Turobochargers

The alternative to using a supercharger to generate more power from your car engine is with turbocharging. Turbochargers consist of a turbine on a common shaft with a compressor. The turbine is mounted in the exhaust gas stream and spins when the gas flow reaches a certain level. This spins the compressor which starts putting compressed air into the engine. Now the engine has more power and the exhaust gas flow increases which generates more air ....

Many new cars are using turbos in their lighter cars, because the combined weight of the turbo and engine are less than a larger engine. A turbo can also help increase gas mileage as it is powered by "wasted energy" in the exhaust stream.

The total package is more complicated than I just suggested, because their must be another exit path for the excess gas flow, and their may be an inter cooler to keep the incoming air to the engine as cool as possible, once it has been compressed.

On some V8 and larger engines, two or twin turbos are used. One reason is the lighter weight of the two turbines (inertia)compared to one large turbine. Another reason is that two small ones fit much better on each side of the V, rather than trying to route the exhaust to one common turbocharger.

While small cars can benefit from a turbocharger, large engines can also use them. The best example that comes to my mind is the Bugatti Veyron. With its 16-cylinder four-wheel drive, twin turbo engine it generates over 1,000 horsepower. I'm trying to image driving a car with that much power. I can't do it.

One downside to the turbo, is the two delays from the time you step on the gas until the turbocharger comes up to operational speed. The first delay is getting the turbine to spin, and the second is getting the spin fast enough to generate the correct amount of power. Better designs are now reducing this turbo lag time.

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