I was flipping thru an older sport compact car mag today since it looked like it had a lot of good turbo info in it and i find an article about them putting a disco potatoe on there project silvia. (s13 coupe, before the s13 sr swap blew up.) At any rate, i am going to type the article up now...this is mostly for indy since he wants to know how the disco potatoe came to be.
Elsewhere in this issue you will read about how to choose a right turbo for your car. The explanation uses compressor maps, math, and the need to atleast pretend you understand some complex engineering concepts. Heres another method. Step 1: drive a car with a really good turbo matchup. Step 2: build a similiar car
A year and a half ago we drove a very unlikely sentra. Dubbed the disco potatoe for its unique combination of psychedilic color-shifting paint and unfortunate jerry hirshberg styling, the car was the culimination of the cladstine efforts of a few very driven engineers.
The story starts with dan passe who, at the time, was a nissan pr genius with a penchant for bending rules. (nissan\'s delorian perhaps???) He convinently lost the paperwork for a 1.8 litre sentra which nissan design international had modified for the la auto show. The car quietly landed in the hands of nissan engineers steve mitchell and mike kojima.
Meanwhile a few miles away at garrett, turbo engineer jay kavanagh wanted to boost his miata.(who doesnt want a boosted miata???) Having full access to the newest garrett technology, he concocted a physically small turbo with a ball bearing center section and internal aerodynamics 20 years more modern then the t3/t4 standard the aftermarket is used to.(in like 2001.)
A few cubicles from kavanaugh, rob cadle, a good friend of mitchell and kojima, realized kavanaugh\'s miata turbo would be perfect for the sr20det the nissan boys where planning for the sentra. He brewed up a turbo, stuffed it under his shirt, and went out the back door.
Jim wolf technology built a very mild sr20de for the sentra, making it functionally equivallant to a stock jdm spec sr20det. The turbo was installed, and amazing things started happening. The cars power was impressive, 280hp at the wheels, but not earth shattering. The driving experience however was. Throttle response was excellent, turbo lag virtually non-existent, and the tire shredding power was easily modulated. The turbo spooled up early, making so much torque, that the best quarter mile time (13.7 at 104.5) was achieved launching in 2nd gear.
Mitchell brought the disco potatoe to the ultimate street car challenge in 2001, and placed an impressive fourth overall. The rest of the time the car was stashed away in nissan usa\'s service garage and used strategically as an attitude adjustment tool. Whenever nissan or Garrett executives needed an injection of gasoline in thier viens, they where offered the keys. They would innevitiably come back grinning from ear to ear and breathing heavily, eager to bring horsepower to the masses.
Theres no telling how many decisions where nudged in the right direction by the disco potato, but it did prompt two that are critical to this story. We drove the car for a week, including a 1,000 mile road trip and a track day at thunderhill raceway. After outrunning every car at the track, and blasting down the freeway at 140mph(not reccomended btw.), we knew we must have that engine. Our\'s however, had to be in a rear wheel drive chassis. Thus was born the silvia project.
Several garret executives also experienced the potato. They where so impressed they decided to produce the turbo, double the engineering staff in the aftermarket department, and start applying this modern garrett technology to a whole range of turbos. Technically this is a gt28r with a 62 trim compressor (.60 a/r) and a 76mm turbine. (.86 a/r), but you dont need to know that. Ask anyone at garrett for a disco potato turbo, and this is what you\'ll get.
Dec 17, 2005, 5:58 pm · #1