MODEL : EP82
YEAR : 1990
ENGINE : 4EFTE
Thought I'd give some insight into what I've been up to with this car. The car has belonged to my partner for the best part of 10 years and in that time has gone through many changes. The biggest changes lately have been the move from a highflow CT9. While the CT9 offered excellent response and flowed reasonably well at higher engine speeds, it was simply not capable of giving the sort of performance needed. I modified the existing exhaust manifold and fitted a Mitsubishi TF035 turbo and upgraded the fuel system a bit to cope. At 1 bar of boost this was an animal and was only really let down by the loss of response that we got from moving to the larger turbo. This is what it looked like anyway just before I pulled it all apart to do more work to it.
In order to fit the turbo in the engine bay while using the full sized alloy radiator I had to move several things to different locations. The oil filter now sits in this position.
I also modified the sump and added an AN fitting for the turbo oil drain. This will allow for a plug and play fitment of a braided drain in the future.
The main problem with the TF035 was the fact that it was a bit on the laggy side with 1 bar of boost arriving at around 5000rpm. This wasn't too bad but it took away from the fun of driving the car as it narrowed the powerband too much. I started looking at other turbos that would give similar top end pull while bringing boost on a bit sooner and came across Garrett's variable geometry turbos. These are very common in diesel applications but very few people have ventured in this direction on petrol engines for various reasons. I liked the idea and was confident that I could design a system to control the vanes so as to get maximum performance out of them.
I sourced one of these turbos for the car and took it all apart to give it a good clean before installing it.
Animation I found on the net of the vanes operating
I have now started fitting it to the car. I've decided to design an automated system to control the vanes based on engine speed and load. I've also modified the factory Starlet two mode turbo boost control system to be used as a means of changing how quickly boost comes on to help eliminate wheel spin based on road conditions.
This is the first step of making the turbo manifold for the car. I made up a jig to sort out placement of the turbo in the engine bay.
That's all for now. The manifold should be complete this time next week then I can make up the oil lines and downpipe and can start testing
Cheers
