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  • OMG...Prodigy...TURBO!

    Just got the news..... Prodigy wants to throw its hat in the ring with the two killer superchargers that we are testing head to head right now. To give you an idea of what that means, Prodigy's turbo kit for the 3.8 Jeep wrangler engine made as much power as the Supercharged Pentastars make....on paper.

    Here is the dyno chart they post on their website. 350 wheel horse power, and 400 torque. Sounds too good to be true.



    A big note with RIPP and Magnuson, the supercharger gurus, is drivability. Big power is easy, just cram more air in, but does the truck drive correctly on and off road? We are going to find out.

    Particularly off road, where you don't want BURSTS of power. You want an even, predictable gathering of power as you creep and crawl thru difficult terrain. You don't want to be hanging off a rock and have a power burst, it could be catastrophic. Also, the components between the engine and the ground will all be under more strain. So throttle response is paramount.

    Can these guys get a beast like this under control? We'll tell you.
    This article was originally published in forum thread: OMG...Prodigy...TURBO! started by JeepLab View original post
    Comments 251 Comments
    1. UselessPickles's Avatar
      UselessPickles -
      I'd be interested to know how the early attempts of the twin turbo design went, and why they decided to go with a single turbo instead. Smaller twin turbos mounted right on the head of the engine would theoretically spool up more quickly, but there would be additional length/volume of of intake piping between the turbos and the intake manifold, which would pressurize more slowly and negate some of the reduced lag properties of the twins.

      Then you'd also need extra intake piping going from a single air filter (or air box) location to the inlets of both turbos (edit: guess it wouldn't have to be from a single shared location, but you definitely wouldn't want air filters mounted directly on the turbos down low right next to the engine). All the extra air intake piping would add parts costs and installation complexity (if you can even find a way to route everything through the engine bay). The location of the single turbo layout allows you to just mount an air filter directly on the turbo inlet.

      Exhaust piping would be greatly simplified by having twins mounted right onto the engine. It would almost be identical to stock exhaust piping, especially if they used turbos with internal wastegates. This would lower costs and simplify installation on that end.

      Lots of competing factors that would need to balance out properly to make twins better than a single turbo. I just hope they went for a reasonably sized single turbo that will have minimal lag and good low-mid RPM response, rather than focusing too much on getting maximum peak power with a bigger turbo.

      Waiting for pictures
    1. JeepLab's Avatar
      JeepLab -
      Quote Originally Posted by UselessPickles View Post
      I'd be interested to know how the early attempts of the twin turbo design went, and why they decided to go with a single turbo instead. Smaller twin turbos mounted right on the head of the engine would theoretically spool up more quickly, but there would be additional length/volume of of intake piping between the turbos and the intake manifold, which would pressurize more slowly and negate some of the reduced lag properties of the twins.

      Then you'd also need extra intake piping going from a single air filter (or air box) location to the inlets of both turbos (edit: guess it wouldn't have to be from a single shared location, but you definitely wouldn't want air filters mounted directly on the turbos down low right next to the engine). All the extra air intake piping would add parts costs and installation complexity (if you can even find a way to route everything through the engine bay). The location of the single turbo layout allows you to just mount an air filter directly on the turbo inlet.

      Exhaust piping would be greatly simplified by having twins mounted right onto the engine. It would almost be identical to stock exhaust piping, especially if they used turbos with internal wastegates. This would lower costs and simplify installation on that end.

      Lots of competing factors that would need to balance out properly to make twins better than a single turbo. I just hope they went for a reasonably sized single turbo that will have minimal lag and good low-mid RPM response, rather than focusing too much on getting maximum peak power with a bigger turbo.

      Waiting for pictures
      I think the plan to go with the single turbo had to do with the pentastar's cramped engine bay. This info is all tenative, but we are expecting 1, 2, and 3 stage kits, so there should be a turbo to fit more of the audiences budget.

      As far as a picture, Im hoping to have my hands on one early next week.
    1. UselessPickles's Avatar
      UselessPickles -
      Stupid physical reality getting in the way...

      Do you know which "stage" kit you'll be getting?

      The different stages could also widen the target audience in that a lower boost "stage 1" kit might actually be better for more serious off-roading/crawling, because there wouldn't be as much of a sharp rise in torque in the mid RPM range. This will be interesting.
    1. JeepLab's Avatar
      JeepLab -
      We have no idea about the different stages,

      We need to see how it all fits together before getting into that.

      Rest assured, I'll have complete explanations for each kit and the pros and cons of each.

      As well as pics of each kit.
    1. Pete's Avatar
      Pete -
      Here is another dyno and quarter mile times.

    1. JeepLab's Avatar
      JeepLab -
      Keep in mind everyone, That video is the 3.8 motor.

      The pentastar starts about 100 hp higher.

      No telling what its going to do with a turbo on it.
    1. UselessPickles's Avatar
      UselessPickles -
      That video is for the 8psi kit for the 3.8. We're waiting on the kit for the 3.6 Pentastar.

      Edit: JeepLab beat me to it. I had this screen pulled up then got distracted for a while before I got around to replying
    1. JeepLab's Avatar
      JeepLab -
      Quote Originally Posted by UselessPickles View Post
      Edit: JeepLab beat me to it. I had this screen pulled up then got distracted for a while before I got around to replying
      You were pretty quick tho.
    1. Snarf77's Avatar
      Snarf77 -
      Nearly 20mph faster in a quarter mile is pretty significant improvement. Check my math here: 28% improvement in speed at the quarter mile mark and 20% improvement in time to the mark! Again, thats on the 3.8. On the 2012+ models...who knows but i bet it will be nasty.
    1. UselessPickles's Avatar
      UselessPickles -
      I think it's safe to predict that we will at least see power/torque/acceleration levels on the 3.6 kit that are similar to the 3.8 12 psi kit.
    1. UselessPickles's Avatar
      UselessPickles -
      I just realized there's one piece of info you might have that hasn't been provided yet: Do you already have a vehicle chosen to receive a Prodigy turbo? If so, details?
    1. JeepLab's Avatar
      JeepLab -
      Quote Originally Posted by UselessPickles View Post
      I just realized there's one piece of info you might have that hasn't been provided yet: Do you already have a vehicle chosen to receive a Prodigy turbo? If so, details?
      There are a LOT of unanswered questions with this unit. Step one is to study it and understand the planning behind how it was designed. Next for head to head testing, we'd need a truck that would match up well with our supercharged trucks and see how even we can get them for testing. We can't even get a pic to release so far.
    1. Pznivy's Avatar
      Pznivy -
      My jeep has zero engine bay room, I can't wait to see how these pipes are run. its a real puzzle in there.
    1. Snarf77's Avatar
      Snarf77 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Pznivy View Post
      My jeep has zero engine bay room, I can't wait to see how these pipes are run. its a real puzzle in there.
      Yeah, I bet thats why its 2014 before we're seeing a kit. Probably took some serious engineering.
    1. Pznivy's Avatar
      Pznivy -
      Where are the pictures!?!
    1. UselessPickles's Avatar
      UselessPickles -
      Sounds like they are not releasing any info/pictures until they get a full kit of final production parts installed on a vehicle and tested. A final production kit has not yet been installed on a vehicle, but a little bird told me that it may be happening very soon. I would not be surprised if info/pictures started flowing more freely within the next week or two.
    1. Pznivy's Avatar
      Pznivy -
      good undercover work!
    1. JeepLab's Avatar
      JeepLab -
      Quote Originally Posted by Pznivy View Post
      good undercover work!
      Thats pickles for you. He has been on this turbo for MONTHS. I can't wait for the pics, then we can dissect the install and get this show on the road.
    1. Snarf77's Avatar
      Snarf77 -
      The suspense here is incredible. When you get that picture, don't hold back. Post it up. I wish they'd release a teaser..maybe just the intercooler or some pipes routed around the edge of the 3.6. *drool*
    1. UselessPickles's Avatar
      UselessPickles -
      Look what prodigy posted on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prodigyperf...604563666514:0

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