Since there's no "General Corvette Discussion" area... familiar w/ Aerochargers?

[Cobra4B]

Guy on VaDriven put up a thread about a new TT G8 Pontiac - House OF Boost: World's Fastest G8 638whp(14psi)

Looking at the pics of the turbo setup I couldn't believe the turbos were so small and the kit looked so simple...
http://aerocharger.com/images/display/G8_kit.jpg

Got to reading the tech behind the aerochargers...
AEROCHARGER | Technology (http://www.aerocharger.com/technology.php)

But... it's marketing material. If this has been around since the late 70's then why haven't al the OEMs jumped on this lubrication technology? Why did it take so long for Porsche to introduce variable vane tech and why are the turbos still lubed w/ engine oil and liquid cooled?

Can some of you turbo gurus educate me? I mean a variable vane turbo that doesn't need any oil or coolant lines, no turbo timer, no wastegate... that's freaking amazing and would make a turbo install on a Corvette 100x more simple.

How often does this internal oil need to be changed? Superchargers w/ self contained oiling systems need a change every 5-7k miles... just like your engine. Prochager and Vortech's new V3 head unit are all self contained.

Also... since the vane adjustments are controlled w/ "shims and springs" as they put it wouldn't this mean you'd need access to the turbo everytime you want to adjust?

Thoughts?

[Joecooool]

I believe Porsche now uses a variable turbine system but this kit looks like snake oil. I think those turbos are way way to small to be putting out that much boost. They must be spinning at 20,000 rpms.

I'd want to know who built those too. I went through several turbos on my race cars. I had one blow on the dyno about an hour after we installed it. Price is directly related to quality and I will never buy a non ball bearing turbo again. I'd also stay way far away from anything cast in China, the ones I have seen from there look like they are trying to clone Turbonetics and doing a very poor job.

By the way, there wasn't any required maintenance on my Magna Charger.

[Cobra4B]

Actually these guys are a well known company in the racing world apparently... sent a link to a buddy who's a motorsports engineer and they've used them on their formula race cars etc.

Yes Porsche brought variable vane tech to production w/ the 997 turbo.

[DropTheTop]

:confused5: There's a section under "General Corvette Topics" called "Engine Mods", that this would fall nicely under.

Anyhoo, I think it sounds pretty cool. But I guess that's the problem. Sounds good but not known well enough. If all their testing is true, they really put these things through the paces.

"This oil system has been proven not only over several decades of aftermarket installations, but also on military applications where units have logged over 35,000 hours at 83K RPM which is the equivalent of full boost for most applications."

That right there is impressive!