The employees working on the AirWerks team have been asked on several occasions, why do you call them S400SX’s?
Well, there’s a story behind the madness as always…
The formal S400SX turbo program came to life in 2004 as a project that teamed BorgWarner with GM Racing. The
objective of AirWerks program was to help create reliable and consistent boost for GM’s Pro FWD sport compact race
cars. After several meetings with the GM Racing team, the basic design and performance targets were established.
With the information in hand, the AirWerks engineers were off to the drawing board, R&D headquarters, and the
prototype model shop to make what was soon to be history.
The S400SX turbos were constructed under the supervision of the BorgWarner Turbo and Emissions Systems Aftermarket
product development team and select members of the North American Technical- Center Headquarters. The units were built
as prototypes and the suffix “X” was added to the standard model nomenclature to help distinguish this unique
motorsport component from the standard commercial product assembled at the same location. The S400SX was off and
running and applied to some of the fastest cars sport compact racing had ever seen.
By the end of 2005 race season, the S400SX had begun to create a presence in the sport compact arena. The GM Racing
Cobalt was the first and only front-wheel-drive/four-cylinder to surpass 200mph in the quarter mile. The Cobalt also
ran the quickest and fastest FWD pass ever with 7.292s @ 201.61. The very same year, Brent Rau pushed his Mitsubishi
Eclipse to a new ET record of 6.976 and established a new Pro Outlaw RWD MPH record of 198.29. The introduction of
the S400SX with these initial race teams proved to form lasting relationships which are still honored today.
Brian Ballard, another BorgWarner-AirWerks sponsored racer, has been testing the S400SX line of turbos for the past
two years in his CSI Racing Chevy Cobalt. Ballard has repeatedly won multiple races, in part, due to boost from the
BorgWarner-AirWerks units. Ballard, who has title championships in 2004, 2005, and 2006, added to his laundry list
of accolades to become the 2007 NOPI/NDRA Turbo Street champion, while spooling up with the S400SX and helping to
introduce the line-up to the motor sports world…
AirWerks involvement in the sport compact arena created a BorgWarner first… a purpose built, engineered for
performance only, production turbocharger. While all BorgWarner turbos, including the “SX”, receive a full
nomenclature designating content detail of the unit; the AirWerks team decided to construct these units differently
and retain the “SX” suffix, which is fitting for a unit with racing heritage and designed for excitement.
The S400SX is a serviceable twin hydrodynamic journal bearing turbo that excels due to a high-pressure ratio
compressor stage utilizing extended-tip technology and a high efficiency turbine stage. This specialized turbo
configuration provides ultra-fast response and more than 70 PSI of boost and if the AirWerks team has anything to do
with it, it will continue to well into the future.
A new series of the S400SX turbos were designed specifically to bolt-into existing high performance applications and
offer numerous unique turbine housing configurations for a variety of application requirements. Although the
BorgWarner sponsored race teams still receive special attention and unique combinations, please know that the units
which are now available and known as the “SX” series have a racing heritage in their oil galleries and owe their
existence to the sport.
Inaugural Outlaw Street FWD $10,000 Shootout – presented by AirWerks by BorgWarner Turbo & Emission Systems
Saturday, October 11 – Sunday October 12, 2008
Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Englishtown New Jersey, USA
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2008 SEMA Show
Tuesday, November 4 – Friday, November 7, 2008
Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
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2008 Performance Racing Industry Show
Thursday, December 11 – Saturday, December 14, 2008
Orange Convention Center, Orlando, Florida, USA
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