European carmakers feel that turbocharged small engines are the way of the future, to increase fuel economy and reduce emmissions.
Instead of using a big normally aspirated engine, a small capacity engine with a turbocharger is used so that fuel economy and emmissions is lower, but the turbo can give that required surge of power whenever maneuveres such as overtaking are required. So the engine only behaves like a larger displacement engine when you want it to. Sounds pretty logical right?
An example of this new trend is Volkswagen’s new twin-charged TSI engine, which uses a supercharger and a turbocharger on a 1.4 litre petrol engine. This engine first debuted on the Volkswagen Golf GT.
However turbochargers have some downside. Diesels have been turbocharged for a long time now. Almost all diesels are turbodiesels. It’s easier to make a turbodiesel as diesel exhaust gas temperatures are lower, at about 750-800 degrees celcius. A normal gasoline engine’s exhaust gas temperature is over 1000 degrees celcius, and will be even hotter if it’s turbocharged. Turbos also cannot run for long durations.
More R&D has to be done on materials to withstand the turbocharging effects such as higher temperatures before this new way of designing engines can be mainstream.
Source: Autoweek, Left Lane News
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Is about time! Americans should consider this too.
Due to Gasoline or fuel price up recently and will continue up with no ending therefore Smaller size engine cc will be popular in worldwide and turbo can be a selling points too. Durability issue maybe secondary now because the cost can be offset from Fuel cost right?
America….sign Kyoto Protocol…
Use Diesel…..don't use Gasoline
Saab is the master at this low-end turbos,
GM sould really capitalize on their know-how…
infact, I think all GM cars in europe (opel/vauxhall) should be turbocharged by Saab
Iloveproton : Oops , I spelt your name wrong.
Ihateproton : Why not? Turbo's r good and the blow-off's are like… so cool.
But I like Aftermarket turbos more. Coz , their cool.
The stock turbos like err.. The kompressor , isn't cool at all.
Go for lean fuel mixture engine if want good fuel economy. You can run long on this kinda of engine unlike using turbocharger. Go for Toyota's VVTi, wahahahah ;P
Saab has been using turbocharged 4-cylinder engines because they had insufficient income to develop bigger engines to enable them to match thier rivals' performance. But that was long ago, recently they had just launched a new 9-3 Aero with a 2.8 litre V6.. The new engine is a huge improvement over the previous turbocharged Aero as its drivability and midrange punch was much much better.
A turbo comprises a turbine to extract energy from an internal combustion engine and using this energy to boost the air input to the engine, thus increasing the volumetric efficiency i.e. producing more power. In other words its an exhaust gas driven compressor used in internal-combustion engines to increase the power output of the engine by increasing the mass of oxygen entering the engine.
But with the extra power comes along turbo lag. At low revs, turbocharged engines often feels sluggish. A lag is sometimes felt by the driver of a turbocharged vehicle as a delay between pushing on the accelerator pedal and feeling the turbo kick-in. This is symptomatic of the time taken for the exhaust system driving the turbine to come to high pressure and for the turbine rotor to overcome its rotational inertia and reach the speed necessary to supply boost pressure.
In general, the larger the turbo, the lag is more prominent. It is often the case that manufacturers opt for two equal-sized small turbos working side by side. While this method has been largely successful in eliminating lag, it is often the case that the extra power is not sufficient to justify the cost. Thus twin-turbos were only used in high-powered sports cars. Plus this setup USUALLY works wonders only with V-type engines(one turbo for each bank of cylinders), and this hampers its usefulness.
With recent technology advancement manufacturers have opted for sequential turbos, meaning two different-sized turbos working on specific engine speeds. Usually the bigger turbo is set up to give boost throughout the entire range of engine speeds, and the smaller turbo with its lower inertia levels does its work exclusively at lower engine speeds. When working together, the secondary turbo gives the engine sufficient boost while making room for the primary one to go up to speed. Genius eh?
But of course its not all roses. This method of cheating turbo-lag is relatively new to manufacturers so finding the right compromise between outright power drivability is still a largely undiscovered art. So far there are only a few cars with this set-up. Most notable are BMW's 535d and VW's Golf GT. But then again the latter uses a supercharger as the secondary forced-induction. Early indications looks good, though mix-matching technologies needs huge resources as parallel-knowledge of both worlds are vital.
All in all, this shows that much much more is yet to come, and the future looks bright for the automotive world!
P.S. eRis-Aeir4s, a Kompressor is a supercharger, not turbocharger
For all I know, some genius in our own BOLEHLAND soil has been fiddling and mix matching supercharger and turbocharger as far back as 1996. The result? A blown up engine. Hehehehe….
paul sifu, speaking of turbochargers and superchargers, do you know of any such additions for a VIOS? i'd much appreciate it if you could use your car knowledge to help me out!
Thanks bro! :D
The Thais have had a Vios turbo for quite some time. It makes about 135hp.
mutant tomato.
The have a 1.5 turbo manual vios in thailand. i was lucky enough to drive one. They had a limited run i think. dont know if they sold them all by now. basically, the car drove like it was a 1.8. you will never know theres a turbo there.
ooooo…now i got it why the SRM frm paul previous blog got turbo charge on it, maybe the engine is 1.3…any posibility.
Honda_driver and Paul: Bro, I know… :D The Thais have the manual version. You can even get it in Singapore. I tried the G spec manual in Singapore and it was FUN! However, what I was asking about was a turbine for the VIOS and not the turbocharged car itself. So far I heard potong kereta places and your "ah keong ah piau" mechanics will modify turbines meant for Mitsubishis and put them into the VIOS. I'd rather not have something like that la! Sounds dodgy!
If not a turbine, then what about a supercharger? Also for the VIOS.
Ford is kicking off a 10-city Hybrid Patrol tour in Cleveland today, the aim of which is to educate police departments on fuel conservation habits. Police departments use an enormous amount of fuel annually due to the stop-and-go nature of patrol duty. In 2004 Cleveland’s finest guzzled 585,000 gallons of gasoline and the department could save nearly $155,025 a year if focused a wee bit more on fuel economy.