Robin Shute explains how to select the perfect turbocharger for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb

Comments · 234

• FR

  @fraserbrock · 1 year ago · pinned

  Hi Robin, hope you're well!  Nice video/coverage on this topic that's near and dear to my heart.  I'm glad to see EFR still getting some love now ~14 years after its release and I'm glad the turbo (and the support staff) have treated you well.  It's also fun to see that MatchBot is still being used.  Good luck on the mountain in 2025!

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• U2

  @u2berggeist · 1 year ago

  I worked at BorgWarner a 5+ years ago and this brings back a bit of nostalgia talking about properly engineering a turbo setup (rather than &quot;bigger turbo better, smaller turbo less lag&quot;).<br><br>One thing I&apos;ll note is you mentioned that Garrett has higher efficiency numbers. Comparing those numbers across brands is very tricky to do, because everybody&apos;s testing setup is different and isentropic efficiency is a tricky quantity to measure. Even at BorgWarner, there were known discrepancies between different different testing chambers (and those differences were accounted for in our testing results). Application engineers at some point complained that our reported efficiency numbers were lower than competitors, even though customer got better performance with our turbos than the competitors in the customer&apos;s own dyno setups. Not saying that&apos;s always the case with BorgWarner stuff, just something to keep in mind when comparing across brands.

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• TH

  @thecma3 · 1 year ago

  It&apos;s awesome hearing this design analysis from someone who can read a chart of total pressure ratios and talk about those sorts of technical details. A lot of bespoke automotive design that&apos;s open to the public is much less rigorous, so it&apos;s wondeful that you share this so freely!

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• CC

  @cconnon1912 · 1 year ago (edited)

  Design, build and race, Pikes Peak hillclimb race cars and win on a reasonable budget? I kinda want to grow up to be you. 😅

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• RE

  @RedlifeWoW · 1 year ago

  You called us &quot;Normoes&quot; but we actually prefer the term &quot;Normies&quot; this side of the pond thank you very much.

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• TO

  @tomkelley4119 · 1 year ago

  I’ve never sized a turbo (and I doubt I ever will), but this seems really comprehensive, and it’s from an obviously knowledgeable expert. Thanks for sharing your wisdom, Robin!

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• BE

  @bengibson3955 · 3 months ago

  I’ve been watching closely since Superfast Matt alerted me to your presence a few years ago. I admire your openness with your development and setup. I was heavily into club-level motorsport with some success about 15 years ago driving a street registered Subaru that I’d built, tuned and modified, but medical issues caused me to back out.<br>Your story gets my fire burning and now I’ve got a 17yo son who has the bug as well. You’ve inspired both of us to get out there and send it, even if we’re not the quickest.<br>Keep up the great work. You’re an inspiration!

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• CH

  @christophercasale7961 · 1 year ago

  Thank you so much for sharing the dev and build process with us. It’s refreshing to hear someone address something within a real budget but also has experience enough to pursue known good products, practices and explain why and how they got there. I appreciate the bit about the turbo SYSTEM selection, as treating the whole thing as a system (gates, housing, blowoff) lead to weight and packaging decisions.

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• TH

  @The_Deforester · 1 year ago

  I absolutely love these videos. It’s cool to hear an experienced enthusiast explain the thought process for a competition like this!

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• TA

  @TamTran-vw7zm · 1 year ago

  Hi, Robin. &nbsp;I just wanted to thank for doing these. I just found them, and subscribed immediately. &nbsp;Your information is clear, concise, and understandable for a racer type from back in the 70s. I found you through Superfast Matt, so I thank him as well. 👍

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• RA

  @racebiketuner · 1 year ago

  I&apos;m having a flashback to Bonneville 2001. I had a big argument with the team owner about what was required to get an oversized turbo (his idea) on the sweet spot of the map. He was unable to put his ego aside and it cost him. Later that year he implemented my recommendations and went 14 mph faster.

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• H3

  @H3110NU · 1 year ago

  I’m really enjoying this journey. Kinda neat to hear why decisions get made and what’s to come.

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