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Anyone rocking twin Turbos?

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
Has anyone actually turbo'd an H3? I can't say I've ever seen one before

A positive displacement supercharger would definitely be a more reliable route to take IMO

Nick C.

there was (maybe still) a turbo kit for the 5 cylinder H3.... you could do a squire-style turbo for the alpha; but, on a race car the turbo in the back is fine since it won't get that wet - on a Hummer, a hot turbo and a stream crossing would be a recipe for disaster.
 

HUMMERDAD

Well-Known Member
Messages
141
Location
GraysLake IL
Has anyone bothered to ask what the purpose is going to be? Is this a trail set up, a weak end wheeler, a every day driver that never see dirt? is it going to be a rock crawler? When one contemplates their power plant what is the purpose behind that. I just think the more information we can get the better here. I hate to see this guy destroy his drive train or go over board with too.
 

autumn walker

Well-Known Member
Messages
707
Location
Nova Scotia, Canada
Has anyone bothered to ask what the purpose is going to be? Is this a trail set up, a weak end wheeler, a every day driver that never see dirt? is it going to be a rock crawler? When one contemplates their power plant what is the purpose behind that. I just think the more information we can get the better here. I hate to see this guy destroy his drive train or go over board with too.

I considered this before I posted my first reply, but, honestly, I cannot fathom a reason for a turbo setup on an H2. For anything this truck should be used for the supercharger is going to be your better bet - more low end torque, linear power curve, etc.

Turbos are great for high HP / high speed / high RPM applications... none of those things describe an H2 or the activities you should be considering with one.
 

cgalpha08

"Like Nothing Else"
Messages
3,718
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Wait...isn't it the purpose of twin turbos to have one for the low end and one for the high end? Isn't that why people twin turboed engines in the first place?
 

autumn walker

Well-Known Member
Messages
707
Location
Nova Scotia, Canada
Wait...isn't it the purpose of twin turbos to have one for the low end and one for the high end? Isn't that why people twin turboed engines in the first place?

No - twin turbos are twin as in they are identical; big, big power.

You are describing sequential turbos; one smaller to pre-spool the larger to reduce turbo lag, flatten out the power curve, and increase low-end power.
 

CaliHummer

Active Member
Messages
39
Location
OC, California
After much more calling around research I'm not going to do turbos or a super charger. I don't have enough knowledge yet and wouldn't know if I would be getting screwed over or not. I'm definitely going to look more into this over the years. Thanks for all your help guys.
 

SuperBuickGuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,403
Location
Woodinville, WA
If I could find the thread, it'd probably be helpful here where I had quite a conversation about whether to turbo the Buick and what to do. The punchline is this, turbos make hp, superchargers make torque. If you have a motor that does excellent at getting off the line but falls on its face once you're moving - turbo it. If you want torque because the motor can't get off the line but has acceptable power above - super charge it. These are GENERAL rules of thumb, both turbos and superchargers can act like the other... on my Buick, I have a 455 (now 430 ci), I traded torque for hp (okay 700 lb torque and 900 hp at race tune isn't really much of a trade - but had I supercharged it the hp and torque numbers would be almost mirrored) by going with twin turbos.

Once you decide what you want for induction, then you can talk about whether or not twin, or single - keep in mind that turbos also come in scroll, variable vane, and compound arrangements. In 99.9999% of the street cases, twin turbos are better because you get a wider range of hp and less heat. With that said, you need another engine's amount of space to package it all. Single turbos are better for packaging, but then you have to start deciding what rpm range you want your turbo to do its best (it efficiency range looks like a big tear) - the faster you spin it, the more heat it will generate - whereas the larger the turbo (less heat per rpm) the more turbo lag you'll have (this is where you talk about what the motor NA looks like).

Honestly, I don't think a turbo'd H2 would be a bad thing because it'd make the motor more efficient at highway speeds and get it to highway speeds faster. It'd do nothing but add weight, however, in off-road situations unless you went with a tiny turbo(s) for instant boost.

For this forum, a supercharger is by far and away the better choice because you have instant boost - which is what you need when you're pulling 8000 lbs up a 18% hill. On the mall thread, turbos are perfect... but that's a bit bitter - most of our rigs spend most of their time on the road - so getting better economy at speed is definitely something to consider.

For me - I have an alpha - I'd lean towards at supercharger because I think GM screwed up by not putting the 6.0 liter in the alpha - it doesn't have a lot of torque and for where I drive, torque would net me better fuel economy.
 
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