• HOME
  • TIME ATTACK
    • FEATURE CARS
    • BUILDS
  • STREET ATTACK
    • FEATURE CARS
    • PROJECTS
  • DRIVER POV
  • EVENTS
    • UPCOMING EVENTS
    • PREVIOUS EVENTS
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • #TIMEATTACKR
  • SHOP
TimeAttackR
  • HOME
  • TIME ATTACK
    • FEATURE CARS
    • BUILDS
  • STREET ATTACK
    • FEATURE CARS
    • PROJECTS
  • DRIVER POV
  • EVENTS
    • UPCOMING EVENTS
    • PREVIOUS EVENTS
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • #TIMEATTACKR
  • SHOP

TimeattackR: Turbosmart HQ tour; house of boost

 
“We’ve been a fan of their products for years, but today was the day we got the walkthrough of the Turbosmart HQ, based in Sydney, Australia, in the lead up to the Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge”

Images: René Vermeer & Damian Smuts

We just had to get the stars to align this year. We’ve been wanting to check out the Turbosmart headquarters for some time now, but every year we attend the Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge, we’re flat off out and never get the chance. It’s also always an awkward time for them too, being the day before World Time Attack.

This year was it though; we locked it in! I sell Turbosmart product through my day job at North Shore Toyota Parts, as we’re the New Zealand distributor for the product, so we teed it up with the team to take us through this expansive facility.

After touching down on Australian soil, we collected our rental car, jumped in, and made our way to the Turbosmart HQ, stopping off on the way to taste Australia’s finest cuisine; Red Rooster. After being thoroughly disappointed in the budget KFC wannabe meal, we pulled in the Turbosmart gates, met the crew, and made our way into the workshop.

The team and I were instantly taken aback by the scale of this workshop. Nothing even comes close in little old New Zealand. First, we made our way to the raw material section, where Brendan would go through each and every material and its uses within the product range.

While this was going on, it was a good time to peep through into the boxes of stock, where half-machined components were carefully placed ready for assembly and anodizing.

View fullsize 189A7200.JPG
View fullsize 189A7205.JPG

Now the exciting part… The heavy machinery! The Turbosmart building is covered in solar panels, which on a good sunny month, means that up to 90% of the power is paid for. This makes running heavy machinery such as this much, much cheaper.

One thing we noticed about the Turbosmart assembly line, is that it’s immaculate. Every workbench was impeccable, with each and every worker taking incredible pride in their respective jobs.

View fullsize 0Y5A6499.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6503.JPG

Another great find was the original Turbosmart time attack Mazda RX-7 FC. Powered by a PAC Performance 13B-rotary engine with a GTX4088R turbo, it’s no slouch but hasn’t been raced since 2011/12 — in World Time Attack Challenge no less.

View fullsize 0Y5A6558.JPG
View fullsize 189A7231.JPG

Sporting the wild engine setup, it also needs the stopping power to match, which the team handled with ginormous Project Mu calipers — front and rear. It was great running into this machine. In its day, it would have been competitive. In today’s competition, probably not so much.

Turbosmart head honcho Stewart Mahony took over the tour reins and decided to walk us through some of the assembly himself, of the latest Gen V external wastegate range.

It’s incredibly interesting how simple these components are to put together. But, the design and attention to detail are flawless. From the shape of the valves to the heights of the diaphragm, to the materials used — it’s all of the highest quality.

Turbosmart has added a ‘Motorsport’ range to their existing lineup. These feature a longer valve, with a diaphragm that is much higher off the wastegate. In their destructive testing, they were literally unable to destroy and overheat it. We were told these units have so far, been unbreakable. How many manufacturers can say that? Not many!

The ‘Motorsport’ wastegate range is great for applications in which the wastegate itself has little to no airflow to keep it cool. For example, an R35 GT-R with a twin turbo aftermarket setup more than likely has the external wastegates sitting atop the bellhousing. There’s no airflow there, and wastegates commonly get hot in these applications.

A new feature to the Gen V range of wastegates is the water-cooling. When we asked why you would water cool a wastegate when they have the ‘Motorsport’ model available, we got a very good answer. Stewart told us the water-cooled wastegate is for applications where the wastegate itself is causing excessive heat in the engine bay, which is damaging other components around it. Whereas the ‘Motorsport’ wastegate has been designed to improve the life of the wastegate itself.

Finally, we made our way into the blow-off valve and boost controller area. Staff were kind enough to show us how they are put together after giving us a demonstration on how to properly test a blow-off valve.

You can’t leave the Turbosmart HQ without getting a shot of their GIANT wastegate and blow-off valve! These things are way cooler in person than you’d think.

189A7264.JPG

All in all, an incredible day with the Turbosmart and North Shore Toyota Parts team. We gained so much knowledge and a much greater respect for all of the components involved to make a reliable turbocharger system. We’ll be back for sure, and we’ll get some photos of the Turbosmart stand at World Time Attack.

View fullsize 0Y5A6439.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6442.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6445.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6447.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6459.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6462.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6465.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6468.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6474.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6489.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6554.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6562.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6569.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6576.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6580.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6586.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6587.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6592.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6602.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6605.JPG
View fullsize 0Y5A6608.JPG
View fullsize 189A7184.JPG
View fullsize 189A7188.JPG
View fullsize 189A7196.JPG
View fullsize 189A7198.JPG
View fullsize 189A7200.JPG
View fullsize 189A7205.JPG
View fullsize 189A7206.JPG
View fullsize 189A7210.JPG
View fullsize 189A7213.JPG
View fullsize 189A7214.JPG
View fullsize 189A7216.JPG
View fullsize 189A7221.JPG
View fullsize 189A7227.JPG
View fullsize 189A7228.JPG
View fullsize 189A7240.JPG
View fullsize 189A7242.JPG
View fullsize 189A7243.JPG
View fullsize 189A7245.JPG
View fullsize 189A7249.JPG
View fullsize 189A7252.JPG
View fullsize 189A7253.JPG
View fullsize 189A7256.JPG
View fullsize 189A7261.JPG
View fullsize 189A7263.JPG
View fullsize 189A7264.JPG
View fullsize 189A7277.JPG
View fullsize 189A7282.JPG
View fullsize 189A7284.JPG
View fullsize 189A7295.JPG
View fullsize 189A7296.JPG
View fullsize 189A7297.JPG
View fullsize 189A7301.JPG
View fullsize 189A7316.JPG
View fullsize 189A7317.JPG
View fullsize 189A7326.JPG
categories: TA FEATURE CARS
Wednesday 10.10.18
Posted by Rene Vermeer
Newer / Older

Contact us