[ArvidW]

As I enjoy reading other peoples projects on the forum I decided to share mine as well.

I've owned my 00 Sprint RS for a couple of years now and recently decided I wanted to build a turbo bike from scratch. The main objective is to end up with loads of torque in the mid-range, capable of matching the stock maximum output of [email protected] but already at 5200rpm (146Nm).

I'll be using:
- TD04-13g (Mitsubishi 3000GT), should spool @3800rpm
- Smart for two intercooler
- ECUmasters EMU (probably..)

Initial fitment on the bike:

Header + exhaust materials:

Re-used collector from stock exhaust:

Header & exhaust welded with backing gas:

Fitment is very tight as there is very little room between engine and front fender to have a turbo & intercooler as well:

 

[ArvidW]

TD04 internal wastegate will be used, but with separation between wastegate & turbine flow:

Oil retour is still a guess, Turbo is just above oil level so draining may be a problem. Hopefully the large (22mm) retour and oil feed restrictor will eliminate the need for a scavenge pump...

The turbo is normally watercooled, but it's converted to oil cooling to simplify the installation.

Intercooler ground clearance might be critical. At 40dg lean angle it is only 8cm (no load on suspension).

 

[MickB]

Nice work you are very skilled the welds look rely good make sure and post how it all works out

 

[SprintST]

Did you do some searching around on this site? There have been at least 2, turbo'ed Sprints I know of talked about here. Could be some hints and helps there.

I've seen one turbo'ed first gen Sprint ST in person. Many, many years ago. It all fit under the bodywork. He replaced the temp gauge with the boost gauge. Very sano. It could have been from Turbo Connections, or Texas Turbos. One doesn't seem to list motorcycles anymore, and the other seems to no longer be around. Darn.

 

[Catenaccio]

Brilliant! Please sir, may we have some more....

 

[KitNYC]

On a somewhat related note, I just noticed yesterday that there's a turbo 1050 for sale near me: https://austin.craigslist.org/mcd/d/triumph-sprint-st/6223322601.html

Keep us updated on the project, ArvidW!

Cheers,
-Kit

 

[kaighn80]

out of interest what size tube did you use?

 

[ArvidW]

@MickB, Catenaccio, KitNYC, thanks i'll keep you posted!
@SprintST, yes I've found a number of projects, most are based on the Aerocharger kit which was for sale a couple of years ago. These chargers are very hard to come by at an affordable price (and they don't seem to be very durable according to some topics). The kit uses an intercooler underneath the fuel tank which doesn't make any sense to me. It's probably the hottest place on the bike with very little airflow
@kaighn80, tube size for the header is stock (38mm), tube size for the exhaust is 50mm and merges in the stock pipe & muffler (46mm). The exhaust is fairly short compared to a car so I think this diameter should be adequate for the power level I'm shooting for.

 

[ArvidW]

Finalised the oil circuit today and temporarily fixed the exhaust (with an ugly clamp). As a result I was able to drive the bike again and test the turbo oil circuit. The bike is a bit slower with the restrictive header & turbine housing but it's not as dramatic as I would have expected.

Good news: after 30km of driving no oil has leaked into the compressor housing indicating that the oil retour tube works fine without savaging pump

I also started working on the intercooler piping. Had to fabricate a coupling to mate the TDO4 compressor housing to the silicone hoses:

I'll order some 45mm tube and bends tomorrow so I can continue working on the IC piping.

 

[ArvidW]

Yesterday I worked on the intake system. The air filter is now shielded from warm IC air, water and dirt ingress with an aluminium shield. The inlet of the intercooler was quite close to the filter so I had to be creative with the silicone hoses and tubes I have laying around.

The outlet if the intercooler had to be fed through an existing hole in the frame (triangle that's bolted to the cilinderhead). Tight aluminium bends are near impossible to find in this dimension and are studiously expensive so I decided to just use pipe sections which turned out great, very pleased with the look and end result

The pipe is firmly attached to the cilinderhead with a bracket so it shouldn't wear through the fairing.

I'm considering placing the blowoff valve in the fairing cutout just after the RS letters so you clearly see and hear it.


Next job: build brace between IC and engine (too much flex at this moment) and modify and install the wastegate actuator on the "wrong" side of the turbo

 

[Felony]

Nice work. Now, this is a bit strange.
https://youtu.be/QKob3SRLNC0

 

[HAP]

A friend had an 02 Daytona with a turbo back in the day. All of it fit under the fairing.

At the time I had spent a small fortune on a 999s. The triumph ran off and left the Duc till about 152.

His Triumph was the reason I never hopped up another super bike.

Great job a you have a skill. Impressed. Hap

 

[MileHighScottie]

How'd I miss this? Very cool project. How does the 13g perform on this size engine? I'm pretty familiar with the TD04 family (very common on Volvos), 13g, 16T, 17g, 18T and 19T units.

Does the 955 motor flow enough gas to spin the 13g turbine well enough?

 

[dave88]

I have a 3000GT - that 13G is actually an upgrade from the standard 9B but only difference is the compressor side (bored housing, bigger wheel). if you find that spools a little slowly have a look around for a Dynamics Racing DR650/750. They have billet wheels & spool much faster.

 

[ArvidW]

Thanks a lot for the great responses

@Felony, i've seen that one before and it's a very interesting approach to the issue... It saves a lot of fabrication work but it's not really the look I would like for my bike, I presume you don't want it either.

@HAP, That must have been frustrating to some extend to see your 140+HP top of the range Ducati being left behind by an English triple.

I've never driven a turbo bike so I'm very interested in your experience. Was the bike still predictable when accelerating from a corner (turbo spooling up)? How difficult is it to keep the front wheel on the ground when accelerating in 2nd and 3rd?

@Milehighscotty, If I remember correctly the turbine (and housing) is the smallest of the TD04 series. If I assume the same volumetric efficiency as the 3000GT the turbo should spool around 3800rpm with the 36% smaller displacement.

@Dave, it's indeed a nice upgrade over the 9b. I'll post the 9b and 13b compressor map with this engine in the upcoming day. The 9b compressor's efficiency drops off a bit too quick for the 955i engine. I'm very pleased to have found a 13b as it looks like a perfect match for the engine.

Thanks for the tip regarding the billet wheels. First i'll find out if I really need a quick spooling bike, it sounds a bit dangerous to me mid-corner

 

[ArvidW]

My mistake, the turbo is a TD04-11G instead of a 13G. It's right in between the 09b and 13b regarding inducer size (38mm) and features a 6+6 compressor wheel instead of the 12blade of the 9b.

 

[Felony]

Yes, your system is much nicer than the one that I posted. Many means to the same end, but some are just too rigged for my liking.

 

[El Fenix]

I know Boris from RPM Cycle here in Dallas had a turbo one a while back. May want to talk to him as well.

 

[ArvidW]

Below is the TD04-9b compressor map that I used for the turbo sizing.

I started with a 955i RS dyno plot that I translated to a torque&power matrix in Matlab (Top right: red & blue dotted line). Using the swept volume, BSFC and AFR i determined the approximate volumetric efficiency for the engine between 3000 and 9500rpm (500rpm steps).

The VE and rpm can be used to calculate the gas flow for a specific manifold pressure (Left: blue dots). Pressure drop losses should be added to calculate the pressure ratio at the compressor (Left: red). I have made some assumptions regarding the pressure drop over the filter, intercooler piping and intercooler: aprox 0.2bar @ redline

Using the red dots the compressor efficiency was found (Middle right: light blue line). The compressor outlet temperature (green line) and intercooler outlet temperature (red) can be simply calculated (70% IC efficiency assumed).

Given the new mass flow, BSFC and AF ratio the new torque and power curve are calculated: 133Nm&157HP @ 0.55bar boost. The "Turbo Connection" kit makes 138Nm&158HP @ 0.55bar at the rear wheel which is probably 5-10% more at the crank...

The 09b compressor drops below 70% efficiency from 6500rpm on so I'm glad that I have a 11b

 

[dave88]

My mistake, the turbo is a TD04-11G instead of a 13G. It's right in between the 09b and 13b regarding inducer size (38mm) and features a 6+6 compressor wheel instead of the 12blade of the 9b.

The 11G's were standard on some vehicles in europe - they're a good find as they don't have quite the rotating inertia of the 13G but don't just push hot air at high boosts.

As far as fast spooling goes, the billet turbos are much more progressive so probably more friendly Although it's not like any of these are particularly laggy