Did you catch us on the series premiere of Supercar Megabuild on Friday? We overhauled and upgraded a pair of Hybrid Turbos for a Maserati Ghibli, at the request of Jodie Kidd. She wanted mechanics Shane and Dan to covert this vehicle with a top speed of just 150 mph, into a retro-styled supercar capable of going 200 mph. We gave them a helping hand.
What Is Supercar Megabuild About?
National Geographic’s hit show Supercar Megabuild is back for a second run. This new series follows Boyzone member & racer Shane Lynch and mechanic expert Dan Barruffo along with Jodie Kidd (former presenter of Channel 5’s The Classic Car Show) around the world as they transform already impressive supercars into absolute beasts of motors. Shane’s motor-head partner in crime, Dan Barruffo, has been a friend of Shane’s for years and off-screen works as an international vintage and luxury car builder and restorer.
“It’s different from typical car shows, where they start off with a relatively rusty restoration project which is a low-budget car that they turn into a high-budget car. But we’re different because every episode we start out with a supercar, we’re starting out with big money, chopping out big money, to make even bigger money. It’s quite an incredible elevation of the typical restoration car show.”
– Shane Lynch, Professional Drifter & Mechanical Expert.
How Did We Upgrade The Turbos?
The guys wanted a leading turbo design specialist to upgrade their turbocharger and give the vehicle potential to reach up to 200mph. So they came to us with their Maserati turbo. Firstly Dan Barruffo visited Turbo Dynamics’ partner Celtic Tuning to remove the Ghibli turbochargers. Once the turbos were removed he arrived at our factory where we go through our rebuild process. To accommodate larger rotor assemblies required the original housings must be heavily machined and modified on our CNC lathe. “I’ll stand back and let you work your magic” Dan says. Spinning at up to 2000 RPM, the lathe is machining the housing from the inside out. Once complete the larger components should fit like a glove. “This is a key ingredient for us to get up to 200mph” Dan goes on to say. Once the turbo was assembled using our latest high-speed VSR balancer and all packed up Dan was on his way back to Celtic Tuning ready for the next stage of modifying and onto the test track for the first recorded lap.
“After spending the morning with the guys at Turbo Dynamics, it’s clear to see they’re totally re-engineered, supersized and will be able to produce way more power with this Maserati turbo build.”
– Dan Barruffo, Luxury Car Builder & Restorer
How Did The Turbo Perform On The Track?
After all the steps above were taken, Shane took the modified vehicle to Elvington Airfield in Yorkshire to test the speed capabilities. Once on the track, the Maserati vehicle was clocked at 163 mph for the first time recorded. After a few modifications like trying to reduce air resistance of the vehicle through taping along the bonnet shuts, they gave it a second go. The 2nd time was recorded but only one problem… they ran out of room on the test track! Before they ran out of room they managed to get the converted vehicle up to 179.37 mph! But they were convinced that it would run up to 200 mph. So they decided to do a final test once and for all. They decided to take it back to Celtic Tuning for the all-important dyno figures with a dynamometer.
As you can see from the figure above they managed to get it up to an impressive 220 mph on the dyno figures! The vehicle was then brought to presenter Jodie Kidd for another test run.
“4 weeks ago I left them with a 4 door family saloon car that would look totally out of place here. I think she is gorgeous! I love the kind of retro look but the real difference was when I heard her drive down here with that exhaust and the engine. Sounds amazing, looks fantastic and it drives fantastic! They really did a great job”
– Jodie Kidd, Motoring Presenter & Racing Driver
If you’re interested in this build and want to do something to improve the performance of your vehicle please call us on 01202 487497.
Does your turbo need servicing, overhauling or repairing? Give us a call today on 01202 487497 or email us at sales@turbodynamics.co.uk and we’ll sort you out!
You can also enquire online by filling out our contact form here.