MBK89 Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 This article aims to answer most common questions about turbochargers and how they work.What Is a Turbocharger?As I explained in my article All About Intakes, internal combustion engines "breathe". Performance air intakes allow more air to get into the engine, and faster.Turbochargers take this to the next level. They act effectively as an air pump. Rather than letting air flow in more easily as with a performance air filter, turbochargers physically force air in.How Is a Turbocharger Powered?Often people mistake turbochargers for "superchargers". A turbocharger is powered from the cars exhaust, where as a supercharger is powered by the engine itself.The exhaust inlet of a turbo charger receives exhaust air from the engine, which spins a fan-like wheel. This in turn sucks air in at a high compression, and passes it into the engine.What About Intercoolers?Often the words "turbocharger" and "intercooler" come together. An intercooler is basically a device which cools down the air that has come out of the turbocharger, before it is put in the engine. This allows for a higher density of air. To get technical, decrease in air intake temperature provides a denser intake charge to the engine and allows more air and fuel to be combusted per engine cycle, increasing the output of the engine.As Simple As That?The basic principal behind turbocharging is fairly simple, but a turbocharger is a very complex piece of machinery. Not only must the components within the turbocharger itself be precisely coordinated, but the turbocharger and the engine it services must also be exactly matched. If they're not, engine inefficiency and even damage can be the results.I hope this cleared up any questions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matej Posted May 1, 2010 Share Posted May 1, 2010 "All About Turbo" is kinda optimistic thread name considering the amount of info it has. But it is a nice article for those that know nothing about it. Would be a good thread to post links to some more detailed info. There are lot of books that you can buy if you want to know more about forced induction.http://store.brooklandsbooks.com/product516.htmlheard a good things about this onehttp://store.brooklandsbooks.com/product289.htmlthis one I've bought together with few others from brooklands...has a turbo b18c1 (same as our b18c4) producing 825hp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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