also believe they generate twice the heat and they also end up costing twice as much all said and done. Go with a bigger single and you have more to work with for higher HP and boost wise but here comes the dreaded lag, more potential for damage...but less costly. Its a catch 22.
Having driven both for a few years, for my style of driving, I like the SC, much easier to predict and control. No matter how you cut it, 525 HP is still 525 HP. They both go fast. I tend to be a momentum driver so I am not comfortable with boost that makes me feel I'm being shot out of a cannon along for the ride and on the verge of being out of control. How you get to that fast is all about what is confidence inspiring and gives you the feeling you can throw your car around, use every bit of the power at hand with confidence without guessing when and where you can put the peddle to the metal. I would rather be fast in and out of the corners than drag race down straightaways.
I don't run wheel to wheel with my car. Thought about it, but have no interest in trading paint with my NSX. So I run TTU. Any TT class is about running as hard as you can bettering your times with every lap. It can be wheel to wheel at times as well, but there is a bit more courtesy, suppose to be anyway. Personally I find that running TT is harder on our motors and gearboxes since we are always pushing harder each lap for better times with semi open tracks in front of us.
I think Dave's system is very well done, I like the numbers he's producing and I think it will be a great system for those that want to travel down that path.
I would like to drive a twin set up on track one day to see how if feels.
Anyway I consider Jim a friend and never meant to offend him. I'm not an asshole on this site, I think I am pretty respectful of everyone.
- - - Updated - - -
LOL...
Well, it was kind of offensive to me but i'm nobody in these parts and I get over it after you tell me "cuz Billy said so"
.