The Turboturtle: GTX3576r // Varis // Racecomp // Volk //

THE TURBOTURTLE




First and foremost I would like to thank Matt and his team at Spec Ops Motorsports for all the assistance, advice, and wrist slapping they've given to me over the past 18 months. If any of you guys read this. Thanks!

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Second I'd like to thank Mark @ Bulletproof Automotive for the excellent service and helping me get the exterior modifications from Varis Japan. Bulletproof Automotive

I'd also like to thank Myles @ Racecomp Engineering for the customer service and recommendations on my suspension setup and making sure I had what I needed and nothing else. Racecomp Engineering : Home Page : 410-846-5407

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I'll save the ultra long journal from some other sites and kinda give a (read: Wall-o-text) write up on the background of the Turtle.

The Turtle was purchased in 2011 with 4 miles on the odometer and was tuned in October 2011 on a stage 2 map making roughly 290whp and 325wtq. on January 1, 2012 while cruising on the highway the motor suffered a catastrophic failure of the #2 and #4 pistons. She sat until March 2012 until I could afford to rebuild the motor the right way. The build started with

1. CP 9.0:1 Pistons
2. Element Tuning Rods
3. ACL Race Bearings
4. DeatschWerks 850cc Injectors
5. DeatschWerks DW65c Fuel Pump
6. Hallman Manual Boost Controller
7. Invidia N1 Race CBE

I got her back in the middle of May 2012 and had her for a week until my oil light flickered on the freeway. I slammed on the brakes and checked the oil. The dipstick was completely dry and the entire underside and rear of my car was covered in AMSOIL. I put four quarts of oil in and limped her home. I dropped the car off at Spec Ops Motorsports the next day where they discovered not metal...but seal material in the oil pan. The machine shop who re-honed the cylinder walls had pressed the rear main seal in too far and it all but disintegrated and dumped oil onto the flywheel which flung it all over my car. I left the Turtle there and deployed the next week. I spent many hours on the phone, emailing, and researching while I was gone so I could continue building the Turtle and finally, in February of 2013, I came back home.

While I was gone I went through BulletProof Automotive who was able to source me a suite of Varis products which are still waiting to go on the car. I also worked with my shop, who searched high and low, for a set of GSC S2 camshafts and had the heads ported by HeadGames. It took 9 months to finally find a set of cams and at the end of March 2013 they finally arrived. The shop and I both agreed that the S2 grind would compliment the ETS Rotated GTX3576 kit that was waiting to be installed. Next, we found out that the bearings did need to be replaced, however, so back to the machine shop it went. By the end of April we had finally had all the parts in the shop all at once...but there were 2 full Evo IX builds already underway so I got to do a little more waiting. On April 16, 2013 the motor was finally completely reassembled and ready to go back in the car. On the 22nd Spec Ops dropped the motor in and began the task of getting everything back into order. On May 25th, 2013 the Turtle breathed life once more after, to the day, one full year of hibernation.

Currently the Turtle is waiting to be broken in and tuned on 93 Octane, E85, and Q16. The following is the current setup:

Current Setup
Engine
Engine Management: Cobb AccessPort w/ Speed Density
Exhaust Manifold: ETS EL Header
Up Pipe: ETS Rotated with EWG
External Wastegate: Tial MV-S 44mm
Turbo: Garrett GTX3576r, .82 A/R Tial V-band
Downpipe: ETS Rotated V-band
Exhaust: Invidia N1 Race
Intake: ETS 4"
Intercooler: ETS Front Mount
BOV: Tial Qs
Pistons: CP 99.5mm 9.0:1 Compression Ratio
Rods: Element Tuning H-Beam
Bearings: ACL Race Main and Rod bearings
Belts: Gates Racing Timing/Accessory Belt
Cams: GSC S2
Valvetrain: GSC Springs/retainers
Injectors: Injector Dynamics 1000cc
Fuel Pump: Deatschwerks DW65c (Soon to be upgraded)
Fuel Rails: Aeromotive
Fuel Lines: Aeromotive
Fuel Pressure Regulator: Aeromotive
Mounting: Torque Solutions Engine and Pitch Stop
Misc: Crawford v2 AOS, Spec Ops Motorsports TGV Deletes, KillerB Oil Pickup, KillerB Oil Pan, KillerB Baffle, Koyo Racing Radiator

Drivetrain
Clutch: Exedy Hyper Triple Disc
Mounting: Torque Solutions Transmission Mount
Bushings: Whiteline Rear Differential and Rear Subframe, COBB Front/Rear Stay Bushings
Shifter: COBB Short Throw

Brakes
Rotors: Girodisc Slotted
Pads: Ferrodo DS2500
Fluid: ATE Super Blue
Lines: Girodisc SS braided

Suspension
Coilovers: Racecomp Engineering Tarmac 2, 500F 550R
Endlinks: Kartboy
Sway Bars: Racecomp Engineering
Camber Plates: GTWORX
Wheels: Volk TE37SL Black Edition, 18x10 +40
Tires: Dunlop Direzza z1 Star Spec, 275/35r18

Exterior:
Varis Carbon Fiber Hood, vented
Varis Carbon Fiber Front spoiler
Varis Carbon Fiber Side Underboards
Varis Carbon Fiber Rear Diffuser
Varis Carbon Fiber Splitter Fin
Varis Carbon Fiber Heat Shields

 

Reserved 1

 

Reserved 2

 

Nice Build! Personally, I would stay away from running straight E85. I wished I had never messed with it.

 

Super sick ride man!

 

Man that story sucks, but glad you have it running again. Really clean, I think the name would be more appropriate if it was a hatch Lol.

 

The name actually came from when the motor was blown. The car would only make about 7 lbs of boost and kinda creep up to 65-70 slowly, regardless of gear, and never go any faster. My friend said "Bro, it's like a turtle" to which I replied "But...it has a turbo. It's a turboturtle!" and so the car was henceforth known as the turboturtle or just turtle.

 

I'm with Eddie, I'm not a fan of E85. Its way to much work.

Also ID1000s will not be enough injector for E85, There are some new injectors out that FIC has that are progressive they flow like 1000cc injectors down low and more like a 1600cc injector up top. Thats probably the best option. The 2000cc injectors are terrible on pump gas, even with a AEM its hard to get them to idle consistently.

 

E86 will happen on id2000s and a buschur racing double pumper sometime in the future. Currently I would have to drive 30 miles one way for a fill up.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

If you are going to run the E85 all the time the ID2000s will be great they suck on pump gas though.

 

I plan on getting 6 or 7 jerry cans (20 liters) and filling them up when I top off the tank so I only have to make the trip every month or so

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

how does E85 do sitting in cans? have the same problems as pump gas with sediment and separation?

i kinda wish i had something that ran E85 as another means of transportation right now. E85 at the gas station across from work is $2.85/gallon right now

 

Not sure I was wondering the same thing about it sitting in cans


Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

might want to check local, I can get 55gal drums for 30 bucks. They have been refurbished for fuel storage with the correct vent and cap.

 

Matt and I have both been down the E85 road and it really isnt worth it unless you plan on running E85 100% of the time....and even then I would never do it again with all the problems that came from running it for 2 months. The easiest way to explain what happened was that I pretty much had to replace anything that touched the E85...Tank, Pumps, Lines, etc.....That stuff is VERY corrosive.

 

It doesn't do well sitting in cheap cans. It tends to absorb water.

Also fuel system wise, I've done it once with regular braided lines and they don't hold up well despite what people on the net tell you. The way to go is Teflon lines but they are a pain to make and they are expensive..

 

thats what i was wondering about, i knew it was corrosive and figured it would probably eat through cheap plastic and corrode the crap out of steel

 

I had two brand new pumps sit in E85 for 2 weeks and they looked like they were 5 years old.

 

I know a few local guys who have been running it for a while and haven't seemed to have any issues yet. Maybe it has something to do with the blend down there?

 

Everyone has a issue eventually..... Your setup looks sick though. Looking forward to seeing what a GTX3576 does, I really liked my GTX3076. I'm considering doing another one on the new car.

 

Well, when it's time to upgrade the injectors and go to a double pumper then it'll be on E85 permanently. I guess if I have to end up re-vamping the fuel system a few times I can live with that. I'm not too fond of meth injection since it starts adding more complexity (side note: I FULLY understand the benefits of meth and the probability of a failure). E85 will be a bit safer than 93 octane when I'm out at VIR or wherever else.

 

Meth is a last resort for me. I ran it on One Lap of America in 07 because we didn't know what tracks we would be able to get race gas at. It works but.... There are to many issues that can creep up.

 

That's mostly my reasoning as well.

The shop seated the rings last night and dialed in a cruising tune. Today should be the full tune and the car will be ready to go very very soon.

 

Sick ride, thing looks like a beast! where do you get your tuning done?

 

Thanks! It's tuned by Spec Ops Motorsports in Fayetteville, NC.

 

Sweet car...love those TE37s! Great build overall!

 

Any updates?

 

Bummer. Same car as mine, same wheels I plan to get, and a whole list of other identical mod choices. Would love to meet the guy.

 

might be on a tour or sight seeing

 

http://www.iwsti.com/forums/gr-memb...oturtle-dual-fuel-pumps-2000cc-injectors.html

 

remind him of this thread

 

Very nice car man.

 

Tour of Duty. I am presently in Afghanistan.

I'll be going through ATL on my way down to LaGrange when I get back around early summer-ish

 

Currently I'm waiting to see whether or not I need a new headgasket or a new motor. After that the Final final last, definitely no more, step of the last thing I plan on doing to my car will be a Hydra Nemesis ECU, Buschur Racing Double Pumper with Walbro 255s, ID 2000cc injectors, and a few misc items (gauges, new radiator/thermostat, etc).

 

And here's some car porn for you from Sept @ Virginia Int'l Raceway

 

tore that varis front lip up

 

had a run in with a curb on the horseshoe. Went in too hot and just aborted and drove off. Ripped the front left off. It's back on with some fiberglass resin and bondo to reinforce it. I have a JUN diffuser that'll be on the front of the car next year though.

 

Turboturtle iz de gay

 

Why don't you quit being dumb and join in on the Forza 5 Track Time Challenge? All the cool kids are doing it.

 

Take that Hydra....and throw it in the garbage. You are better off putting a carburetor on it. Cobb AP should have no problem tuning that car. The hydra is nothing but junk and thats the best thing I can say about it.

 

Can you give me more info on why it's junk? The Element Hydra seems to work fine for them.

 

@slowwrx

Are you against it because it is a piggy back system as opposed to a full stand alone?

 

I would not use the Hydra. It is so poorly built, just from a printed circuit board perspective (PCB) that if you don't MOUNT the thing properly it won't work.

I've spoken to guys from Maine all the way to florida and in between about this ECU, everyone that "liked it" at one point has now consented that it is a nightmare waiting to happen.

In your case I would tune with cobb's software on the stock ECU, or if you want a full standalone get the cosworth ECPro or whatever they call it now.
It supports quad AVCS and everything you are used to (ffs, LC, etc)

The only problem is tuning that ECU. The software used is about as user friendly as writing assembly (zing, free rhyme)

 

It's already tuned on Cobb SD. I just don't like having fuel cut FFS/LC.

 

I think I remember mentioning not using the hydra before in your thread on IWSTI. I'll agree that the Cosworth ECU pro would be better. It's a pectel unit. They've made ECU's for all sorts of racing series. Much more sturdy unit.

 

Having a tuner is the concern with a Cosworth unit. I can get Phil Grabow to tune the Element Hydra. If there was an AEM unit I could have my shop do it. I don't have the time to go to a tuner to get it tuned on a Cosworth unit. Unfortunately, I can't just take vacation time whenever I need to so I can get the car tuned. I also want the car -finished- by May. If I get the cosworth ecu, that isn't happening until July or August at the VERY earliest. If the Element Hydra isn't worth using then I'll just stay with Cobb SD.

 

Understandable. AEM doesn't make a stand alone?

 

Not one that supports Quad AVCS and is plug and play.
At least not to my knowledge.
There are some "unsupported" configurations that utilize an AEM from the GC/GD era, but how they got quad AVCS working, or if they just eliminated it is not clear.