Increasing turbo size?

3799 Views 9 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Fabulist, Jul 22, 2013

LandToSea

Discussion Starter · Jun 15, 2013

Hello all! I am new here and came trying to find out what the performance modification ability is with the Karma. I was unable to find anything on the web understandably since there are so few of the Karmas and even fewer owners looking to try to modify them. BUT just in case it has been considered or discussed, has anyone looked into adding more power maybe by increasing the turbo size?

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Antonin

· #2 · Jun 15, 2013

I think the result will be less than pleasing. Getting more air to engine's cylinders will increase BMEP, put strain on pistons, connecting rods and crankshaft. Most likely you will have to reprogram ECU so you do not burn down the engine with lean mixture. Quite possible there is closed loop system with lambdas on the exhaust but enrichment might go up only so far.

Increasing turbo size will result in more fuel consumption, worse emissions and more heat in the engine bay. Most people drive car in Stealth mode so this modification will make little sense.

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Harleyguy

· #3 · Jun 15, 2013

The engine runs at one speed depending on current draw . The only the engine does is spin a generator doing and performance update wouldn't really help .The design of the car was to work a certain way . To many factors come into play trying to change how the car was designed to work . Leave well enough alone and be happy the car runs the way it does . There are to many other bugs that need more attention then trying to add more power to the engine .
The coupler between the engine and the generator has the potential for failure and if that breaks you will looking at 15 hours of labor and the cost of the part and hope you can find the part .

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smoothoperator

· #4 · Jun 24, 2013

How many PSI is the turbo pushing at 2400 RPM on the Karma? I would guess less than 15 and maybe less than 10. I think a more efficient (and quieter) turbo may significantly improve the noise profile. The turbo on the Karma is louder than the one on my Cummins.

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Fabulist

· #5 · Jun 25, 2013

You guys know that you are responding to a message posted by a Chinese bot, right? Not that the discourse is not illuminating, but still ...

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LandToSea

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 18, 2013

Fabulist said:
You guys know that you are responding to a message posted by a Chinese bot, right? Not that the discourse is not illuminating, but still ...

Hardly a bot or Chinese, but that statement was amusing!

I did not know anyone replied since I did not get any email notifications. I am a V6 Mustang owner who recently received a significant raise and have loved the look of the Karma including the idea of an electric car. Since they can now be had for under $60K with low miles it is a reality for me to consider. BUT I also race at PBIR drag strip as a hobby. My car is a daily driver of 100 miles RT. What really motivates me is a local Tech high school instructor who has a fully electric 1984 Porsche running in the 8 second range. I love seeing it scream down the strip in it's stealthy manner. While it may be a long stretch I was curious how the Karma may be able to be transformed into a weekend/ track car.

Basically, I am just curious as to the potential of beefing up the engine aspect and what the drive system will support to do something very different. Love the cars, you guys are very forunate outside of the nightmare that comes along with it. It is comparable to a 24 year old dime girlfriend in my opinion.

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Fabulist

· #7 · Jul 22, 2013

LandToSea said:
Hardly a bot or Chinese, but that statement was amusing!

你好，中国机器人。

LandToSea said:
I did not know anyone replied since I did not get any email notifications. I am a V6 Mustang owner who recently received a significant raise and have loved the look of the Karma including the idea of an electric car. Since they can now be had for under $60K with low miles it is a reality for me to consider. BUT I also race at PBIR drag strip as a hobby. My car is a daily driver of 100 miles RT. What really motivates me is a local Tech high school instructor who has a fully electric 1984 Porsche running in the 8 second range. I love seeing it scream down the strip in it's stealthy manner. While it may be a long stretch I was curious how the Karma may be able to be transformed into a weekend/ track car.

Basically, I am just curious as to the potential of beefing up the engine aspect and what the drive system will support to do something very different. Love the cars, you guys are very forunate outside of the nightmare that comes along with it. It is comparable to a 24 year old dime girlfriend in my opinion.

There has been a lot of discussion about beefing up the engine in the Karma and the consensus appears to be that messing with the engine output will put unacceptable stress on the coupling to the generator, which could lead to unfortunate results. Also, since the inverters are undersized and also limit the power going through them for thermal protection, generating extra electric power would not translate to any increased performance. The most recent thread on this issue can be found here and there are many others that can be found using the Search function.