What is the smallest turbo?

[Antoine]

This is sort of off topic...

How small is the smallest turbocharger?

That question lead me to think...would it be possible to turbocharge...say a single cylinder gas engine for an RC car (low boost)?

Has something like this been done already?

I'm very curious what our resident F/I guys think about this...is it possible...does a turbo that small exist?...can an IC be made and would it function?

Basically...can a complete turbo system be made and function at a micro level...inexpensively?

Input appreciated!

 

[TheMAN]

haven't heard of a RC car turbo... SC yes...

as far as cars goes, I haven't heard of anything smaller than a T2

 

[70]

haven't heard of a RC car turbo... SC yes...

as far as cars goes, I haven't heard of anything smaller than a T2

That movie was pretty funny.


Oh wait, turbo, nevermind.

 

[Kooldino]

I really think it would be a real PITA to turbo an RC car, even if you had the turbo for it.

But on the other hand, a turbo THAT small (size of a penny?) would probably cost more than a real sized turbo...maybe.

 

[njaremka]

is this a turbo:

found it on HPI Racing's web site in the customer gallery. the caption said supercharger, and they don't know if it works or not.

 

[spoolinmp3]

To my knolwedge the smallest turbo produced by garrett is a t2. But I have seen a shifter kart turboed and the turbo on there was real small. I think you could turbo an RC car but it probably would be costly. I would like to have turbo shifter cart.....that would be sweet.

 

[melicha8]

Im sure it is possible but it is very difficult to turbocharge a two storke engine as most RC Cars are two stroke. The proble is the intake and the exhaust stroke happen at the same time which means very low gas mileage because of blow through(intake charge blowing straight out of the manifold

 

[shackmgr6073]

I am kind of into RC cars, beings as I sell them. Anyway, I know on gas powered cars, weight is the biggest thing holding them back from really flying. I haven't seen a "turbo" on these, beings as you can put basically no exhaust pipe on them, they are kind of redundant. It would be pretty cool though..... Might try to see if I can find one

 

[DBR]

smallest turbo i know of the garrett T15 on the 1.5 litre hyundai scoupe (about 1993-95).

 

[spoolinmp3]

smallest turbo i know of the garrett T15 on the 1.5 litre hyundai scoupe (about 1993-95).

 

[DBR]

eat your heart out

yup, the T15 raised the scoupe horsepower from about 80 to about 115!!!!!

 

[spoolinmp3]

Man talk about efficiency!!

 

[Guido]

How about a Nitrous Oxide kit for RC cars?

Checkout the ones being marketed at
www.jagrc.com

They have a video of one running and it revs up quickly when the Nitrous kicks in. Don't know what the system looks like because they are waiting for the patent to go thru and won't show the kit untill then.

G.

 

[NC_MP3]

Alot of RC engines are 4 stroke now. I used to work at a hobby shop. There are all kinds of engines, 2 stroke, 4 stroke, twin cylinder, even one of those where the cylinders go around in a circle, forgot what it was called.

 

[BluMp3Turbo]

interesting I have always wanted a go kart turboed... Brings up a good idea!

 

[jsgolfer]

speaking of turbos. have you seen jay leno's turbo bike? it looks like a regular crotch rocket but it has a actual turbine engine out of an airplane. some nut had it up to 255. he said the hp is almost unlimited. at a stand still it makes next to nothing but it quickly gains power as you speed up. crazy. it was on the history channel modern marvels "boys toys"

 

[chdesign]

The smallest turbo i know of was one that Ray-Jay used to make that was made for motorcycles that had a compressor AR of .28!!!!!!!!! thats freakin small.

 

[njaremka]

speaking of turbos. have you seen jay leno's turbo bike? it looks like a regular crotch rocket but it has a actual turbine engine out of an airplane. some nut had it up to 255. he said the hp is almost unlimited. at a stand still it makes next to nothing but it quickly gains power as you speed up. crazy. it was on the history channel modern marvels "boys toys"

it has a jet turbine out of a small hellicopter. the biggest problem with that bike is the heat it generates. not something i would want between my legs.

 

[blynzoo]

There are tons of small turbos. Turbos are used in other applications. There is a plant here in Indianapolis that makes very small and very large turbines. It's just that for the small ones, the turbine is often powered by an electric motor. But the purpose can still be to boost pressure in combustion chambers (cylinders in cars). I have no idea what the application is for the ones they make, but I just did a briefing for an elected official out here who was visiting the plant. There are four-stroke marine motors that have small turbos on them.
It would be interesting to see if the exhaust from the small cars would be enough to power a turbine. I guess it's all relative to size. I would think that the friction coefficient of any lubrication and the weight of the turbo materials, the effects of which are negligible in a large motor, would make a much larger difference. It's a lot harder for a 10cc motor to push materials through a lubricant than a 1900 cc one. and spooling up even aluminum would be a hefty task for a car that as a whole weighs less than 10 lbs.

 

[Ilovesleepers]

I have a 1/4 scale RC boat powered by a weedwacker motor and I have allways wanted to boost it...once I saw a kohler generator that had a small turbo. It was mabye a 5 hp or less. It was oil cooled and everything. I think a 2 strock would work great because of the overlap. Works like EGR and cools the chamber. Snowmobiles are 2 cycle and I saw a kit that make one 347hp!!! I am sure no torque but still that thing has got to move. Also you cant really directly relate A/R ratios to turbos size I have a T4 that none of us could spool but its an A/R of .22 turbine is .86 though.