Eaton announced the TVS R2650 which is the latest addition to their TVS roots blower series. The announcement took place at the 2016 SEMA show. Eaton’s R2650 is not just a larger displacement TVS. It comes with a 4 lobe optimized rotor design that uses a 170 degree twist which reportedly shortens the rotor lead … Read more
Recently Eaton has been paving new roads with their forward thinking supercharger product development. They have been concentrating on a market that has the most need and demand for specialty blowers. They are developing superchargers for small displacement gas engines.
Eaton is expecting big things from small engines using the TVS Supercharger – Their twin vortices, four lobe roots type positive displacement blower.
With this in mind they are challenging two very firm beliefs: One, is that superchargers are only for big horsepower and performance vehicles. Two, is that turbochargers are the best option for small
displacement stock engines.
Turbos are currently the choice of many large manufacturers who want to add power to their vehicles but Eaton has been able to prove that turbochargers may not be the best option. Eaton claims their current roots type positive displacement supercharger can not only improve engine performance but they also provide up to five percent in fuel savings, reduced emissions and are considered maintenance free – all without the annoying lag of a turbo.
Eaton’s real world examples on small vehicles include the 2011 Nissan Micra which is a supercharged 1.2 liter, 3 cylinder micro car sporting the twin four-lobe rotor Eaton TVS® blower. China’s Chery Automobile Co. jumped on board with some of their 2010 line. The Chery 1.6S Tiggo compact SUV with a 1.6 liter blown engine producing 148 horsepower @ 5500 RPM and 151 lb-ft of torque between 3500 – 4500 RPM, the compact 1.3S A3 which is supposed to perform like a 2.0 liter engine and the small sedan Riich 1.3S G3.
The 2011 Nissan Micra – An Eaton TVS blown monster!
The extra power provided by Eaton’s superchargers works out to be an ideal fit for these small engine applications. It allows auto manufacturers to produce a smaller power plant which allows for a more compact vehicle while keeping the same horsepower with lower emissions and improved fuel efficiency.
Eaton is poised to take advantage of the global trend towards smaller and more efficient vehicles, especially in some of the largest automotive markets in the world. Now that they’ve built a relationship with Mazda and have a foothold in China, which is the largest car market in the world, they have their sights set on other manufacturers and countries.
Rumors indicate one of those markets is India. Eaton is already established there but reports say they are working on a deal with Tata Motors to produce a supercharged Tata Nano. Eaton’s insight and new partnerships has them going from a shrinking supercharger market to expecting sales to double by 2015.
Eaton Corporation Logo (™)
Eaton Corporation has roots back to 1911 when Joseph Eaton, Henning Taube and Viggo Torbensen founded Torbensen Gear and Axle Co. The company started off in New Jersey, USA producing seven hand built axles in their founding year.
Eaton went through many changes in the early part of its life including several name changes, a headquarters move to Cleveland, the sale and then repurchase of the company and several acquisitions of competing and complimentary businesses. Through the years Eaton continued acquisitions that took them far beyond the automotive industry. This expansion has lead Eaton Corporation to sales of $11.9 billion USD in 2009.
When it comes to superchargers and supercharger kits, Eaton has remained loyal to the Roots style blower. Since the 1980’s Eaton has produced over three million Roots superchargers for street and strip. What makes Eaton’s Roots superchargers stand out is their designs. One of Eaton’s designs, the Twin Vortices Series™ (VTS™) was able to improve fuel efficiency, increase power, reduce noise and vibration and provide a smoother and more efficient air flow. The kicker is they were able to do it all in a smaller and more simple package than many previous Roots-type supercharger kits.
Eaton TVS Roots-Type Supercharger
Eaton continues to work on advancing their supercharger designs. They boast a team of over 50 experts who are dedicated to designing, engineering and testing new supercharger kits. Further, Eaton has their own ‘Proving Grounds’, a 600 acres on and off-road facility in Marshall Michigan where they thoroughly test products in a real world and racing environment.
TRD Logo (™)
Toyota Racing Development (TRD) is Toyota’s in-house performance development and tuning division for Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicle lines. At the time of writing there are two main divisions of TRD: Toyota Technocraft Co. Ltd or TRD Japan (established June of 1954) and TRD U.S.A. (established in 1979). TRD Japan was originally known as Toyota Sports Corner (TOSCO). In December of 2006 TRD officially expanded into Thailand with TRD Asia Co. Ltd. which was a new corporation made up with 80% shares owned by Toyota Technocraft Co., Ltd. and 20% by Toyota Tsusho Corporation. In August of 2007 Toyota Australia established TRD Australia which offered the first TRD production vehicles. Unfortunately the production was officially brought to a halt in March of 2009. Beyond superchargers TRD offers several optional and aftermarket performance parts including headers, mufflers, suspension parts, braking hardware and much more.
TRD Supercharger Kit for a 2003 Toyota Matrix
TRD has been in the business a long time and has an established reputation. Along with the quality that is expected of Toyota vehicles comes TRD’s outstanding professional racing results for both cars and trucks. They have a long list of participation coupled with impressive achievements. A complete list of achievements is beyond this article but to get an idea of just how deep their racing roots are we’ve included a list of series and racing leagues they have participated in:
– The Japanese division of TRD has raced in a variety of series including: All-Japan F3 Championship, ESSO Formula Toyota, Netz Cup (Vitz) and Super GT (JGTC).
– TRD U.S.A. has been raced in Baja 1000, Championship World Series (CART), Championship Off Road Racing (CORR), Grand-Am Cup Sports Touring, Indy Racing League, International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series, National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and Toyota Atlantic Series.
– Toyota Team Europe which is now known as Toyota Forumla One Team has raced in 24 Hours of Le Mans, Forumla One World Championship Racing (F1) and World Rally Championship (WRC).
A couple of noteworthy achievements: TRD was the first to factory fit an Eaton TVS supercharger in a production car with the 2008 TRD Aurion. Also, in 2000 Toyota was able to grab a CART win with a TRD built engine. This was the first American built engine to win an Indy race in 20 years. Using that same design by 2002 they were able to take the Indy Series Championship.
Unfortunately, in 2015 Toyota discontinued support for the TRD Supercharger program. The majority of their offers were Roots type but they also had a centrifugal compressor for the Scion.