Diesel Engineering Redefined: Espos Diesel’s RamCharger Turbo System

Ryan Esposito’s Compound Turbocharged Ram 1500 EcoDiesel

Developing new products can be boring for engineers, pro- grammers and developers that are forced to sit in a lab to in- vent the latest mainstream widget. Fortunately, the performance diesel industry is a lot more hands on, allowing the men and women behind the scenes a chance to work, develop, and drive in the real world—not just in a lab. As the owner of Espos Diesel Performance in Plattsburg, New York, Ryan Esposito is the driving force behind developing new products that his shop will offer—the latest of which is a compound turbo kit called the Ram- Charger for the 2015 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel 1/2-ton truck.

RYAN ESPOSITO’S 2015 RAM ECODIESEL IS A GREAT LOOKING TRUCK WITH AN EXTRA TURBO AND ABOUT 200 ADDITIONAL HORSEPOWER STUFFED UNDER THE HOOD!

The Borg Warner S362 turbo charger is customized by the team at Suncoast with a billet compressor wheel and stainless-steel Tial turbine housing with a V-band outlet. The crew at Espos wraps the stainless-steel exhaust piping to keep the heat in the tubes and reduce underhood heat with the remote-mounted turbo.

Popping the hood on Esposito’s EcoDiesel reveals the enhanced 3.0L V6 diesel en- gine. All eyes are immediately drawn to the extra turbo on the passenger side of the engine bay with the Espos “RamCharger” compound turbo kit.

We caught up with Esposito when he brought his test mule 2015 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel down to Rudy’s Diesel event this fall in Julian, North Carolina. In addi- tion to running on the dyno and making a few passes down the drag strip, he had the truck on display in the Suncoast booth for attendees to check out. He also took time for us to take the truck off-site to shoot these photos and bring you the low- down on what we believe to be the ﬁrst compound turbocharged 3.0L V6 EcoDiesel. Keep reading to ﬁnd out more about this one-of-a-kind, 1/2-ton Ram truck.

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To get the compressed intake charge in and out of the intercooler with as little re- striction as possible, the RamCharger kit makes use of a set of aFe BladeRunner large-diameter intercooler tubes.

Looking closely between the factory turbo and the Suncoast turbo, you’ll find a Turbosmart 40mm wastegate used to keep boost levels in a safe range for the 3.0L engine in stock form.

Lifting the hood of a stock EcoDiesel Ram reveals a molded-plastic engine cover with a sea of black plastic and very little wow factor, but lifting the hood of Esposito’s Ram is an entirely different story. With the RamCharger compound turbo kit installed on the V6 engine, the plastic shroud is replaced with a much more desirable Suncoast-modiﬁed Borg Warner turbo and other associated bling. The heart of the kit is the custom S363 turbo that was enhanced by the team at Suncoast with a billet compressor wheel and Tial stainless-steel turbine housing.

WITH THE RAMCHARGER COMPOUND TURBO KIT INSTALLED ON THE V6 ENGINE, THE PLASTIC SHROUD IS REPLACED WITH A MUCH MORE DESIRABLE SUNCOAST-MODIFIED BORG WARNER TURBO AND OTHER ASSOCIATED BLING.

The factory intake manifold was replaced with a Banks Performance intake (red, under the engine harness) while the custom polished-aluminum cold pipe linking the turbos is easily spotted.

Even after driving the truck over 800 miles from his shop in Plattsburgh, New York, to Julian, North Carolina, for the Rudy’s event in the fall, Esposito had no reservations to running the truck on the dyno—laying down nearly 400 horse- power in the process.

Fresh air is drawn into the charger through an aFe Filters Pro Dry S air ﬁlter mounted low in the engine bay away from heat sources. It is connected to the inlet of the Suncoast turbo through an Espos- fabricated, polished-aluminum intake pipe. The compressed charge from the at- mosphere turbo is fed over to the inlet of the factory turbo through more custom-fabricated, polished-aluminum intake tub- ing. Output from the factory charger is fed over to the factory intercooler through a set of red aFe BladeRunner intercooler tubes that offer larger tubing and better airﬂow than the factory tubes. After re- turning from the intercooler through the cold side aFe tube, the pressurized charge is fed into the engine through a Banks Power intake manifold.

The truck looks good from any angle with the rear bumper and tailgate emblem dechromed and painted to match.

To carry tools and supplies in a secure location, he in- stalled a low profile diamond plate storage box in the bed.

On the exhaust side of things, the spent gasses ﬁrst ﬂow into the factory tur- bine housing before being passed on to the Tial turbine housing inlet on the Sun- coast-modiﬁed S363 Borg Warner turbo. From there, the exhaust outlet is chan- neled to the rest of the exhaust system in- cluding Flo~Pro stainless-steel exhaust tubing used to fabricate the hot side of the turbo system and the MBRP exhaust system under the truck. The hot pipes under the hood are all wrapped in thermal header wrap to keep the temperature in the pipes rather than radiating out into the engine bay. To keep the boost levels in check and maintain the integrity of the stock 3.0L engine, Esposito relies on a 40mm Turbosmart wastegate plumbed into the exhaust feed with stainless-steel tubing.

Peeking under the rear of the truck you can see the Firestone Work-Rite spring helpers as well as the MBRP exhaust system.

Looking at the front side of the rear axle, you can see the lower control arms as well as the aluminum dri- veshaft and MBRP exhaust system.

While simply bolting on the Ram- Charger compound turbo kit will provide an additional 100 or so horsepower to the wheels when compared to the stock 190 that Esposito saw when dyno testing his truck in stock trim—Esposito wanted more. So, he turned to Kory Willis at PPEI for custom tuning that gave the truck an additional 100 horsepower leveling off at 395 horsepower with 595 lbs-ft. of torque. To keep an eye on the turbo system, he installed a trio of Auto Meter gauges in an A-pillar pod that are used to monitor ex- haust pressure and boost at two different locations. Additionally, he uses an Edge CTS to monitor other vital engine details. Surprisingly, the stock 8HP70 eight-speed transmission is holding up well behind the engine despite doubling the horsepower output. The Ram sends the power to all four wheels whenever Esposito selects 4WD for extra traction.

Esposito ran his truck down the track at the Rudy’s event; he estimates that the truck will make high 13-second to low 14-second 1/4-mile passes.

To keep a close eye on the engine’s performance during the compound turbo kit development and now used while cruising down the highway, Esposito installed a trio of Auto Meter gauges in the A-pillar to monitor exhaust pressure and boost at two locations. Additionally, he has an Edge CTS to monitor other vital engine parameters.

Esposito’s RamCharger equipped Ram rolls on four Nitto NT420S 305/50R20 tires wrapped around a set of 20X10-inch Fuel Maverick wheels at each corner for style and performance on the street or at the track. To further improve the Ram’s curb appeal, he had the bumpers and grille shell painted to match the True Blue Pearl factory paint on the rest of the truck for a modern sport truck look. The factory suspension does a pretty good job of keeping the big tires ﬁrmly planted to the road and riding smoothly along even when he mashes the pedal to unleash all three liters of diesel-burning fury. To enhance the towing and hauling capa- bility of the 1500, he installed a set of Fire- stone Work-Rite spring helpers in the rear.

THIS RAM ECODIESEL MAY HAVE STARTED ITS LIFE AS A SIMPLE 1/2-TON TRUCK BUT, ONCE ESPOSITO AND HIS TEAM GOT THEIR HANDS ON IT, THINGS CHANGED FOR THE BETTER.

The deep blue Ram looks great thanks to help from the new wheel and tire combination as well as the color matched bumpers and grille.

RAMCHARGER UNDER THE HOOD

This Ram EcoDiesel may have started its life as a simple 1/2-ton truck but, once Esposito and his team got their hands on it, things changed for the better. With their new RamCharger compound turbo sys- tem installed, the truck now boasts about twice the horsepower and double the turbo chargers it had when it rolled off the assembly line. Now that he has proven the RamCharger system in the shop, on the dyno, and in the real world, Espos Diesel Performance is offering it to the public. The Espos team will also soon offer a bolt-on kit for the Jeep Grand Cherokee that uses the same 3.0L V6 diesel engine. So, next time you roll up on an EcoDiesel equipped Ram or Jeep, you better think twice before racing to the next light, as he might be packing a Ram- Charger under the hood. DW