Garret GT 2860RS-the disco potato
- Thread starter Woody67
- Start date
Rice burner street racer term for the 2860RS.
so it must be a popular turbo for those little cars?
J
JHG
Well-known member
The Legend of the Disco Potato Turbo
http://www3.sympatico.ca/mr2sc/disco_potato.html
The story starts with Dan Passe who, at the time, was a Nissan PR genius with a penchant for bending rules. He conveniently "lost" the paperwork for a 1.8-liter Sentra which Nissan Design International had modified for the L.A. Auto Show. The car quietly landed in the hands of Nissan engineers Steve Mitchell and Mike Kojima.
Meanwhile, a few miles away at Garrett, turbo engineer Jay Kavanagh wanted to boost his Miata. Having full access to the newest Garrett technology, he concocted a physically small turbo with a ball-bearing center section and internal aerodynamics 20 years more modern than the T3/T4 standard the aftermarket is used to.
A few cubicles from Kavanagh, Rob Cadle, a good friend of Mitchell and Kojima, realized Kavanagh's Miata turbo would be perfect for the SR20DET the Nissan boys were planning for the Sentra. He brewed up a turbo, stuffed it under his shirt, and went out the back door.
The Sentra was painted a unique combination of psychedelic, color-shifting brownish paint and was thus dubbed the Disco Potato.
Jim Wolf Technology built a very mild SR20 for the Sentra, making it functionally equivalent to a stock Japanese-spec SR20DET. The turbo was installed, and amazing things started happening. The car's power was impressive, 280 hp at the wheels, but not earth-shattering. The driving experience however, was. Throttle response was excellent, turbo lag virtually non-existent, and the tire-shredding power was easily modulated. The turbo spooled up early, making so much torque, that the best quarter-mile time (13.7 at 104.5 mph) was achieved launching in second gear.
Mitchell brought the Disco Potato to the Ultimate Street Car Challenge in 2001, and placed an impressive fourth overall. The rest of the time, the car was stashed away in Nissan USA's service garage and used strategically as an attitude adjustment tool. Whenever Nissan or Garret executives needed an injection of gasoline in their veins, they were offered the keys. They would inevitably come back grinning from ear to ear and breathing heavily, eager to bring horsepower to the masses.
During one such outing, which included a 1,000-mile road trip as well as a track day at Thunderhill Raceway, the fwd Disco Potato outran every car at the track and then blasted down the freeway at 140 mph.
Several Garrett executives also experienced the Potato. They were so impressed, they decided to produce the turbo, double the engineering staff in the aftermarket department, and start applying this modern Garrett technology to a whole range of aftermarket turbos.
Technically, this is a GT28R with a 62 trim compressor (.60 A/R) and a 76 trim turbine (.86 A/R) and was voted one of the top 20 New Products at SEMA 2003.
http://www3.sympatico.ca/mr2sc/disco_potato.html
The story starts with Dan Passe who, at the time, was a Nissan PR genius with a penchant for bending rules. He conveniently "lost" the paperwork for a 1.8-liter Sentra which Nissan Design International had modified for the L.A. Auto Show. The car quietly landed in the hands of Nissan engineers Steve Mitchell and Mike Kojima.
Meanwhile, a few miles away at Garrett, turbo engineer Jay Kavanagh wanted to boost his Miata. Having full access to the newest Garrett technology, he concocted a physically small turbo with a ball-bearing center section and internal aerodynamics 20 years more modern than the T3/T4 standard the aftermarket is used to.
A few cubicles from Kavanagh, Rob Cadle, a good friend of Mitchell and Kojima, realized Kavanagh's Miata turbo would be perfect for the SR20DET the Nissan boys were planning for the Sentra. He brewed up a turbo, stuffed it under his shirt, and went out the back door.
The Sentra was painted a unique combination of psychedelic, color-shifting brownish paint and was thus dubbed the Disco Potato.
Jim Wolf Technology built a very mild SR20 for the Sentra, making it functionally equivalent to a stock Japanese-spec SR20DET. The turbo was installed, and amazing things started happening. The car's power was impressive, 280 hp at the wheels, but not earth-shattering. The driving experience however, was. Throttle response was excellent, turbo lag virtually non-existent, and the tire-shredding power was easily modulated. The turbo spooled up early, making so much torque, that the best quarter-mile time (13.7 at 104.5 mph) was achieved launching in second gear.
Mitchell brought the Disco Potato to the Ultimate Street Car Challenge in 2001, and placed an impressive fourth overall. The rest of the time, the car was stashed away in Nissan USA's service garage and used strategically as an attitude adjustment tool. Whenever Nissan or Garret executives needed an injection of gasoline in their veins, they were offered the keys. They would inevitably come back grinning from ear to ear and breathing heavily, eager to bring horsepower to the masses.
During one such outing, which included a 1,000-mile road trip as well as a track day at Thunderhill Raceway, the fwd Disco Potato outran every car at the track and then blasted down the freeway at 140 mph.
Several Garrett executives also experienced the Potato. They were so impressed, they decided to produce the turbo, double the engineering staff in the aftermarket department, and start applying this modern Garrett technology to a whole range of aftermarket turbos.
Technically, this is a GT28R with a 62 trim compressor (.60 A/R) and a 76 trim turbine (.86 A/R) and was voted one of the top 20 New Products at SEMA 2003.
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ok I think this answer wins.
