Turbocharger – Offers Remarkable Benefits

The designing of turbo–the size and shape of the compressor and turbine –determines at what speed of engine and load the turbo has maximum efficiency. Earlier, turbos were produced to give as much power as possible. They had maximum efficiency at the higher engine speeds. But most of the time the engines operate at medium speeds and light load. To optimize the efficiency of turbo at this most operated region in the power band results in a real-world performance of more efficiency.

In 1980s, it was tough to escape the impact created turbocharger. You should note that the twin energy crises occurring in 1970s forced the automakers to manufacture cars that gave better fuel economy. This suggested the need to downsize engines. Till 1980s, the turbo technology was developing at a rapid pace and automakers used them for boosting the power of the smaller engines. Moreover, the turbos provided much more than power—they gave the benefits of fuel economy also.

The turbos were considered as a way to get the fuel economy of the four-cylinder engine having the power of Six. It must surely catch your interest. This is what automakers claim today. Theoretically speaking it makes sense as the turbo utilizes some of the waste exhaust energy. The downsizing of engines decreases frictional and thermodynamic losses. This easy process gave excellent results.

But, many times the benefits of fuel-economy were slight. Some manufacturers got famous for the reliability problems. Due to this the widespread use of turbochargers faded somewhat in the following time. Instead of them, the auto industry produced bigger engines which had more efficiency.

As we face more energy crises in the present time, the turbocharger has come back. You should note that Ford is quite aggressive about the technology and wants to replace several of its V8s with the twin-turbo V6s as well as use turbo four-cylinder engines to replace V6s.

The Ford’s Ecoboost V6 uses 2 knock sensors which detect the engine-killing detonation in an instant. These sensors, along with the fast-reacting engine computers, can enhance the ignition timing and you need not worry about detonation. The latest turbo engines control the cam timing and turbo boost electronically. This considerably reduces the pumping losses of engine.