Improved designs for large turbocharger rotors require both a thorough understanding of the modal properties of the system and a knowledge of how the rotor will respond to typical force excitation. This paper describes the approach taken to develop a mathematical model using finite element analysis to represent a complete turbocharger rotor based upon verification by experimental data obtained using conventional modal analysis and electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) techniques. The relative merits of each technique are discussed.