How does a turbo work?

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Jostyrostelli

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Just gonna make the first one..

Diagram.GIF



The Basics....

Air entering the engine first passes through an exhaust driven compressor. Compressed air results in a larger quantity of air being forced into the engine, creating more power.

The energy used to drive the turbo compressor is extracted from waste exhaust gasses. As exhaust gasses leave the engine they are directed through a wheel placed in the exhaust flow. The gasses drive the turbine wheel around, which is directly connected via a shaft, to the compressor wheel.

Increased exhaust gas drives the turbine wheel faster, this provides the engine more air, producing more power. A limit is met once a pre-determined boost pressure is achieved. At this point the exhaust gas is redirected away from the turbine wheel, thus slowing it down and limiting the maximum boost pressure. This redirection valve is known as the wastegate.

This extraction of energy, from exhaust gas, to improve engine efficiency is the device known as the turbocharger.

Turbochargers are usually seen as power enhancements on performance cars, but today, turbochargers are becoming more regularly used to provide greater torque on small capacity engines. The advantages of using a turbo engine include improved fuel efficiency and reduced exhaust emissions.

The main components of a turbocharger are:

Compressor housing and wheel

Bearing Housing
Turbine wheel
Journal bearings
Thrust bearings
Turbine housing
Wastegate
Actuator

http://www.turbotechnics.com
 
You don't Have to read it, but since there were lots of questions about the mechanical parts of a car lately I thought let's clear a few things up.

I don't have the patience to read long essays about carstuff on the net...Don't have the patience for it. I mostly read everything here...
 
Well, howstuffworks articles are interesting, good illustrated and with animations. Just pointed out, that you don't have to do that work once again, unless you really want to :)
 
Jostyrostelli said:
Unburned fuel?? The (hot, fast traveling) air coming out of the combustionchamber and spools up the turbo.

Oh - I don't really understand much about how the car works. :roll:

What's a supercharger then? It just uses fuel to cram more air into the engine?
 
No its the same as a turbocharger, cept it uses a belt to the engine as it's drive, unlike the turbo witch uses the exaust fumes.
 
^ Right. Superchargers run off of the main serpentine belt, and thus it takes some of your engine's power to turn it. Thus, turbochargers are usually more effecient in making power.
 
but i hate superchargers cause it basically leeches the power it creates, cause its connected to the belt which is connected to the crank pulley and its not as efficient as a turbo

plus with a turbo you can "dual-spool" like in the turbo in the RX-7

what i mean is the engine spools the smaller turbo until there is enough pressure to spool the big turbo
 
mike_tseng said:
but i hate superchargers cause it basically leeches the power it creates, cause its connected to the belt which is connected to the crank pulley and its not as efficient as a turbo

:roll: Dude are you serious? There is no reason to "hate" a supercharger for the way it works. Do yourself a favour, and get a ride in a car/vehicle that is supercharged. Then post opinions like that.

Superchargers have a slight advantage in that there is no spooling time. When you mash the gas, it instantly force-feeds the cylinders, and there is no lag ("turbo lag"). Even a V8 engine can have turbo lag (the Ferarri F40, for one, was notorious for its lag).

Yes, they're not as efficient. But tell me, why do you have a Noble in your sig? It should be a Prius, or an Insight. Now THAT's being efficient.
 
no no i dont loath superchargers they are fantanstic cause of the no lag. but i just prefer having something that wont take away power
 
mike_tseng said:
no no i dont loath superchargers they are fantanstic cause of the no lag. but i just prefer having something that wont take away power

Okay, but I still get the feeling that you've never been in a properly supercharged vehicle and experienced it. Am I correct?
 
but TBH... when you floor a turbo car from idling revs in 1st gear... my car takes only about slightly less than a second for the turbo to come on... and if I keep shifting at red line till I reach the limiter... the turbo would be on all the time apart from when I'm shifting... I know the 1 second is important in drag racing (thats why they all use superchargers) but for daily driving and having fun... that 0.75 second wouldn't kill you... just hearing the BOV from the turbo makes it all worth it... I've been driving turbo cars for about 4 years and I'm still not bored of the turbine spooling and the BOV sound :D
 
andyhui01 said:
but TBH... when you floor a turbo car from idling revs in 1st gear... my car takes only about slightly less than a second for the turbo to come on... and if I keep shifting at red line till I reach the limiter... the turbo would be on all the time apart from when I'm shifting... I know the 1 second is important in drag racing (thats why they all use superchargers) but for daily driving and having fun... that 0.75 second wouldn't kill you... just hearing the BOV from the turbo makes it all worth it... I've been driving turbo cars for about 4 years and I'm still not bored of the turbine spooling and the BOV sound :D

I'm not advocating s/c's over turbos....but I am advocating appreciation for each one in what they do. I've been in several s/c's vehicles, and I have a lot of respect for a well-tuned s/c'ed vehicle.
 
I know... this debate on which is better can go on forever.. each has its own pros. and cons. ... we can sum up for drag, s/c's are generally better and on the track... turbo's have the advantage :D
 
I like 'em both... For me the noise is not a valid thing to debate, as both are pretty good in that area(good example of supercharger at work would be the SLR). Wish they would've made superchargers for NFSU2, it would've been awesome to supercharge the Mustang or Hummer :D

Thanks for this one, Josty. Didn't really give me any new info but confirmed that I was correct on this stuff.
 
s/c's don't leech power, per se. The net power produced by a supercharger always overcomes the loss.

If it would make you feel better, you could add a supercharger, and switch your water pump to an electric one. :p Power lost would be negligable after that.

That being said, turbo's take away bottom end torque. They impede the flow of air through the exhaust system, causing "lag" and killing the flow through the head below their operating range. If you have a power tuned 16v 4 pot, you get f.a below the engine comes on cam.
 
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