So you think you want to go
Turbo in Pro Mod?

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Having been crew chief for Lawrence Conley, who has campaigned Turbo Buicks and now a Twin Turbo big block Chevy for a number of years, I can offer an insider's look into what it takes to campaign one of these combinations.

To many diehard fans, the turbo and fuel injected combination may look like something out of a science fiction movie. On appearance alone, some turbo cars may have more plumbing than the Empire State Building, and the box that controls the EFI system could be viewed as “black magic."

In reality, these are just the necessary things to support this method of making horsepower. Exhaust is no longer routed straight out the headers and dumped into the atmosphere; it’s channeled through a turbine wheel to drive an attached wheel which forces air into the motor. An intercooler is inline to reduce the temperature of the inlet air charge going into the engine (which heats up as a result of being compressed and also by thermal transfer from the hot air driving the turbine wheel).

While the fuel injection system may be “voodoo” to an outsider looking in, it’s just a computer interface into managing how fuel and air are mixed and sent into the combustion chamber and when the fire is lit. Changing fuel jets before a run is a thing of the past, as you just “tweak” a number or two in the computer and voila! Anyone that understands the basics of fuel management and how it applies in a carbureted application will be able to apply that knowledge to fuel injection. It’s just a matter of learning how to use software. With each new generation of fuel management the interface becomes more intuitive and easier to use.

So once you’ve acquired your plumbers and electricians license and a degree in computer science, what else do you need? At this point it’s too early to say what the magic combination is going to be. I have my own ideas and I’m just going to sit back and see how it all pans out.

You can call Ken Duttweiler or Mike Moran and they both have “store bought” 3000+HP engine combinations for sale. Next, you can go visit any of the current Pro Mod chassis builders and get a basic double frame-rail car which would be a good start. I know there is a variance between how some of the chassis builders construct a Nitrous powered car vs. a blown car and there is a possibility that a turbo car will call for something different, but only time will tell.

Tires, clutches, transmissions and peripherals are all virtually the same whether you run nitrous, blower, naturally aspirated or a turbo. Put all those pieces together and what do you have? You've got an absolute beast with the potential to be a front runner, but you need to hit the right combination of all the pieces to allow the car to live up to its potential. It’s like going to Las Vegas and hoping for that 777 when you’re playing slots.