Ed Higginbotham
Ed Higginbotham Associate Editor
1/31/17 3:35 p.m.
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Team Laughing Clown Racing, headed up by forum member singleslammer, arrived at our $2016 Challenge with a fairly unorthodox forced induction setup. After reviewing the engine bay layout of their 1992 Lexus LS400, they decided a traditional turbo setup could not be squeezed in to fit. The solution? A slight reroute on the exhaust and a turbocharger mounted where …

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Trackmouse
Trackmouse SuperDork
1/31/17 3:44 p.m.

Did these guys squirt this? Or stock ecu? I imagine the knock sensors were "knocking"on heavens door"

Maniac0301
Maniac0301 Reader
1/31/17 4:08 p.m.

I'm thinking about doing something similar but in the trunk of my MR2.

Tyler H
Tyler H GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
1/31/17 4:23 p.m.

Rad. Video?

HapDL
HapDL New Reader
1/31/17 4:26 p.m.

That just looks deadly for a dozen or so reasons. Most sanctioning bodies won't allow exhaust components in the driver compartment. The reasons should be obvious.

singleslammer
singleslammer PowerDork
2/1/17 8:31 a.m.

We have an MS2 for it but didn't have time to get it installed before the event. It is on the back burner at the moment but I think that you might see this car again. With a few safety improvements too .

I thought we did okay for a complete rookie team with a tiny budget and not a ton of time.

singleslammer
singleslammer PowerDork
2/1/17 8:32 a.m.

When we get it back out in the spring we will take video. There are also issues with it making boost so nothing all the special is happening at the moment anyway.

dean1484
dean1484 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
2/1/17 8:55 a.m.
HapDL wrote: That just looks deadly for a dozen or so reasons. Most sanctioning bodies won't allow exhaust components in the driver compartment. The reasons should be obvious.

Ya but we are not like "most" people.

maschinenbau
maschinenbau GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
2/1/17 10:22 a.m.

Just build a sheetmetal box around it and suddenly it's no longer in the passenger compartment. Use a scrap mini fridge, so you can open the door to check on the turbo. Same logic for scrap oven.

icaneat50eggs
icaneat50eggs Dork
2/1/17 11:32 a.m.

Doesn't everyone have a tiny budget?

singleslammer
singleslammer PowerDork
2/1/17 12:11 p.m.

We ran out of cash at 1600 dollars.

A sheet metal or plexi box is in the works.

2002maniac
2002maniac Dork
2/1/17 1:27 p.m.

Is this one of the cars that caused the safety uproar?

NickD
NickD SuperDork
2/1/17 3:57 p.m.
2002maniac wrote: Is this one of the cars that caused the safety uproar?

Yeah, this and the wooden Porsche/Camaro hybrid

appliance_racer
appliance_racer New Reader
2/1/17 5:02 p.m.

Can I ask how you guys got the oil return from the turbo back to the engine? Small pump maybe?

"whining passenger" in the title but no "significant other" jokes yet.....

Tmaxx94
Tmaxx94 New Reader
2/1/17 7:03 p.m.

I would imagine you could put a couple microwave burritos in there and they're ready for lunch? Your right arm must get a little toasty.

rich911s
rich911s New Reader
2/1/17 8:16 p.m.

Yea, our plywood porsche helped change the rules as well. Absolutely loved the chicken wire turbo safety cage. BTW we just sold our plywood porsche on ebay for $4200! Trying to figure out what to bring next to the challenge. We'll see u there with something interesting, if not rule bending.

singleslammer
singleslammer PowerDork
2/1/17 8:29 p.m.

The turbo was actually plenty high to gravity feed. We really needed an oil restricter though.

We never got an official talkin' to so I plead the 5th .

It really didn't get that hot in the car since we had all the windows down. Except the passenger one, it would only go down so far before running into stuff...

MattW
MattW New Reader
2/1/17 8:34 p.m.

Interior picture is epic.

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