• Ball Bearing Technology

  All fixed geometry PowerMax units utilize the Garrett® GT ball bearing technology, featuring advanced GT Series wheel designs that ensure top performance, lower back pressure, and offer reduced intake/exhaust gas temperatures for quicker spool-up. Read More...

  AVNT™ Technology

  PowerMax AVNT turbochargers utilize nine moveable vanes which significantly increase turbine efficiency and improve engine performance from launch through peak torque. Read More...

PowerMax Design Feature Benefits

1. Large Bore Inducer - The air intake size of the compressor is called the inducer. PowerMax's inducer has a larger diameter to allow greater air flow for high performance diesels with increased fuel flow.

2. Advanced Design Compressor Wheels - The compressor wheels used on the PowerMax are extremely high efficiency, backward curved impellers which allow for broad air flow range to match the needs of High Performance Diesels.

3. Exclusive True Ball Bearings - Only PowerMax utilizes true angular contact ball-bearings. This means the turbo spools up to 15% faster, is capable of high thrust loads seen in High Performance/High Boost Applications, and increases over all turbo efficiency by reducing power consumption by nearly 50% over traditional journal bearing designs.

4. Performance Enhancing Oil Restrictor - Ball-bearings require significantly less oil flow than journal type bearings. The oil restrictor optimizes oil flow for proper lubrication and cooling, while limiting turbo rotational drag which robs power and efficiency.

5. Divided Turbine Housing - The turbine housing employs a divider wall within the turbine volute to optimize pulse gas energy which gives greater response and turbine efficiency during low-end and mid-range operation.

6. Ultra High Pressure/High Efficiency Turbine - The highly efficient turbine design of PowerMax extracts a maximum of energy from the engine's exhaust. Using GMR235 Super Alloy, the turbine wheel design is optimized for high exhaust flow and low weight to reduce moment of inertia assisting in crisp response to changes in engine speed.

7. Turbine Connection - The turbine outlet connection is designed to fit as a direct drop-in to enhance the ease of upgrading stock turbos.

8. Turbine Heat Shielding - The PowerMax uses a heat shield to create a "Dead Air Space" insulation barrier to keep high exhaust heat energy in the turbine, where it can be converted to mechanical energy, and away from bearings and oil.

9. Design Optimized Turbine Housing - Advanced 3-D modeling and computational fluid dynamics are used to optimize the volute shape within the turbine housing. PowerMax's housing is also equipped with an adjustable wastegate allowing adjustment for optimum boost levels.

10. Oil Control & Seal - Ball-Bearing turbos require less oil than journal bearings. Therefore the reduced oil flow in the turbocharger is more easily managed. A double row flinger which drives drain oil away from the gas seal rings virtually eliminates compressor oil sealing problems.

Turbocharging Benefits VS. Supercharging

The aftermarket age-old question endures: "I am looking to boost my engine, do I turbocharge or supercharge?" Let's look at some features that make the turbocharger the most powerful and economical power adder for your engine

A Turbocharger is:

More Versatile - A turbocharger is equally appropriate whether your goal is a mild street application or an all-out drag racer. A properly matched turbo can provide superb response and the ability to run boost levels that will push your limits. As you will see in the graphs below, Garrett® GT Ball Bearing Turbochargers come up on boost very quickly and make more engine power than a supercharger over a broad operating band. The curves correspond to a highly boosted 2.0 liter engine.

As for so-called "turbo lag", modern GT-series high-flow wheels are smaller than ever to reduce inertia, and in combination with the ball bearing system give throttle response that has to be driven to be believed. In fact, one Garrett® customer has boosted his engine to an amazing 35 psi in two tenths of a second using a modern Garrett® GT ball bearing turbocharger! Additionally, a turbo's smaller and more compact package allows for greater flexibility in installation locations.

More Efficient - The turbo uses energy that is otherwise wasted through the tailpipe, where a supercharger has high parasitic drag since the power to drive it comes from the crankshaft. The Garrett® modern GTseries compressor and turbine aerodynamics push the state-ofthe-art limit for stage efficiency and flow range.

More Durable - A turbocharger only has one moving part, the rotating assembly; no pulleys, belts or geared transmissions. This makes for a less-complicated device with fewer moving componets to fail. Nowhere is this more obvious than with the Garrett® Motorsports teams, where performance and reliability are a must.

No race beats on a turbocharger like the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Garrett® turbochargers used at Le Mans have been put to the test over the past several years with the most notable results being all three podium positions at the 2000, 2001 and 2002 24 Hours of Le Mans. And don't forget the impressive wins during the grueling World Rally Drivers Championships, Champ Car, NHRA Drag Racing, Formula D Drifting and Time Attack.