More power, less cost, and environmentally friendly

Not only are turbos environmentally friendly, but they are economic too! Turbo experts Turbo Dynamics explain why turbos are not just all power.

Formula One teams in the ‘80s used turbochargers on their engines for one main reason - more power for a smaller engine size and weight. A turbocharged car is faster, more powerful and has better handling than normally aspirated engines. You can achieve good engine response with the reassurance of reliable reserves of power when you need it.

Turbocharged vehicles offer a performance gain of up to 33% over ones equipped with conventional engines. Turbocharging significantly increases the car’s reserve power and decreases the time taken for that power to applied to the road’s surface. In potentially hazardous situations this can be very reassuring. Torque, the amount of energy a car’s engine can generate and how quickly that energy can be converted into useful propulsion, is increased thus improving the car’s driveability.

So, you have more power and better driveability. You may be forgiven for thinking that there are therefore more fuel costs. However, here’s the surprise - because modern standard turbochargers carefully regulate fuel-burn in each combustion cycle, sometimes with the help of digital technology, they can reduce costs by up to 15% compared to conventional engines. The result is an equivalent energy yield for less fuel. This means you pay for power not superfluous heat and gas emissions.

And, as if that isn’t enough – to top it all – todays’ turbochargers reduce the levels of harmful exhaust emissions, especially CO2. By 2005 car manufacturers had to comply with tough new international emissions standards. Manufacturers are opting for the clean burning turbocharging technologies now. To meet the stringent new European emissions regulations turbochargers are the single most effective way of reducing emissions.

So next time you are considering a car with a turbocharger and think turbo just means speed or power, think again and give it a test drive. You may be converted!

For further information, visit turbodynamics.co.uk.