Motiva Collaborates with City Car
Word is getting out around the world about the increased horsepower that Motiva Performance Engineering is getting from a Hellion Power Systems turbo kit mounted on a 2011 Mustang GT 5.0 or 2010 Camar0 or Dodge Challenger.
Qatari Car Guy Offers Invitation
Bader Saleh Al-Sulaiti, owner of City Car in Doha Qatar, invited me to his shop to demonstrate how I custom-tune high-performance cars to the highest level of performance. Click here to see the flyer announcing our collaboration. I’m writing this while waiting to board a Qatar Airways flight in Houston.
Together, we’re putting on several days of by-appointment custom-tuning demos and Dyno tests for his friends and customers. I’m expecting to see some high-powered cars that are I know are just about to get even more power.
Motiva Reputation Reaches Qatar
How this all came about is that Bader sent me an e-mail query asking about a light that he saw come on while running a Hellion turbo on one of his Shelbys or Camaros.
To give you a sense of the technical nature of the dialogue, here’s an excerpt of my response to him. That got us talking and before you know it, we started planning the Qatar event:
“The light is actuated by a pressure switch located between the turbo and the oil pump. The pressure switch senses the presence of vacuum. In most cases, Hellion comes with a 3.5 in/hg switch, although this has changed with their suppliers.
“While this provides a reliable and constant reference of pump operation, it is Motiva’s feeling that the light creates confusion for customers. There are two ways to fix this problem. The first is to install a pressure switch in that location. This is also a reliable and consistent way to ensure pump operation, however, these types of pressure switches are calibrated for absolute pressure.
“This is a problem if vehicles are going to be seeing changes in altitude. For example, here in Albuquerque our elevation is 5,300 feet above sea level. Our ambient absolute pressure is 12.3 psi!!! At sea level, Qatar is typically 14.7 psi. The turbos can only withstand about 1.5 psi of overpressure before the seals begin letting oil by.
“Utilizing a vacuum-triggered switch ensures operation at any ambient pressure, but with the drawback of confusing data under loaded conditions.
“We install a pressure switch that is calibrated for 14.7 absolute pressure (0 relative) with a rheostat unit (variable-voltage resistance box) that is then set for the conditions witnessed during calibration (set up by a qualified individual who is able to determine if proper oil system operation is occurring).
“It is then quite simple to account for altitude changes that the customer experiences because the rheostat can be measured to represent 1 psi of overpressure for a variety of altitudes ….”
This is what Motiva does: We understand the best equipment intimately and work to make the best even better. Our customers recognize this, which is why our reputation is growing.
More from Qatar later….