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Turbochargers

Turbochargers as the name implies are used to "turbocharge" your car. It is basically nothing but a turbine that is fed from the exhaust gases from the engine. This turbine then is connected to a compressor which forces more air into the cylinders. More air into the cylinders means more fuel can be burnt in every stroke. This means greater output and eventually greater power. This is the reason that turbochargers are found in race cars and are preferred by auto enthusiasts over the world.

When we talk about turbochargers, a question comes to our mind as to why do we need turbochargers? Can't we simply add cylinders or increase capacity of the engine itself? This is simply understood by the fact that increasing the size of the engine or adding more cylinders will increase the weight of the engine. This will result in the vehicle becoming heavier than before and the trade-off will not be worth it. This will also be the case if the engine is given more cylinders. Every car's performance can be measured by the power-to-weight ratio. Ideally the power-to-weight ratio is around 1. But this is practically impossible for cars. So, we try to have it as high as possible.

The most obvious advantage to turbochargers is that they add quite a significant boost to the car's power at a fraction of the cost of upgrading the whole engine. This is especially significant when you don't want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a sports car but just want that something extra in your own car. Though mainly race cars see turbochargers custom fitted into them. Apart from race cars, diesel engine powered vehicles also have turbochargers in them.

Typically, turbochargers provide a boost of upto 6-8 pounds per square inch. This translates to roughly 50% more air into the engine. Does this mean we get 50% more power? No. The process is not 100% efficient. We can expect to see a 30-40% improvement in the power. One of the major reasons is that the exhaust gases are not being released but rather they are being reused by the turbocharger to drive the turbine. Due to this, the turbocharger has to exert more force when releasing exhaust gases.

One more advantage with turbochargers is that the turbochargers add little to the weight of the vehicle. This helps in increasing the power-to-weight ratio rather than the other way round. In some cases where the car is not meant to cope with the high amounts of heat that is produced during the process, some decrease in fuel efficiency may be experienced. Sometimes, to counter the massive heat produced, greater amount of fuel is pumped into the charge. This absorbs the heat and helps in preventing knocking. Knocking happens when the fuel is ignited before the spark plug is fired. This usually happens when the temperature of the air becomes high enough for the fuel to ignite. Knocking also happens when the fuel is dirty. For preventing this, all manufacturers recommend using high octane fuel.

Even with all their apparent disadvantages like installation cost and complexity, turbochargers remain a favourite with car enthusiasts all over the world.

The installation of a turbocharger is a complex process and can only be accomplished by expert mechanics. This will also involve spending money.