Performance Racing Industry: What’s New and Cool 2023 Edition

Batteries are important electronics, too, and so are their accessories. Antigravity has continued to roll out new applications, including in their Micro-Start lineup of jump starters. The full lineup of XP starters has been updated, and now offers an XP-15 with a built-in tire inflator. Considering that I have both an Antigravity Micro-Start as well as a Milwaukee M12 inflator in my car, replacing them both with a single unit sounds really promising. The inflator also features automatic target pressure shut-off, so it doesn’t need to be babysit. The Micro-Starts also all feature USB-C so that they charge even faster.

Antigravity has also rolled out a new line of multi-chemical-supporting chargers dubbed Super-Charger, with 2-, 4-, and 10-amp options. Each charger features an LCD display to provide much more information about the charging status.

I had somehow never heard of Go Fast Bits before, which is totally my bad, and a shame, because they have some really interesting electronics. Pictured here is their Deceptor Pro electronically-adjustable recirculation/diverter valve. The Deceptor allows you to control how much air is either recirculated or allowed to escape, which can help improve performance while also avoiding CELs for vehicles that are sensitive.

GFB also has an interesting lineup of external wastegates, with their claim-to-fame being smallest-in-class without sacrificing flow performance. Remember, you want more flow if you want to waste more exhaust energy and prevent it from getting to the turbine. So being able to get the right amount of gas away from the turbine without requiring a massive amount of space is a nice benefit. The GFB 38 and 44mm gates are also compatible with TiAL and Turbosmart flanges, which can make them a direct replacement in some cases.

While we’re in turbo-land, we’d be remiss if we didn’t see what Turbosmart was up to. New for this year are their turbo-specific oil pressure regulators. You should know by now that you need a restrictor on your turbo oil feed to help ensure that the bearing is carrying the right amount of oil for proper operation. But when your car is cold, and your oil viscous, that 80+ PSI of oil pressure is probably not great for that turbo bearing. Enter the OPRs.

With both a boost-referenced and a fixed pressure regulator, now you can ensure your turbine bearing’s oil pressure is on point, just like you would your engine’s fuel. Suitable for all engine oil types, both of the pressure regulators have -4AN inlets and a 1/8 NPT outlet. The Pro OPR actually includes two outlets, making it easy to use a single OPR to feed twin turbo applications. Both OPRs have a 44-micron stainless filter built-in, which can help prevent any nasty bits from getting into that precious turbine bearing. And, best of all, the OPRs are returnless, which means they are in-line applications. Isn’t that easy! The 1/8 NPT sensor port means you can keep tabs directly on your turbo oil pressure, and, unsurprisingly, the Pro OPR features a 1/8 NPT boost reference port for the… uh… boost reference.