Worlds First: Savspeed Auto Twin turbo M3 V8 S65 build

[Savspeed Auto]

Worlds First: Savspeed Auto Twin Turbo (Top Mount)
BMW M3 V8 S65 Build


Who are we exactly?

Our company, Savspeed Auto has been around for over 25 years. We are known for our street turbo conversions and for our building of front running BMW race cars in South Africa. We have turbocharged over 320 BMW vehicles to date, ranging from E30’s, E36’s, and E46’s, M coupes and Z4M’s. We have turbocharged anything from 325i’s all the way up to the flagship BMW models being the M3’s.
In the beginning, we started making a name for ourselves and in a sense, put ourselves on the map by turbocharging the first BMW e36 325i RHD in the world in the year 1998. From then, we grew from strength to strength and began developing and mastering our e36 turbo conversions. We then turbocharged our first e36 M3 which was ground-breaking on many levels, the power, the reliability and the risk we took putting our reputation on the line to prove both to the world and ourselves that we were capable of achieving whatever we put our mind to.

Our 1km land speed record:

We were most famously known for turbocharging the first RHD E46 M3 in the world back in the year 2007. At the time, this vehicle in particular was making 600hp at 1.2 bar boost and running 12.2 seconds on a 400m at an exit speed of 198Km/h. Since then, the development has continued, we are now making 770hp at 0.9 bar boost and 1060hp at 1.4bar boost. Our 400m times have dropped slightly to an 11.2 second run but at an exit speed of 232Km/h. This vehicle in particular is still running a standard manual M3 e46 gearbox with standard differential, side shafts and propshafts without the use of traction control, hence we are always struggling for traction. However, our focus has never been on 400m racing, when it comes to road conversions we aim to give our clients reliable cars in which they can have fun with and we believe we have achieved this to date.

Our main focus at Savspeed Auto has been circuit racing. In the year 2010, we built the fastest Circuit racing BMW in the country, famously referred to as “The Judge.” The lap times we achieved with this car, which had an S50B30 turbo motor built by us, back in 2010 is still currently only 2 seconds per lap slower than the fully de-restricted latest Gen GT3 cars from Lamborghini, Ferrari and Mercedes at our local race circuits. It is to be noted that we achieved these lap times without the use of a sequential gearbox and without traction control assistance. We used a standard 6 speed manual gearbox with our locally produced Powermods ECU with the standard BMW ABS system and standard M3 Differential.

The revival of something special

Now that we have given a bit of background, it is time to focus on the future. Some people might remember that back in 2012, we attempted to turbocharge the first S65 in the world, which we did. The car was running, there were multiple videos of the dyno runs etc. The setup was very simple and basic with a single turbo application and the power figures were not bad either, making 690hp at 0.7bar boost. As a reference the power figures from the supercharger kits at the time were making 570hp. Unfortunately, we kept having issues with the engine check light coming on and we realised that the management systems available at the time were not able to accommodate the project, thus, the project was deemed unsuccessful, and development stopped there and then.

2012 S65 turbo attempt:

Since the day we deemed the project unsuccessful, it always ate away at us at Savspeed that we were unable to complete the project successfully. So, 10 years later, we decided that it was time to revisit the project. Our widebody, full carbon fibre F30 race car was to be the chosen test mule for the project. We embarked on the journey, knowing full well the obstacles that lay ahead but ultimately, we came out on top this time. Our F30 now has a single turbo, S65 V8 M3 motor which produces 1210hp at 1.2bar boost. The purpose of this project was to test the limits of the S65 motor and determine whether or not it would be able to withstand the punishment it will go through being driven hard and producing 1200hp to 1300hp. The car raced its first event last year and completed 2x8 lap races flawlessly, aside from damaging the 1300hp rated clutch pack on the last lap of the second race. The onboard lap of qualifying which earned us P1 on the day can be seen below.

Savspeed S65 single turbo record BMW lap at Redstar raceway:

The top mount twin turbo build

So, what led us to trying to turbocharge an E92 M3 for the road again? The answer is fairly simple, a long-time friend and customer of ours wanted something unique, something nobody had and something that would be fast… very fast. This led us to begin thinking, once again we discussed the possibility of turbocharging an E46 M3 but evolving the kit even further with a high rev kit, bigger Precision turbo, more aggressive cams etc etc and then it dawned on us… the customer has an E92 M3 so why don’t we just twin turbo that!? And that is exactly why we are here writing this article.
Once again, much like the single turbo S65 in the F30 race car, we knew there was a mountain to climb but we knew that if anyone could pull this off, it would be us.

A top mount, twin turbo S65 build is most certainly the world’s first and we are proud that we are able to say that the project is nearing completion. The configuration of the build needed to be simplified in order to make everything accessible if any work needs to be done on the car and also make it convenient for any of our clients who purchase this kit from us across the world. We decided to opt against the bottom mount turbos as space is a big issue and trying to get to the turbos is an absolute nightmare.

The twin turbo top mount design fits in quite snug, we had to fabricate custom log type manifolds which are similar to those used in our single turbo S65 race car. These manifolds and components are designed with proper tooling to ensure each manifold, for example, fits perfectly and it is then double checked on our mock V8 engine to confirm that all the gaps and spacing are spot on. These are then paired up with two Precision wastegates with custom wastegate pipes on each bank. We then fitted two 60/62SP Gen2 Precision turbochargers and began making our custom exhaust downpipes. the next step was to build the custom intercooler system which fits perfectly into the cradle. The intake pipes to the top of the cooler were really challenging to design as we did not want to cut the top of the front valence, so we took out what we felt in order to make it work and we were able to fit in 3inch charge pipes. The intake manifold has worked in ram tubes that sit in a 4mm thick 88mm cylindrical pipe which ensures that if we experience a huge backfire, it will not develop a leak or crack.

We opted to move the original water bottle in between the two intake manifolds as our turbo is now situated in the water bottles original position from factory. The water bottle has been spaced out with Bakerligjt spacers to ensure that the heat transfer is kept to a minimum. The power steering bottle is also situated on top with a high grade aluminium heat shield. This is easily removable to allow convenience when needing to check the water level or the power steering fluid level. The engine has forged rods and pistons and has been stroked from a 4.0 litre to a 4.2 litre motor as we found that this was best suited to our application.

We are extremely proud of this build and once again we are excited to say that the project is nearing completion and we look forward to showing everyone more pictures and sharing more information as time goes on. We are hoping that the car will be up, running and finalised within the next two months. The excitement at this point in time is unbearable as we know we have created something that will be memorable, something that will re-ignite the fire within us and hopefully within a lot of BMW enthusiasts around the world. We hope you join us on this journey and are just as excited as we are.

[amrazM]

post more pics of the setup.

whats being used for tuning? what about fueling? does it drive yet?

[nycplumber]

Sick! Whats the compression ratio?

[Savspeed Auto]

Originally Posted by amrazM

post more pics of the setup.

whats being used for tuning? what about fueling? does it drive yet?

We will be posting more pics in due course, as we progress further with the build we will be sure to keep everyone updated.
We will be using a Syvecs ECU to control tuning and fueling along with Bosch 1100cc injectors.
The car is not driving yet as we are still busy with final assembly, we hope to be up and running with the car in the next 6 to 8 weeks time.

[Savspeed Auto]

Originally Posted by nycplumber

Sick! Whats the compression ratio?

This build is our custom stroker kit motor which takes the engine from a 4.0litre to a 4.2litre, the compression ratio is 8.1:1

[Savspeed Auto]

Good afternoon everyone.

We are aware that the last post was some time ago, but we are happy to say that progress has been productive. We ran into a few fabrication issues which have now been rectified to ensure easy installations when people around the world purchase our Savspeed S65 twin turbo kits.

Moving to present day;
Our S65 is officially up and running. We have been running in the new fully forged S65 twin turbo motor and have done roughly 450km of driving to ensure that all the components in the motor bed-in properly. We are happy to say that the motor sounds fantastic. The car is now 90% assembled, with just minor cosmetic odds and ends left to be assembled including our custom heat shields and cosmetic covers, which will complete the kit in its entirety.

In the upcoming week we will be installing our Syvecs S7 plus ECU and begin tuning the car and gaining valuable data with how the motor is running via the datalogging features that come with the Syvecs. We are making use of the Syvecs ecu as we know it is a plug and play system with support to keep all the standard OEM functionality, in terms of the gauges, cluster etc. We felt that it was only fitting to use a high-end ECU, such as Syvecs, to complement and finish off our high-end build. It is worth noting that if someone wants a Savspeed S65 twin turbo kit that is for a race car or a drift car, it is not necessary to use a Syvecs ECU. In our full carbon fibre F30 which is currently using a single turbo S65 application, we use a local ECU known as Powermods which controls everything that we need. In the case of a road car, we will advise only using Syvecs as we can then supply custom maps to our clients and offer them the full Syvecs functionality while allowing all the standard BMW systems and components to function as normal.

What we expect;
We are hoping to start sharing some dyno tuning content as well as power runs and some road testing and driving within the next 2 months. We cannot wait to hear what our S65 twin turbo sounds like at 8400RPM. In terms of power figures that we expect, we can take reference from our widebody Full carbon fibre BMW F30 race car with a single turbo S65 application. That vehicle makes 1100hp at a mere 14PSI. We are hoping to achieve the same horsepower with our twin turbo setup at around 10PSI and then a decision will be made on how far we want to ‘push the buck’ so to speak. We are confident that we will be able to boost the twin turbo S65 motor to between 15PSI to 20PSI based on our compression ratio and other measures we have put into place thus far. Once we determine the thresholds of the motor, we can then share our findings and advise our clients around the world on what we recommend when it comes to PSI, AFR, type of fuel that should be used and a lot of other valuable information that we will be more than happy to share.

Pricing and our motive;
In terms of pricing on our S65 twin turbo kits, we are still unsure of what the price will be as we want to make it affordable to as many E92 M3 owners as possible. Our goal from the start was to give owners of the E92 M3 the M3 that they should’ve been able to have 10 years ago, and based on that fact, we aim to allow as many E92 owners the possibility to buy our kit and build their dream E92 M3. In saying that, it is important to note that our S65 twin turbo kit is a high-end kit, we have put in massive hours of development and RND to ensure that the kit comes out as best as it possibly can. We have used mainly Precision components, accompanied with the Syvecs ECU and then our own knowledge and experience when it comes to the actual forged internals of the motor. We will be making the kit available in different forms, so in a sense an enthusiast that wants a kit can decide whether or not they would like to purchase just the S65 twin turbo kit with charge pipes, turbos, intakes, dumpvalves etc or if they would opt to buy the forged rods, forged pistons etc. as stated above, we want to make this kit as accessible as we possibly can for anyone who has an S65 motor and wants to finally have a reliable twin turbo build. We will also be offering a “Full crate motor” build, which will mean sending us your motor and we rebuild and assemble all the components that we currently have used in our twin turbo S65 build.

The future looks very bright, we are super excited to start sharing content with you all. We promise that from this moment forward we will be giving more regular updates.
Ciao for now,
Team Savspeed Racing

[nycplumber]

With that much boost will the engine not have to be built? What about a 6psi set up that makes 650hp?

[valve float]

pics of exhaust manifolds or it didn't happen...

[Savspeed Auto]

Originally Posted by nycplumber

With that much boost will the engine not have to be built? What about a 6psi set up that makes 650hp?

Yes you are correct, that is why we have built a fully forged motor in our S65 as we want to make 1100hp to 1250hp out of the build. You most certainly can leave the motor with stock internals and use our kit as a bolt on kit for a low boost application while using at least an E50 fuel mix. That is the beauty of our kit, we are well aware that people around the world will want to build their own personal S65 and our twin turbo kit is there to make the process a lot easier and to save time and money on doing all the fabrication etc. We know the supercharger kits can run around 600hp to 700hp with stock internals so we are sure that with our twin turbo kit installed, the same can apply.

[Savspeed Auto]

Originally Posted by valve float

pics of exhaust manifolds or it didn't happen...

At the moment our castings are at the foundry as we have started to duplicate the parts to build up an inventory of items. The design of the exhaust manifolds are a tubular log type manifold. This is what we were able to come up with due to space in the engine bay obviously being quite limited... but i promise to send pics of the components once we have received everything back

[4dr_m3]

Can't wait to see the progress you guys make on this kit, I love that it's a top mount.

[DRLane]

Savspeed Auto

Did y’all make carbon valve covers? Where can we see the race build?

Congrats!

[charliev68]

How have the ARP Studs worked out for you? Seems “iffy” because M9 seems a little too small!
Looks like hi quality work, can’t wait to see more!

[nitish21]

Will this produce more torque compared to the supercharger kits?

[Soden82]

Are we looking at a potential niche market segment like what there is for GTRs, Lambos, R8, viper etc.

Referencing packages for built engines, twin turbo kits, 1200+whp kits, syvecs.

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by DRLane

Savspeed Auto

Did y’all make carbon valve covers? Where can we see the race build?

Congrats!

I really hope they are making the intake manifold/charge pipes in carbon fiber in the final production because all the carbon fiber hydro-dipped/overlayed stuff is throwing me off, lol.

A carbon fiber valve cover would be cool, but I also think that's hydro-dipped.

Good stuff, though. I hope this build actually runs, and it looks like it will because the other 'twin turbo' projects that we've seen before have never been heard of again.

[drwankel]

While this is really cool, I'd like to see a more refined filter/air inlet solution for the turbos than just a metal screen that is going to suck in hot air from the engine bay.

[bmwfst1]

sounds amazing

[djsilverjohnson]

Originally Posted by drwankel

While this is really cool, I'd like to see a more refined filter/air inlet solution for the turbos than just a metal screen that is going to suck in hot air from the engine bay.

That looks like where the “space engineering” has hit the wall for now! Otherwise it looks like a well put together setup.

[Savspeed Auto]

Originally Posted by DRLane

Savspeed Auto

Did y’all make carbon valve covers? Where can we see the race build?

Congrats!

Thank you very much, really appreciate it!

The valve covers are not carbon fibre, we had the covers hydro-dipped. We will be offering a wide range of different hydro-dip and anodizing options with the kits that we will be supplying.
The race build can be seen further up, it is a top mount single turbo application that we put together to test the engine running flat out. The internals of the twin turbo and single turbo are the same so we know reliability wont be an issue running at 1100hp as the race car ran flat out for 2x 8 lap races on a 4.3km circuit and reset the lap record for a BMW on that specific circuit being Redstar Raceway.

[Savspeed Auto]

Originally Posted by charliev68

How have the ARP Studs worked out for you? Seems “iffy” because M9 seems a little too small!
Looks like hi quality work, can’t wait to see more!

Appreciate that!

So far we have had no issues with the ARP studs. We have used them on our race build and the car has been running reliably thus far.

[Savspeed Auto]

Originally Posted by nitish21

Will this produce more torque compared to the supercharger kits?

Yes it will, the torque curve of the superchargers are very linear as per the standard torque curves of the S65 motors. On our dyno, the ESS and G-power supercharger kits make around 500nm of torque on the wheels, our race build with the single turbo application makes around 780nm of torque on the wheels at 14PSI. At around 5000RPM the torque is already at around 560nm on the wheels peaking at 780nm at around 8100RPM. so we can expect the twin turbo setup to be even more aggressive.