Turbonetics Blog

There is a lot of information floating around out there on all kinds of topics and as my daddy said, “It is always better to get your info straight from the horse’s mouth”. So I guess I will play the horse here and give an easy explanation as to why billet impellers are better then cast aluminum ones and also why Turbonetics Forged Billet Compressor Wheels are even better than standard billet wheels. The eastiest way to learn is to watch the short video embedded but here are the main points;

Tyler Tanaka talks about the new Turbonetics Forged Billet Compressor Wheels

1. Billet aluminum wheels are much stronger than cast aluminum wheels for a couple of reasons. The first is that there are no porosity issues to have to worry about. This means that there is no chance of minute air bubbles being in the metal. Turbonetics uses a special process called HIP’ing. Hot Isostatic Processing that virtually eliminates porosity in its cast wheels but because the wheel is cast and the metal is still smushed together (laymans terms) the hotter the wheel gets, the faster it spins and the greater the pressure ratio conditions it runs at the greater the chance of metal fatigue, blade straightening or in the worst case bursting. The second is the metal material that can be selected to be used is a much stronger grade than the same cast material. This is where Turbonetics forged billet compressor wheels shine. They are even stronger than standard billet wheels because the grains of metal have been moved in such a way as to align in a specific direction. See article here on forging (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forging)

Turbonetics Forged Billet Comp Wheel

2. Because Turbonetics uses  Forged Billet to machine the compressor wheel on a 5-Axis mill, the nose and hub of the compressor wheel can be made significantly smaller to allow for a greater blade diameter for a givine inducer size. The nose is where the compressor nut gets fastened down and the hub is the area around the bore of the wheel that the impeller blades are attacheed to. A cast wheel has to have a certain size nose and hub to allow the wheel to be cast number one and secondly it has to be able to be pulled from the mold itself. So simply stated a 61mm Forged Billet turbo will flow more air and have the opportunity to make more power than the same 61mm turbo with a cast compressor wheel.

3. The specific metal material used in Turbonetics forged wheels also gives the wheel tremendous blade strength and lowers the chance of the blades straightening at high speeds (ie. high boost pressures). When the boost pressure is raised many things occur including causing increased friction with the air and thus increasing temperatures, the pressure the wheel is under and finally the great centrifugal force the blades are under spinning at such high speeds. These three factors can cause the blades to contact the compressor housing causing serious damage to the turbocharger and could possibly lead to immediate destruction or greatly decrease the life span of the turbocharger.

122mm Pro Stock Forged Billet Turbo

4. With forged billet impellers the blades of the wheel can be machined much thinner because they are so much stronger. This allows the wheel to have a greater efficiency range becuase their is less blade thickness to contact the air and heat it up. It also means that with less blade thickness and lower hub area that there is a greater area in-between the blades to squeeze more air and build boost pressure. The more efficient a wheel is the lower the intake temps and everyone knows the cooler the air going into the engine the more horsepower you can make.

5. Being a 5-axis machined part means that this wheel is not cheap as it takes a long time to machine these wheels and it is expensive to program the mill. Hence the increased price of the TNX line of Turboentics turbos but being a machined part allows Turbonetics to continually make improvements in a quicker manner and lower cost method than creating very costly tools and molds for casting compressor wheels. This gives us an advantage in that we can make small changes to the comp wheel and continually improve the airflow and efficiency of the turbo for specific types of applications.

Keep It In Boost,
TurboT2

Turbonetics Forged Billet Compressor Wheel

Fear will make a man do some crazy things in life. If you want to see the very best and worst in people then back them up against a wall and let fear kick into overdrive, let the survival instincts rise up within them and then you will really see what they are made of. Sometimes the results are both surprising and unexpected, for good and bad. Yes, fear will make people do things they never thought they would.

Fear has reared its ugly face more frequently than we all would like in recent months and we have seen both of the results mentioned above in the auto industry over the past 18 months and some companies like Ford have proven themselves worthy of their heritage. I think that Henry Ford would be proud about what his namesake has acomplished in the past 18 months. The brand continues to surge forward step by step making incremental improvemtents along the way, most importantly to its product offerings. Others have resorted to makeshift budget cuts, leadership changes, M&A attempts and silly sales promos to bolster sales and if it wasn’t for the Great American Gov’t Waste of Taxpayers Money Cash For Clunkers program they would be in even worse shape than they are in now. Mostly because they continue to ignore a very basic principle, to build quality cars that people actually want to own and drive. The 2008-09 decline of the Detroit big three and other world auto powers has obviously hit the aftermarket parts manufactures hard but as I prepare for the arduous task of working the IMIS (Int’l Motorsports Industry Show) here in Indianapolis for the next few days I am perplexed to understand how the aftermarket and it’s companies are making business decisions in the current economic conditions.

Turbonetics IMIS booth in Indy

I know it is not a simple matter to make good decisions when the future is about as clear as mud but c’mon already people! Stop basing everything you do on the sole fact that since your competitor decided to do something you better do it as well. “Keeping up with the Jones” or “So and so is doing it” were never more widely used than they are now albeit for different reasons. Instead of spending, it is reducing and cutting back or choosing to do something because you are more afraid to not participate than you are confident to attend.  The common theme that I keep hearing about this show is that “we waited as long as we could to not attend but too many other people were coming” or how about I am only exhibiting cause my enemies are here”. Well much like the strength of the economy, trade shows are built on confidence, for both the exhibitors who choose to attend and the attendees who register to be there. Here at the IMIS show I am caught with the normal butterflies I get before the  floor opens to the attendees. Will it be a successful show for us, will it be a successful show period, how many leads will I be able to gather, will I be wasting my time and my companies money by attending.   But unlike MANY of those exhibiting here did I decide to be here because my competitor was attending. Sure we looked at the exhibitor list but it certainly didn’t dictate whether to be here or not. I have confidence in the fact that we attended IMIS because the investment was worth the reward and risk of traveling to Indy.

Two quotes stick out in my mind as I think about our plans for next yeaer and how 2010 will take shape. First and most importantly is echoed in what Chet Atkins said “Everything I have ever done was out of fear of being mediocre”. I hope that I have the foresight and good sense to continue to drive forward to be excellent. The second is directed at my fellow industry associates to get some chutzpah and stop worrying about what others are doing, just focus on making good products and providing good service. After those two things are worked out the other decisions get a whole lot easier.

As H. Jackson Browne said “Don’t be afraid to go out on a limb, that is where the fruit is” and I couldn’t agree more.

Keep it in boost,
TurboT2

Well I just returned from Las Vegas and the 2009 SEMA show and it took a couple of days to get back into the swing of things here at T-Netics. I was pretty much working for a month straight to plan, physically get ready and then working the event itself. For those of you that are automotive enthusiasts and have never experienced the show let me tell you that it is imperative that you get it on your life’s to do list. For those of us that have to plan, setup, work the show and then tear down the excitement level is a little bit different. The highs and joys of SEMA after 12 years are not the same as that incredible first trip. ”Seeing” the show is not that important now but what remains incredibly exciting is doing good work and getting business done on the show floor.

First I want to start off by saying that being on the show floor and getting our booth ready to open the show allows me to hear and participate in all kinds of conversations. I like to equate these verbal encounters to playing the game “pitching pennies”. You know where you are flipping coins against a wall to see who can get closer or better yet stand the coin up against the wall vertically. For three days everyone is guessing and “flipping quarters” out there as to how disastrous the show will be this year. For the past three years now all anyone wants to do is talk doom and gloom leading up to the shows opening and I am frankly getting kind of sick of it. The first thing out of everyone’s mouth is that there are less exhibitors this year or that there are a bunch of open spaces, and so-and-so dropped out and you know who didn’t come… GOOD! The automotive industry needed a good thorough shakeup to sort out the winners and all the others because when Tuesday morning came and the show began Turbonetics was off to a fantastic and very successful SEMA show.

Turbonetics SEMA 2009 Booth

As the SEMA Street Performance Councils Chair Elect  (find out more about the SPC here) I firmly believe in the good that the SEMA organization has to offer its member companies but it’s like going to church; until you get involved in a deeper more personal level and jump into the programs behind the sermons you will never get the full value of the church body just by showing up on Sundays. All too often people become disenchanted and feeling as if they are not getting something meaningful because they are just going through the motions. There is a tremendous push going on inside SEMA to really deliver valuable returns on the membership dues and for buyers and exhibitors alike, to have a successful show. The education and business programs that have been initiated in the past 18 months have been a long time coming and I am proud to say that the groups that Turbonetics and I are involved with are leading the way forward. But I digress so back to my original point, while I am not happy that the economy has struck a particularly mighty blow to many automotive companies and SEMA and CONVEXX won’t necessarily appreciate my opinion, I know that the org’s coffers don’t, but I am glad that there are less exhibitors and here’s why;

1. Dilution:
   1. Prior to the 2008 show the rate of growth was phenomenal. Truly staggering in my opinion. The parking lots were filled with tents and cars and the registration area for crying out loud was what seemed a city block away. There were chotski vendors and cheap overseas knock-offs, some of which splashed castings of my own parts and some potentially questionable booths that could be argued did not belong at the show.
2. Inflated Attendance:
   1. While I still think that the shows attendance gets a boost in some areas, the sheer number of people at the show was growing and growing year after year. Combined with the number of booths out there it made it increasingly difficult for people to get to my booth and then to conduct good meaningful, full value conversations once they arrived because I had a line of people waiting to talk to me about sponsoring their 1972 Gremlin… “it’s gonna be an insane project maaaan” 
3. Quality vs. Quantity:
   1. The same serious buyers are going to be at the show year in and year out because SEMA remains a wonderful place to do business. It is also the single greatest place to debut new products each year because the volume of purchasing decision makers present and press coverage is second to none. With less booths for them to be distracted by or in some cases not there at all the greater the opportunity I have to meet new people, open new opportunities and most importantly close new sales.
4. Return on Investment:
   1. With the general climate of shrinking marketing dollars and being forced to do more with less, a concentrated SEMA means that I get more out of the show. Our dollars are hard earned and I expect to get maximum value from them. With the SEMA show the current size or even 10-15% still smaller, it makes spending the massive dollars involved with exhibiting at the show an easier decision to make.

Here’s the thing about being an exhibitor at shows like SEMA and PRI and any other large trade gathering for that matter. You get what you put into it! Anyone that thinks they can just show up and they will automatically make rain is sorely mistaken. It is a combined effort for our engineering, quality, production, sales and marketing team to drive success to our business. You make your own traffic at shows sometimes, whether through revolutionary new products, sales promotions or fantastic PR and communications. If you are reading this and you are a buyer or shop owner, did you fly in on Monday to take advantage of the Internet Marketing classes? Did you attend any one of the myriad business seminars during the week? How about listen to the panels of speakers giving their advice and real world experiences that were making them successful in the current economic climate? As an exhibitor did you do everything in your power to make it a successful show? I know I didn’t and we had still had a great show, that’s why I am so excited to do an even better job next year. See you in Vegas in 2010 for what I hope is an even better and stronger auto industry and SEMA show.

Keep It In Boost,
TurboT2

WordPress Video

“Ask Ice” is an periodic installment to answer some of the most important and burning questions in the automotive industry. Well okay maybe the questions are not that important but this girl “Ice” is funny as hell and she has a pretty interesting take on cars and life. People can submit questions in her original post “Ask Ice” and we choose random ones for Ice to answer. The people lucky enough to get their questions selected receive some good freebie stuff from us. Here is the Fall/09  post, enjoy! Read the rest of this entry »

This was way too good to pass up sharing with the T-Netics Nation. Jessica Barton model extrordinaire and one of our race team members (1150 hp Toyota Supra that she pilots to current best of 9.13 @ 160 mph) flew out to shoot our annual SEMA show poster this week. She will be in the Turbonetics booth #22767 at SEMA so make sure to come by and get a signed copy.

Jessica Barton

We have actually been trying to work some modeling gigs out with her for quite some time, ever since she helped us to develop the turbocharger that carries her signature. The “Jessica” Mid-Frame is absolutlely rocking the 1000+ hp street turbo scene and has won multiple races on Supras and other vehicles that need big power in a standard size to fit under the hood.

The "Jessica" Mid-Frame Turbo

We are at KAR Studios in Camarillo, CA working with the incredibly talented Kyle Richardson, known in the industry for his fantastic work with Modified Magazine and their ”After Hours” features. If you have seen any of Turbonetics posters in the past (see here for all the pics, there are multiple albums so cruise around) you know that we take pride on coming up with very creative and unique photo shoots. This year is no different and we are introducing the brand new TN Series of turbos and the Hurricane Series of turbos at SEMA.

Here are some behind the scenes pics of the the photo shoot so far. Make sure to stop by the Turbonetics SEMA booth # 22767 for a signed copy or hit us up after the show to order one. Enjoy!

WordPress Video

The Cash for Clunkers program has received an enormous amount of publicity both good and bad but how can the American people stand by quietly and be deceived into believing that this program was a success. If you read my previous post on my  feelings of it being an absolute disaster then you know where I stand. However I am glad to see that there are some numbers being crunched that reinforce my opinions. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s bad enough having to pay registration fees on your car every year, but do you realize what a big hassle it is to get a smog check here in Southern California? I happened to be unlucky enough to have both of my registration renewals this year include a required smog check with both of them. That meant that on top of the couple of hundred dollars per car that I’m paying for just to get this lame little reflective sticker to slap onto my license plate (which usually ends up getting stolen by someone who is apparently smarter than me), I have to drop another $100 to get both of my cars smog checked. Read the rest of this entry »

Here at Turbonetics we are always trying to keep things fresh so we thought we would get an outsiders perspective on the automotive industry and all the crazy stuff that goes along with our day to day business. What seems normal to us (1000HP street cars, 4″ exhaust tips, booming stereos, burning rubber, etc.) is actually pretty strange to the rest of the general population. Read the rest of this entry »

The saying goes “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. As I have grown older and possibly a little wiser, I understand that everything in life is not going to be the way I want it or like it. That said there are still some phenomenon that exists in the automotive world that cause me to shake my head and wonder if my advanced age of 35 has now classified me as being completely out of the loop with current and cool trends. But what is “cool” anyways? Read the rest of this entry »

On almost any other occasion, rolling a caravan of six Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Xs up to Infineon Raceway would be almost as cool as it gets, but not for Will “Cheesecake” Roegge and myself. Let me explain a little bit. A couple of weeks ago, Moe Durand hit me up to see if Will Roegge and I could shoot a video for Mitsubishi that involved trekking six of these all-wheel drive turbo cars up to wine country Sonoma, California so they could drop them off at Jim Russell Racing School (Yeah, Robbie, I know you and Skip Barber are booing that right now. LOL). So far that does still sound pretty cool, doesn’t it? Read the rest of this entry »