STS Twin Turbos

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Since i have been on here i have seen there are many that have never herd of or know much about STS Turbos. STS Specialize in remote-mounted Turbochargers. STS TURBO's remote-mounted turbocharger systems have been recognized around the world as the most innovative technology available for dramatically increasing the horsepower of any vehicle. They patented the technology in 2003 and remain the only legally authorized company to design and sell remote-mounted turbo systems. They provide high quality remote-mount systems and the best customer support in the industry.

Benefits of STS Remote-Mounted Turbochargers

Lower underhood temperatures. No need to worry about melting wires, hoses, or other engine components, as with a front-mounted turbo.
Ease of installation. STS turbo systems can be installed in about 8 hours with standard tools and average mechanical ability.
Cooler oil to the turbo. Cool oil is better for both the turbo and engine.
Performance Sound. The turbo acts as a muffler and sounds like an aftermarket performance muffler. Turbo spool and rushing air from the blow-off valve make a unique sound that will turn heads!
No need for major modifications to your vehicle. STS systems are designed to "bolt-on" to factory mounts.
Increased gas mileage. Unlike a belt driven supercharger, the turbo utilizes "wasted" energy leaving your tailpipe. Most of our customers get 1-3 mpg increase in gas mileage compared to their original stock mpg numbers.
Converts back to stock in about an hour.
More room under the hood. Future repair work or modifications will not require the expense of removing the turbo system to allow access to engine components.

Lowest Intake Air Temps. Low IAT's equate to more horsepower per pound of boost than any other forced induction option. STS intake piping provides built-in intercooling. Add the optional intercooler, and IAT's drop even further.
Approximately 500F lower turbo temperatures. Eliminates the need for a turbo-timer, which allows the engine to run after the car is shut off in order to cool down the turbo and prevent oil and bearing damage.
Denser exhaust gasses drive the turbo turbine wheel more efficiently.
Turbo is exposed to ambient air rather than underhood air. Allows for better cooling of turbo components.
No need for expensive headers, mufflers, or exhaust systems.
Turbo is closer to the tail pipe outlet. Provides a better pressure differential across the turbine wheel which promotes better flow across turbine.
Better weight transfer. Increases traction because the bulk of system is mounted in rear of vehicle rather than up front.
Less noise and heat in the passenger compartment.

Remote-Mounted Turbocharging vs. Supercharging

Remote-Mounted Turbos

• Turbo systems use flow and exhaust pressure instead of a belt driven pulley and are therefore more efficient at generating horsepower and torque.
• Boost is easily adjustable with an electronic switch to match your performance needs. No pulleys or belt changes are required.
• Turbo systems are quieter when driving around town. Turbo noise isn't heard unless the boost is on.
• Turbo systems can increase gas mileage compared to stock mpg numbers because they make the engine more efficient and don't take power from the engine to make power.
• Turbo systems are more reliable than belt-driven superchargers because there are fewer mechanical and moving parts.
• Remote mounted turbo systems leave more room under the hood making it easier to perform normal engine maintenance.
• Remote mounted turbo systems do not increase under the hood temperatures.
• Remote mounted turbo systems run cooler because the exhaust coming in is cooler and the tubing coming from the turbo cools the boost charge before it gets to the intake manifold.

Superchargers

• Use belts driven by crank shaft to increase boost to the engine. It takes horsepower away from the engine to drive the supercharger.
• To change the amount of boost you must change the size of pulley used by the supercharger.
• Superchargers in general are noisy because the gear drive is always engaged, even at idle.
• Superchargers generally decrease gas mileage because they are using the engine's power even when the supercharger is not producing boost.
• Superchargers can throw belts causing damage to other components in your engine compartment.
• Superchargers are installed in the engine bay making it difficult to do regular engine maintenance.

Turbocharger vs. Supercharger
The turbocharger and the centrifugal supercharger use the same style of compressor to pump the air into the engine. The main difference is the way that they drive the compressor.

The supercharger uses a belt driven off of the crank shaft to turn the compressor. This has 2 main characteristics:

#1 - It takes horsepower away from the engine to drive the compressor. It will rob power any time the engine is on, just like running your AC, so fuel mileage is typically worse. At WOT when the supercharger is working hard, depending on how much boost you are running, it can take anywhere from 50 to 100+ hp on street applications. The result from this is that you are putting a substantially large demand on the engine and it's components to make additional horsepower that you aren't ever going to see at the tires.

#2 - Next is going to be the way the boost acts because the compressor rpm is tied directly to engine rpm. By design, the centrifugal compressor wheel is not a positive displacement compressor. So this means that it gets more efficient as the rpms increase. This causes the compressor to make more boost as rpm's increase. The higher you rev the engine, the more boost the compressor will make. So you may not have any boost at 2000 rpm, a couple pounds by 3000, 4 psi by 4500 and then the full 6 psi (if that is your max boost) by 6500 rpm. Then when you shift the car and the rpm drops back down to 4500, the boost also drops back down to 4 psi. This is what is called "Supercharger Shift Lag"! This is why you typically don't see a big flat hp and torque curve and the superchargers produce big peak numbers but don't perform so well in the 2-4k rpm ranges.

Because of the belt drive, any change in boost level requires a pulley/belt size change. Running higher boost many times requires that you run a 'cogged' type of belt rather than the standard ribbed belt. This increases the cost and the noise that the drive produces and is obviously something that you can't do 'on the fly'. Larger increases in boost levels also may require changing the compressor head unit which is going to be very costly. The throttle is very responsive and boost is nearly instantaneous but only to the amount that the supercharger is going to produce at that rpm. In other words, stabbing the throttle quickly produces 3 psi at 3k rpm but then you have to wait until the speed of the vehicle picks up and the engine reaches 6500 before you see the full 6 psi.

Most centrifugal superchargers are quite noisy, even at idle due to the complicated gear drive/belt drive systems so make sure that you want your vehicle to produce this kind of noise before making a purchase.

The roots style superchargers are a positive displacement so they will have full boost anywhere from about 1500 rpm to redline. Like the centrifugal they are crank shaft driven so they do suck a fair amount of power off the crank, more so than a centrifugal so you can expect less hp per pound of boost and lower fuel mileage. They are typically a less efficient method to compress air so they put a lot of heat into the air charge. By design they are hard to build a large efficient intercooler into the system so this heat dramatically affects the power that the system makes. Heat creates more volume in the air charge which basically puts less air in the engine and the air that does go in is hot - bad on both accounts if you are trying to make power. Belt driven systems are capable of different boost levels (within fairly small limits without changing compressors) but do require a belt/pulley size change to raise or lower the boost level. These systems tend to have instant throttle response and instantly go to full boost which produces big bottom end power, moderate midrange and poor high rpm performance mainly due to the heat and parasitic loss. Great for burning the tires at a stop light but not very good for a good hard pull on the freeway.

Turbochargers are very similar to the centrifugal supercharger compressor, however they are driven from spent exhaust leaving the engine. They are not 'free' horsepower but they are way more efficient and cause much less of a parasitic loss than the belt-driven alternatives. As the turbo puts more air into the engine, the engine produces more exhaust, which spins the turbo faster to put more air into the engine. This process is defined as the 'spooling up' of the turbo. You can think of the snowball effect logically in your mind as the above process continues to build more and more boost but it actually all happens in a fraction of a second.

Turbos typically do not produce boost under 2k rpm but above that they can spool up and produce boost. This allows the compressor to go from zero boost to full boost in a fraction of a second and sometimes within 100 rpm, depending on what gear you are in. Due to the efficiency of the system, they typically get a very high hp per pound of boost. We've seen as high as 50 hp per psi on some systems but 25 hp per 1 psi is more typical. The torque curve of the turbocharger is what is really impressive. They typically will have a huge broad torque curve that gives you massive power and full boost in the 3-5k rpm range, which is where you spend most of your time driving.

Turbochargers typically get better fuel mileage than a stock vehicle so really are a great option with no real downsides. The 'lag' in the system also brings the power in just a little smoother than the superchargers do. This small cushion makes the turbocharger much easier on drive train components and typically keeps the tires hooked up rather than causing them to break loose. Out of all the power adders, the turbocharger produces the most power with the least abuse to the engine and drive train and can typically put more hp at the tires with all other conditions being equal.

The turbo system can also produce different levels of boost which can be switched 'on the fly' and typically are capable of turning the boost and hp way up without any major component changes or additional financial investment in the system.

So depending on what you are looking for, each system is capable of producing lots of added power to your vehicle. Understanding the differences allows you to pick the right system for your needs and for your changing needs down the road.

I dont know how many of you have been in a STS powered car but they are the most fun to drive!