The diesel world is constantly changing. In drag racing, up until maybe the 2016/2017 season, two-turbo compounds were the hottest way to go. All the big dogs were running them, and everyone else wished they were. Then we started seeing a lot more triples, still a compound design but with three turbos instead of two. Those made great power, just like their two-turbo brethren did. But lately it seems a different trend in the big horsepower trucks is dominating, singles. One turbo. Just like what comes stock on your truck. Nothing fancy. But they’re making huge and reliable power with them. Recently I’ve had a few people ask me how this is possible and why it makes sense to run a single, it’s simple, I’ll explain why.
HIGH RPM SAVES PARTS
To understand part of why a single makes sense you need to know this: assuming you have the correct supporting mods (upgraded valve springs being a perfect example) high RPM saves parts. There’s more to it than this but think about water skiing, you need some speed to skip across the water and without that speed the water will “grab” you and you’ll fall/sink. Same sorta idea with engines, transmissions, transfer cases, etc., at higher RPM the parts don’t see the stress they do at low RPM. Parts skip off each other better instead of digging into one another, causing damage. Plus at high RPM the parts already have momentum, adding more power up top will be kinder to the rods compared to adding power down low.