by Frank Filipponio

The Racing Network (TRN) just put out a call to motor racing fans. Well, fans of racing other than just NASCAR. Trying to gauge public interest, they have asked visitors to vote on their very existence. The question they ask is simple, if a bit wordy: “Would you be willing to: Switch from your current cable or satellite provider to the cable or satellite provider that carries the new non-NASCAR Racing Network, or add the additional cable or satellite provider in order to watch the new non-NASCAR Racing Network?”

What they are offering is “a 24/7 racing network” that’s “devoted exclusively to the NON-NASCAR race fan.” The programming would include “thousands of hours of live, historical and first run racing as well as many weekly race magazine-style shows including weekly coverage of major domestic series, [with] behind the scenes access…”

They’re talking about coverage of Open Wheel, Drag racing, Rally, GT, Touring Car, Bike Racing (road and off road ), Karting, Vintage, Rallycross, Sports Cars, Endurance, Motocross, Supermoto, Off Road/Dirt, European Truck racing, UTE racing, Hill Climb, Porsche Cup, Desert, Speedway, Adventure, Historical, Various Club programs, (Porsche, Corvette, etc), and Various manufacturer series. Sounds super to us. If it sounds like something in which you’d be interested, visit their site by clicking the Read link below and vote. Please note, they request only one vote per household.

Thanks for the tip, Mike!

[Source: The Racing Network]

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In general terms, a supercharger, which is also known as a blower, is nothing more than an air pump that is driven off the crankshaft of an engine. Superchargers have been used on motor cars for more than 100 years. The German car manufacturer Gottlieb Daimler is credited as the first person to patent a supercharger system for an internal combustion engine. His design was based on the twin-rotor air pump designed by the Americans Philander and Francis Roots in 1859 and patented in 1860. The first production vehicles to use superchargers were built by Mercedes and Bentley in the 1920’s. Back in the 1980’s, there was probably nothing that shouted ‘hot rod‘ louder than an Chevy with a supercharger sticking through the hood. Supercharging has come a long way since hot rodders stuck inefficient superchargers on their engines and struggled to make 3 pounds of boost. Today you can walk into any tuning shop and order any number of Roots supercharger and centrifugal supercharger kits designed to work specifically with your engine. And with supercharging technology being so advanced, you could easily double the horsepower of a stock engine! That’s more horsepower than you would ever need! But it takes a bit of know-how to create serious horsepower and still have a reasonably reliable engine at the end of the day. When you get down to it, it all boils down to air temperature, fuel and ignition timing.

With all the different superchargers available these days, choosing the best supercharger for your particular engine can be a bit of a challenge as no one supercharger can be described as “The best”. All superchargers work well, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. What you need is an idea of what you want from the supercharger and an idea of what to expect from each type of supercharger. Especially as different vehicles and different engines may benefit from one type or another so it’s important that you know what you’re looking for.

There are two types of superchargers that are commonly used on internal combustion engines:

• Centrifugal superchargers, which are very similar to a turbocharger; and
• Positive-displacement superchargers, such as the Roots supercharger

There are also Sliding vane superchargers but these are not widely used on motor cars.

[Source www.custom-car.us]

The turbocharger, or a just simply the turbo, has been around for just on 100 years. It was invented by Swiss engineer named Alfred Buchi in 1905 and was first used on diesel ships and locomotives from the 1920s. It was used on production airplanes from the 1930s and on trucks from the late 1940s. But it only found its way under the hood of a production car in 1962 when it was used on the Oldsmobile Cutlass Jetfire.

As a forced induction system, a turbo is nothing more than an air pump that is driven by the engines exhaust gasses. It consists of a compressor-wheel and a turbine-wheel that are connected by a common shaft. The compressor increases the density of the air that enters the intake manifold by forcing more air than what the engine would normally suck into the manifold. This higher intake air density than produces more power when combined with the correct amount of fuel. This is similar to the way NOS allows more fuel to be burned by providing extra Oxygen as explained by Ian. The major difference between NOS and a turbo is that the turbo provides a constant supply of extra Oxygen while NOS only provides a limited supply.

You’ve got three options when it comes to laying your hands on a turbo car:

• You can buy an OEM turbocharged car such as a Mitsubishi 3000GT, a Nissan 300ZX, a Nissan Silvia spec-R, a Toyota Supra, etc.
• You can buy an aftermarket turbo kit for your car. Here there are many options to choose from. There are Garrett turbo kits, STS turbo kits, Turbonetics turbo kits, and so much more.
• You can also build you own turbo system.

A complete turbo kit consists of the turbocharger as well as the necessary parts required to integrate the turbocharger with the car’s engine. This includes an exhaust manifold, plumbing to connect the turbo to the intake manifold, and can include an intercooler as well as cooling and lubrication feeds for the turbo. When building your own turbo system, selecting the perfect turbo for a particular application can be a real challenge as no one turbo is best suited to all applications.

There are a number of things you need to consider when selecting a turbo. These include:

• Engine capacity
• Number of valves
• At what RPM to you want the turbo to come in
• The type of fuel you plan on running
• The turbo boost you plan on running
• The amount of horsepower you want.

[Source www.custom-car.us]

by Chris Shunk

The family of former NASCAR chairman Bill France Jr. has suffered yet another tragedy only one month after the former NASCAR chief died of cancer. The husband of NASCAR executive Lesa France Kennedy died in a tragic plane crash along with another long-time NASCAR employee after their twin-engine Cesna 310 began emitting smoke in the cabin. Dr. Bruce Kennedy was attempting to land the disabled plane at Sanford-Orlando Airport but never got there, as the aircraft crashed into a house. Several people on the ground were injured or killed in the accident, which is obviously casting more pain on the France family and NASCAR.

[Source: AutoWeek]

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