Boost Monitoring?
 

I was reading a story about how the rules are enforced in the British Touring Car Championship. As road racers go, this is a relatively low budget class. Front wheel drive cars with factory turbo-charged 4 cyl engines, with rules similar to stock eliminator.

The sanction provides a boost sensor that is compatible with the mandated data logger. The log is reviewed to make sure the maximum allowable boost was not exceeded, except in cases of missed shifts, early downshifts, or brief over-revving.

I wonder if this would be needed or wanted in Factory Stock for supercharged applications? As it stands now, boost is teched by measuring pulleys. Is that enough? Is there a waste gate on any of these? Wouldn't modified rotors/screws give a clever competitor an advantage? The logger would eliminate the need to disassemble the blower to detect a car with more boost than the others.

I don't think anyone that owns a CJ, COPO or Drag Pak would see a mandated data logger as a financial burden. I think they have a Racepak logger as standard equipment anyway.

The old front wheel drive cars just tighten up the waste gate when they need more boost. But if they get carried away, they'll blow up the engine. Is that good enough for the factory race cars too?

Re: Boost Monitoring?
 

Gotta love statements like this........

Re: Boost Monitoring?
 

Serious question: don't you already have a data logger? Isn't it a Racepak?

All that needs to be done is to install a boost sensor and connect it to the V-Net. The sensors are held by the sanction between events to minimize tampering.

Re: Boost Monitoring?
 

Why monitor it? If a competitor figures out a way to produce more boost using components that are deemed legal, I don't see that it's any different than a competitor that discovers a better valve job, cam profile, etc that produces more hp. What about the guy that figure out how to increase engine rpm ? (produces more boost). I'm not trying to start an argument, just saying that with a turbo/supercharger combination, boost should be as important part of performance/tuning as any other part of the car.

Re: Boost Monitoring?
 

That's the right question. At least one competitor was disqualified last year for having the wrong size pulley. Why? Because changing the pulley changes the boost.

So, is increasing the boost against the rules, or isn't it? If the answer is yes, then face reality- there are other ways to do it.

Re: Boost Monitoring?
 

I don't think they are limiting boost, just the way that you make it. Changing pullies should be illegal, same as running a cam over the specified lift is. But just like a cam rule, it's what you can do in between all the variables makes the difference. Any blower is going to have a limit of what it can produce, and specifying pulley size helps limit it. For the record. I have not raced Stock. but have a lot of experience with a power adder class that used to exist with a another sanctioning body that had very strict rules, similar to stock. Pully size was specified, so then it becomes a matter of reducing restriction, (porting was not allowed), and increasing rpm's.No different really than a naturally aspirated engine.

Re: Boost Monitoring?
 

I do some tuning for a couple of supercharger mfgrs. Internal impeller changes alter boost levels and boost curves, with no pulley changes. Anybody with any experience working with boosted engines know raising the boost makes much more difference than altering the valve job. If a boosted engine is classed with NA cars, boost levels certainly need controlled. DUH! :-)

Re: Boost Monitoring?
 

Which is why impeller modifications and pulley changes should both be against the rules. This is not rocket science, other sanctioning bodies have been running limited power adder rules for years. Blowers should be required to be as produced, along with mandated pulley sizes. Trying to mandate boost is a lost cause. With everything else being the same power adder wise, what if one guy figures out a way to turn more rpms? Boost increases. Less restriction, boost lowers, but power increases. Mandate the pulley size and power adder modifications, and hp increases are earned just like any other engine.

Re: Boost Monitoring
 

I believe it is already illegal to change or modify the impellers/rotors, that's part of what I'm on about. But I took a few minutes to check the 2014 rule book, and the only mention of superchargers in the Stock or Super Stock sections is in the engine blueprint specs, where a Whipple part number is specified for the COPO's and CJ's that are so equipped.

The boost sensor graph overlays the rpm graph anyway, so additional boost that results from more rpm would be easily separated. I suspect the CJ's will have the potential to eventually wind much higher than their Chevy or Dodge counterparts, but that's a whole 'nother topic.

Anyway, I can't help noticing that no one who actively participated in the FS classes last year has spoken up, so I guess they're happy with the status quo.

Re: Boost Monitoring?
 

Changing the cam profile or even just the cam timing will change boost. Your proposal to measure manifold pressure is just a proposal to measure a meaningless number which really is nothing more than a measurement of restriction in the intake tract. They'd like boost to be zero, power would be even higher then, as flow would be up. Physical inspection of the pulleys, blowers, etc to ensure they are the correct and unmodified parts is already the right approach.