I am seriously thinking about putting a Aerodyne turbo on my raptor when I get some cash here in a couple months(I should be getting around 5K) I am gonna sell my raptor I have now and get a 2002. What all I need to know is....what exactly is a turbo charger? All I know about them is they make whatever they're on....go alot faster. Do you have to run race gas? Do you have to modify the engine? will it hurt the engine? is it safe? how fast will it actually go? should I make the raptor more "STABLE" before I go putting it all on? I need to know EVERYTHING ANYBODY knows about turbo systems!!!One more thing...is a turbo charger the same as a supercharger?

 

A turbo is a device that takes exhaust flow and powers a turbine to compress fresh air into a motor. Turbos are made up of 2 halves, the exhaust turbine half and the compressor half. Exhaust from your engine passes through a passage in the turbo that contains a turbine wheel. The exhaust spins this wheel at a very high rate. The exhaust turbine is connected via a shaft to a compressor turbine. The compressor turbine takes fresh outside air and compresses it, forcing it then into the engine. I doubt you'd have to run race gas because you won't be running that high of psi on the stock motor but you'll definitely have to run 93 octane, at least. Do you HAVE to modify the engine? No. Should you modify the engine? Yes. The Raptor comes with an aluminum piston and this worries me with turbo applications. If your motor would lean out for a split second while under boost you could melt your motor. Turbos dramatically increase temperatures and I doubt this kit is running any kind of intercooler (for space savings). This means that the intake charge will be very hot and this just invites more problems. A turbo motor is safe when it's built for a turbo. Unfortunately, Yamaha didn't build the 660R motor for a turbo so you're bolting on a drastic HP builder on a motor that doesn't have the slightest bit of preparation that a turbo motor requires. Note, factory Raptors have a slight lean condition as it is. This is a MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR, no no for a turbo. I can't stress enough that if your motor goes lean you'll have a 660cc boat anchor. Some other things to consider. Does this kit come with some type of BOV (blow-off valve)? When under boost (like racing down a straight) and then you suddenly let off the gas the carb butterfly quickly closes. The problem here is that you've still got boosted air coming through the intake tract. When that air is travelling under boost and that throttle blade closes suddenly it reverses that pressure and sends it back into the turbo and this can wreck a compressor wheel. Think of it this way. You're out in the yard throwing a tennis ball as hard as you can out into the open air, no problem. As you're throwing this ball I drop a brick wall down in front of you. What happens? That ball bounces off that wall and back into your face, breaking your nose. You're the turbo, the ball's the forced air and the wall is the suddenly closed carb butterfly. Also, you'll need a fuel system that can keep up properly. The trouble with carbs is that you need to jet it so it doesn't go lean under boost but then also doesn't run overly rich at idle and off-turbo speeds. I've got extensive turbo experience on my AWD TSi and there's so much to a turbo to explain it all in a short post. Entire books have been written explaining turbo theory and the physics behind them. If I were you, keep your 2001 Raptor (no new features on the 2002's) and take that 5k and buy a wider axle and A-arms, buy a complete set of PEP shocks or something similar. There's speed in improved handling but if that's still not enough there'll be bigger bore kits soon for our bikes. You can already buy cams, etc.

 

An aluminum piston? Really? You have got to be kidding me? I ran out to my garage and tore the top end off my Banshee and guess what I found. Two aluminum pistons! What were those crazy Yamaha Engineers thinking!
Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

I'm all for aluminum internals, when they're not for turbo applications...

 

GuyRaptor explained everything pretty well.
About the intercooler thing. They do have intercoolers...well...at least scooby's turbo DS has it.
I wouldn't even think about turbo without EFI. You might want to lower your compression also.

How much power does that give you? on pape, it's very simple. 14,5 psi of boost (1bar) = double power (actually torque). We're living in chaos, so don't expect exactly that much, but you get the idea.

 

I went to your site and noticed you got married Sept. 30, 2000. I was also married on that day and also went to Kauai and Maui. I was there the same time you where. Pretty weird.

 

So what would you suggest for materials to make a piston for a turbo application? I imagine a steel piston would last a very long time. However, it would take it forever to rev. I think that a nice forged aluminum piston would do the trick.

 

A forged steel piston would be the best bet for turbo safety. A lot of guys run forged aluminum pistons in there turbo cars for weight savings but they've got money to rebuild motors every couple of race weekends. If you're dead set against using the forged steel I'd look for a good forged alloy piston with a low aluminum content. The higher the aluminum content the "softer" the piston. Keep in mind that the melting point for aluminum is much lower than the melting point of steel. Detonation is a big risk with turbos also. If detonation occurs you could chip a piston skirt and this is much more likely with aluminum. The most common occurence with fatigued pistons is not that they totally melt but you'll literally blow holes through them. There'll be a 3/4" hole like somebody took a torch and just held it in one spot until it melted a hole through.

I guess what it comes down to is what kind of boost pressure is this kit running? 2-3psi? 5-7psi? That will truly tell you what type of internals you should be running. The higher the boost the more concerned with strength you need to be.

 

Dude, I have been kind of kidding with you because I thought you knew what you were talking about. I can see that if you seriously want to use a steel piston, you don't. All pistons are aluminum. Forged aluminum is about as strong as they come, but they do have some drawbacks.

 

Someone just posted a turbo manufacturer: www.mrturbo.com.

That guy does some really cool stuff.

RM