What is a turbo charged engine ?
It is a turbine, a special kind of fan, driven by pressure from the exhaust gases, that blows air into the engine at higher pressure than it would get drawing it straight from the atmosphere. This is done for a variety of reasons…sometimes for fuel efficiency, sometimes to maintain performance at high elevations (or altitudes), but usually it’s done to make a car fast. It is similar to a supercharger that does the same thing, but instead of being driven by the exhaust, it is driven by a belt that is driven from the engine crank (just like the AC, power steering, and alternator). Turbos are generally slightly more fuel efficient than superchargers, but a supercharger’s pressure increases pretty much in a straight line as the RPMs increase, while a turbo makes no pressure when the engine is turning really slow, and it shoots up really quick when the engine rpms reach a certain point (which is why you’ll hear people talk about being “on boost” or “off boost”).
A turbocharged engine in a forced-induction engine where the exhaust gases pressures are used to run a turbine, which is connected to a compressor turbine by an axle and the job of the compressor turbine is to basically compress ambient air at a higher pressure and deliver the air to the engine which increases the engine’s detonation power and thus, more power.
A turbocharger consists of a turbine and a compressor linked by a shared axle. The turbine inlet receives exhaust gases from the engine causing the turbine wheel to rotate. This rotation drives the compressor, compressing ambient air and delivering it, in some instances, to an intercooler which cools the air (hot air will cause a loss in power gained) then the air is delivered to the air intake manifold of the engine at colder and higher pressure, resulting in a greater amount of the air entering the cylinder. The objective of a turbocharger is the same as a supercharger; to improve upon the size-to-output efficiency of an engine by solving one of its cardinal limitations. A naturally aspirated automobile engine uses only the downward stroke of a piston to create an area of low pressure in order to draw air into the cylinder through the intake valves. Because the pressure in the cylinder cannot go below 0 psi (vacuum), and because of the relatively constant pressure of the atmosphere (
