126: Too Big, Too Small, or Just Right? Finding Your Goldilocks Turbo. [

Use FORCED25 to get $25 off HPA’s Boost Control Tuning Course: hpcdmy.co/boostb
Have you ever wondered how small aftermarket companies can drastically improve on parts from OEMs and big players like Garrett or Borg Warner that have massive R&D departments and even bigger budgets behind them? If you ask this week’s guest, Robert Young of ‪@forcedperformance768‬ and ‪@xonarotor8618‬, he’ll tell you: “We try harder and we’re better at it”.
Of course, the reality isn’t quite that simple… Luckily we’ve got a full two hours to dig into this topic and many others surrounding the world of performance turbocharging.
On this episode of Tuned In, we start by looking at how Robert became the turbocharger guru he is today as the name behind Forced Performance and Xona Rotor - the latter formed in partnership with Greg Jones of Tial Sport.
This is a story that involves years spent studying physics and mechanical engineering, as well as hands-on experience at turbo shops and with his own projects that ranged from old Ford Fairlanes and fast air cooled VW drag cars, to the early DSM drag world of rapid Mitsubishi Eclipses.
Both Robert’s companies produce ultra high performance aftermarket turbochargers and turbocharger components for a range of vehicles, and as one of the main brains behind these sought-after products, Robert is an absolute goldmine of turbo knowledge.
This means that the conversation quickly dives very deep into the world of boost, discussing a huge range of topics - journal vs ball bearing, billet compressor wheels, compressor maps, turbo sizing, and so much more.
This episode is a true turbo tech info dump in the best way possible. If you have any interest in going fast, don’t sleep on this fascinating conversation with a big brain of the forced induction world.
Follow Robert here:
IG: @forcedperformance, @xonarotor
FB: Forced Performance Turbochargers, Xona Rotor
WWW: forcedperformance.shop, xonarotor.com
Don’t forget, you can use FORCED25 to get $25 off HPA’s Boost Control Tuning Course: hpcdmy.co/boostb
Time Stamps:
3:35 How did you get involved with cars?
8:52 Where did the passion for turbocharging come from?
20:15 Starting your own turbocharger business?
25:10 How hard was it to design a cast stainless steel exhaust housing?
29:06 Ball bearing vs journal bearing turbos
38:51 Forced Performance overview
43:35 Turbos for Subaru’s EJ engine
47:10 How did Xona Rotor start?
51:42 Why didn’t you copy Garrett’s bearing technology?
59:46 Why is Xona Rotor its own company?
1:01:51 How are Xona Rotor turbos so good, frustrations of copied turbos
1:11:40 Development process for the compressor wheels?
1:31:34 Evolution of turbine wheels
1:44:06 How do we find the right size turbo?
1:59:22 Final three questions
#forcedperformance #xonarotor #turbo #turbocharger #highperformanceacademy #buildtunedrive #learndriveoptimise #learntotune ##wiring101 #dieseltuning #datanerd #racecraft #cars #motorsport #racing #boost #dsm #mitsubishi

[@hpa101]

Use FORCED25 to get $25 off HPA’s Boost Control Tuning Course: hpcdmy.co/boostb

[@DNightNinja]

Robert AND Andre together in a podcast? These two are literal encyclopedias this is gonna be a gooood episode

[@papapetad]

Gotta love Robert's no-nonsense verbiage. Man of the people right there 🙂

[@GroovesAndLands]

Dude is super down to earth and communicates effectively without resorting to jargon.

[@jdcustomz]

Competence within our industry is becoming rare. This interview with Robert by Andre is a breath of fresh air. Great job, guys!

[@Jafromobile]

Kingmaker!

[@split150]

Great interview!

[@corym3985]

I worked at Garrett briefly in the era being discussed, 2001. We had billet compressor wheels, titanium wheels, ceramic, etc back then. Don't forget Garrett was making turbos for the LeMans winning Audis, WRC cars, champ car, pikes peak, etc. So they were perfectly capable of building high performance turbochargers. At the time they were owned by Honeywell and the aftermarket business was miniscule compared to commercial diesel and OEM applications. So I don't think it was a question of capability, just prioritizing the bigger more profitable business.

[@nathanvanlieshout7834]

I feel like I could have listened to yourself and Robert talk turbo's for another 2 years. I would like to hear more on variable vein turbos. Doing sequential turbo's. A bit more on technical variations.

[@nikitaturboboy]

It seems like some of the smartest people are the most interesting characters. I would love to see Robert Young, Paul Yaw, and Shane Tecklenburg at a table discussing and debating. With those three guys, I think it would be amazing.

[@4familyman]

Robert and Shane are friends even too. That would be an awesome podcast.

[@IcanDriveIt]

I very briefly owned a turbo DSM. I had it for 3 years and sold it 4 years ago. But the knowledge base in the DSM/Evo world is broad and deep. The only other community I know of that goes as deeply into very technical details is the small block V8 crowd. While I was only a part time participant and I am between projects now, I hope to find a group of guys that can expand the technical knowledge I can learn. I tell you, Mitsubishi really had a solid base of enthusiasts that they let down by discontinuing the Evo.

[@makemegofast]

What a great interview. Robert seems like such a cool dude!

[@Dirtyz1234]

My parents used to have a pachinko cabinet sitting around when I was a kid that never worked. I tore that shit apart until I found the part that was broken, and then fixed it with a paperclip 😂

[@jtackerman28]

Robert is the goat

[@elijahguzik4618]

i love this, been waiting to see robert on this podcast for a while

[@StreetDreamzTT]

Definitely need a part 2. This was amazing, the info learnt.

[@spooler7828]

I run a pair of Xonarotor turbos, 6156's. They are freaking awesome.

[@GroovesAndLands]

How do they compare to EFRs? If you know...

[@spooler7828]

@@GroovesAndLands The help that you get from Robert is awesome. You can't get that type of support from BorgWarner. Robert wants you to be successful. It puts a smile on his face when you are.

[@PANTYEATR1]

This is a great podcast that i can really relate to. I got my turbocharger education from reading a book called "Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell back in 2002 or 2003. The Internet didn't really help me get the answers and understanding i was looking for during that time. From 2003-2004, i built my first turbo, 4 cylinder engine and car that produced 336 whp. I wish there was a way to watch this podcast with motion images, so i don't have one image burned into the tv screen for 2 hours. 😐 Great video as usual HPA -Pantyeatr1

[@京都のゆめ]

If you want to avoid burn in, most TV's have a mode in the display settings that will allow you to turn off the display while still playing the audio. Could be the solution you're looking for!

[@PANTYEATR1]

@@京都のゆめ yes, i have that option, but i rather look at cool HPA racing or running footage or pictures of the subject matter or even Robert Young's racing, building and testing footage. 🤓

[@4familyman]

Robert is the best!

[@brianbob7514]

Sounds exactly like the “real good at doing stuff guy”

[@StreetDreamzTT]

Not gonna lie dude, just started the podcast. Its amazing how similar, yet different, car guys are. I really wanna build my 7 for grip. Was thinking one of these turbos.

[@KalLanPIDT]

I fixed mom's vacum cleaner when I was 5. I heard her beeing mad about it not starting so later without her knowing I grabbed the tools and took it apart. I saw the button had come apart so I snapped it back together and was about to put the lid on when mom walks in and yells at me for taking it apart. I told her to let me finish it ,so she did. A lil later I'm done and I plug it in and try it, it worked! Happy mom comes running saying shes sorry she yelled 😁

[@subbassrules]

@@KalLanPIDT Definitely happened...

[@KalLanPIDT]

@subbassrules 💯 did happened. What you think or believe matters very little to me.

[@josephschaefer9163]

An IH 1066 tractor makes about 6-8 psi stock. There are stock turbo pulling classes and they make 125 psi on those poor stock turbos

[@exvils]

6:30 books are better, well, 10years back or more it was clear that I had to read book, all old forum post and web pages from motorsport teams told so xD Stuff like Turbochargers by Hugh MacInnes, Maximum boost by Corky Bell, Modern engine tuning, 2stroke and 4Stroke (Performance Tuning in Theory & Practice) by Graham bell or Race Car Aerodynamics by Joseph Katz all are nice.. tho both Turbochargers and Maximum boost i knew like bible🤣 7:30 here we go 🤗

[@Dirtyz1234]

I stumbled into a Precision 6466 by winning it in a giveaway. Absolute unit on my BMW E46 M54b30 👌

[@funkyjunky6574]

Time stamps would be Great

[@hpa101]

Time Stamps: 3:35 How did you get involved with cars? 8:52 Where did the passion for turbocharging come from? 20:15 Starting your own turbocharger business? 25:10 How hard was it to design a cast stainless steel exhaust housing? 29:06 Ball bearing vs journal bearing turbos 38:51 Forced Performance overview 43:35 Turbos for Subaru’s EJ engine 47:10 How did Xona Rotor start? 51:42 Why didn’t you copy Garrett’s bearing technology? 59:46 Why is Xona Rotor its own company? 1:01:51 How are Xona Rotor turbos so good, frustrations of copied turbos 1:11:40 Development process for the compressor wheels? 1:31:34 Evolution of turbine wheels 1:44:06 How do we find the right size turbo? 1:59:22 Final three questions

[@strifefaction]

So on the topic of pressure ratio should I be running my boost gauge off of the comp outlet? So I know what my pressure ratio actually is? Since I can reference actual boost from my map sensor at the TB seems like a logical place to measure from, no? Has me wondering if Im asking too much of this turbo lol. Should probably buy a turbo speed sensor kit as well ( ｡º﹏º｡ )

[@josephschaefer9163]

Cheaper and easier to monitor drive pressure and egts

[@strifefaction]

@@josephschaefer9163 turbo already has a port for speed so price difference is negligible if not less than going thru the trouble to have a bung welded in.

[@signal_msw]

Absolutely great podcast and great info from Robert. I’ve known about FP and Xona for a while now but had no idea the whole backstory. Also, the particular bit of info about larger turbine housing A/Rs and the angle at which the exhaust gases hit the turbine wheel was an eye opener.