WC Engineering ceramic turbo

[davevr6car]

Hi,

I contacted John recently in regards to purchasing his stage 1 ceramic turbo for my S4s.

He explained that he does not carry the parts anymore to build this turbo!

Does anybody know the exact specs of his stage 1 turbo. I know it has mods done to the turbine houseing and runs a larger compressor wheel.

Any ideas

Cheers

DAve

[karmavore]

Before I tried to cobble together my own version I would want to know why he stopped making them.

[davevr6car]

Lucas,

This is the reply email from John.

David:

We are no longer able to source the parts to build the ceramic ball bearing turbos.

Regards

John

Some body out there must know the spec of these turbo's. Are they .63 A/R compressor wheels?

cheers

Dave

[Bibs]

Won't John tell you? Have you asked?

[Artie]

I have one on my Esprit. I will have to take a look at the markings. His website has information about the flow capabilities of the turbo but no specifics on A/R and compressor sizing..

[StevenD57]

The unfortunate reality of the situation is that Esprits are no longer produced and are a dwindling market for specialty parts and repair places to support. As time goes by more and more bits will continue to become unavailable. My guess is that John got less and less orders for these and probably had a supplier fail or refuse to update a produce line. This is too bad because I too would have liked to upgrade to one of these for my cars at some point since they seem to be a great leap forward in turbo technology.

[karmavore]

I doubt that's it, Steven. Any Esprit unique part is taken from the core that John requires. Why don't we just ask him?

I got a turbo from John last summer and it isn't a ceramic bearing unit. He said it was a prototype for future generations. I highly doubt he's out of the upgrade business altogether.

[lotus4s]

I happened to speak with John today and he confirmed that he is having difficulty sourcing the turbine wheel/shaft from Garrett. Evidently the original part is outdated and has been discontinued and they are no longer willing to custom make them in small batches.

He is working on another option with Garrett for a turbo upgrade but no word as to when something might be available....

[Artie]

Hmmmmmm! I like what I'm hearing!! Subscribed!

[StevenD57]

John says he can still offer upgraded turbos but they are unlikely to be pure bolt-in replacements like his original product because of the change in the water cooling connections and in the housings. The unavailability of the turbine wheels to match the existing Lotus OEM turbine housings means certain changes will be forced on him.

He does say this is a good thing though because of vast improvements in the efficiencies / performance of new design turbine wheels and matching housings.

[sailorbob]

My prediction here: it'll be a GT3071R or GTX3071R with a Cosworth style 3 bolt turbine housing.

[bosbon_be]

My prediction here: it'll be a GT3071R or GTX3071R with a Cosworth style 3 bolt turbine housing.

That turbine housing is an 0.72 A/R, this is a little bit bigger than the standard 0.63 A/R turbines (of the SE and later)

This will cause more lag and more power in the higher rpm's. (Unless the bearings reduce the lag, I don't know)

Combined with an standalone ECU (for easy map adjustment) will this give great power.

To stay with the cosworth turbine housing is useless as you have to install a bigger exhaust pipe to handle 400hp exhaustflow.

[sailorbob]

The S4 runs a .48 turbine housing which chokes the flow at the upper end anyway. The roller bearings will compensate for the spooling time I expect and the Cosworth housing should save having to change the downpipe.

[Quicker]

no detail from his site...http://www.wcengineering.com/articles/compressormaps.html

see if I can find the details from old e-mails...

I remember a thread where Bibs was needing an upgrade and John kept the specs and resulting hp output private - >

Edited December 3, 2011 by Quicker

[bosbon_be]

The S4 runs a .48 turbine housing which chokes the flow at the upper end anyway. The roller bearings will compensate for the spooling time I expect and the Cosworth housing should save having to change the downpipe.

In the http://www.lotusespr...odels/SEhw.html is written : Turbocharger: Garrett T3 .63 with 0.42 Compressor, watercooled with integral wastegate.

Wich means Turbine housing 0.63 Compressor housing 0.42

As for the S4s it had an 0.63 Turbine housing and an 0.6 Compressor housing.

The Sport 300 had an 0.63 Turbine housing and an T4 compressor housing.

If you want 400hp, the downpipe should be at least 3" (You can ask the cosworth guy's) So everything standard on the Esprit will have to go.

Edited December 3, 2011 by bosbon_be

[MikieP]

I want 350-375 at the wheels... John had the perfect kit it seems, but now, what, exactly is available as a bolt on? Nada. Anyone got one they want to sell? Willing to go stainless flow through cat and muffler, but 3" maybe not.

Edited December 3, 2011 by MikieP

[bosbon_be]

I want 350-375 at the wheels... John had the perfect kit it seems, but now, what, exactly is available as a bolt on? Nada. Anyone got one they want to sell? Willing to go stainless flow through cat and muffler, but 3" maybe not.

Take a look at this dealer:

http://www.turbotechnics.com/docs/catalogue.pdf

Look for a Esprit 16V Hybrid that will do.

[MikieP]

bosbon_be

Thank you for the link. No pricing, heavy on the shipping to (core) and from the UK (same as Marcus' high costs), what injectors required, what down pipe required, what chip to get the 380? MAP N/A so for street or track rpm's? WC took all the guess work out of it so-to-speak. I do feel that a T3, hybrid or not, over 1000USD seems excessive given what they really are, but our market is smallish so costs are unrealistically higher...

I am so very much P/O'ed not getting in on the WC kit before they ran out..

Edited December 3, 2011 by MikieP

[karmavore]

Don't get involved with UK and European turbo builders. If, for whatever reason, you're not into what John is offering there are a million turbo shops in the US.

Do you DIY Mike or do you use a local shop? If you're looking I can maybe suggest a couple engine builders.

[MikieP]

karmavore,

No DIY. WC not offering anything at this time AFAIK. wish he still had the Stage 1 OR ii. nada. Do not want engine builder. Just wanted the bolt on, correctly sized injector set and S4sMKV ECU all ready to plug in. Additionally, I know there a loads of turbo aftermarketers, but that leaves me with guess work / dyno expenses getting injection and mapping taken care of at high costs.

Edited December 3, 2011 by MikieP

[karmavore]

Nothing? Or nothing bolt-on? As I said, I have a new design turbo from John that he installed himself last spring. I don't think it was that difficult, so I'm surprised he won't sell you one.

[MikieP]

He was talking about 3071xxx but requires modifications for at least water. not sure if he has sorted out injectors, mapping etc as it is a bit different from the t3/t4 hybrid he was selling and I do not want to detonate the car, just go faster.

how about a land line?

[karmavore]

I'm in South Africa.

[MikieP]

well that won't work very well... thought you were local to DC. No more bolt-ons per John. No parts.

[sailorbob]

In the http://www.lotusespr...odels/SEhw.html is written : Turbocharger: Garrett T3 .63 with 0.42 Compressor, watercooled with integral wastegate.

Wich means Turbine housing 0.63 Compressor housing 0.42

That refers to the SE, I know the S4 is different as I've had the turbo off and seen the markings in the casting.