Many modern vehicles today are available with turbo chargers. While in the past the use of turbo chargers was mainly suited to either heavy load vehicles or performance vehicles, they have since become more of a common place in normal commuter vehicles.
To explain the advantages to a turbo charger equipped vehicle you must first understand what it is that a turbo charger actually is and does.
In essence a centrifugal compressor which draws its power from a turbine located in the exhaust stream. As exhaust gasses pass through this turbine it rotates the impeller at a high rate of speed basically turning it into a mechanical air pump. This air pump then forces the compressed air into the engine intake increasing the volume of air being sent through the system resulting in a positive boost condition allowing the vehicle to operate beyond the normal operating conditions of the engine itself. The increased air pressure in the system forces more air into the combustion chambers resulting in more power being available to the wheels when driving.
Turbo chargers inherently only create boost above a threshold where the engine is running at a increased speed forcing more exhaust gasses through the exhaust system making the impeller turn quicker, therefore they are well suited to daily driving as when the vehicle is at the lower rpm ranges the turbo is not adding boost but sitting in a holding pattern waiting to release power on acceleration.
A differs from a super charger in its design because the turbo is powered by the vehicles exhaust system whereas a supercharger is driven by a drive belt and pulley using available engine power to turn the supercharger. This makes the turbo charger more efficient in modern vehicles as you do not have to use horsepower to power the unit.
Turbo chargers, like any other automotive part, can be damaged or wear out over time resulting in lack of performance. Also since are oiled by the vehicles oil system they can develop a problem with internal seals going bad, this condition has the added downside of pulling thee oil from the sump of the engine and injecting it into the exhaust system so in effect it can cause damage to your engine because of lack of oil if the turbo seals become faulty.
Turbo chargers can provide a vast increase in performance and available power in day to day driving. They are no longer only suited to just commercial or diesel applications but more towards the common petrol/gasoline engines as well. The widespread use is more of a common place now than it has ever been because of the dependability and increased performance of the new technologies. Turbo chargers are here to stay for the foreseeable future and have many benefits that come with them.
