NA build vs stockish Turbo engine for endurance racing - reliability?

[turbogrill]

Hi,

 

How reliable is a stock turbo engine vs a NA engine? 

 

My concern with turbo is that it is an additional thing that can brake while doing 10h+ endurace racing.

 

The car is a 1980 280ZX NA and I need a little more power. 170-200 crank hp is fine.

 

A typical race is 10hours non stop of going balls to the walls. This puts a tremendous stress on everything and all kinds of things brake all the time. Overheating and fuel consumption is also a problem.

 

Reliability is MUCH more important than performance for endurance racing.

(A shitty team with a shitty car will place much better than a "pro" team that has car issues, it is all about keep the car running).

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

[rturbo 930]

For your needs, I would go for a lightly built NA L28. A stock L28 makes about 170hp stock as far as I know, so you don't have far to go to reach your goals. What's the budget like? I'm thinking some porting and polishing, a cam, and Megasquirt would probably do it for you. Or even just a stock engine with Megasquirt and a good tune.

[turbogrill]

For your needs, I would go for a lightly built NA L28. A stock L28 makes about 170hp stock as far as I know, so you don't have far to go to reach your goals. What's the budget like? I'm thinking some porting and polishing, a cam, and Megasquirt would probably do it for you. Or even just a stock engine with Megasquirt and a good tune.

 

I am leaning towards something like that. A NA build will be 1.5x of the turbo cost for less HP, that is fine if I am paying for reliability.

 

The 280zx has 170 crank HP gross , it has 135 crank HP net. 

[HuD 91gt]

People rave about how little their turbo swaps cost them. If your going for reliability it's not that cheap.

 

A NA build, built by a reputable builder will get you your power goals for cheaper I'm betting.

[BluDestiny]

NA build with carbs. Super cheap, super reliable. Large radiator and good, new hoses. 

 

I put this down with a stock engine L28 from a ZX with SU's and a 6-1 header. Car weighs in at 2100 lbs, and that does make a difference

Edited August 18, 2016 by BluDestiny

[Tony D]

It's a toss, most people aren't technologically savvy enough to properly prepare for endurance racing and stupid things break.

 

On an N/A as well as a Turbo.

[supernova_6969]

I'd go for a NA...  a well built one should last a long while, and provided it's build with the right cams and pistons, you should get plenty of power and torque without any lag.  with a mild overbore, a flat or slightly domed piston, and you're good to go.  

 

the way i see it, in the end, you need to rebuild the engine one way or the other (I don't think any 30 year old engine without a relatively fresh rebuild will last 10 hours of flogging).  and then if you turbo it, you need to buy a turbo on top of it.  

 

one thing for certain, no matter what the build, you need to start with a really good block, tested in a professional shop for cracks or other issues, potentially with all the mating/bearing surfaces redone (which could raise the compression, which is great for a NA motor, not so for a turbo).

 

****I just thought of this.  if you go here http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/123487-compare-your-dyno-sheets-here/, you can see the dyno sheets of a bunch of engines, a few of them NA.  that's show you what power they got with what parts...

Edited September 3, 2016 by supernova_6969