Be Green, get a turbo charged car!

[WatcherZero]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8266975.stm

Turbochargers, best known for making cars go faster, are taking a lead in the race to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to motor industry officials.

Turbochargers offer the fastest response to global warming at a lower cost per vehicle than any other technology

Alex Ismail, chief executive, Honeywell Transportation
"Turbo is no longer only for boy racers," insists Ulrich Hackenberg, Volkswagen Group board member in charge of research and development.

"It offers a new way of downsizing," he says, pointing to how turbo helps carmakers switch to smaller, less thirsty engines with lower emissions that nevertheless deliver "more power, more torque and more driving fun".

Ian Robertson, BMW Group board member in charge of sales and marketing, agrees.

"More often than not, we're increasing both the power and the acceleration capabilities, while at the same time we improve fuel economy and reduce CO2 emissions," he says.

"Turbo is playing a big part in it."

Faster, less emissions

Globally, just over one in four cars built is fitted with turbochargers, according to analysts Global Insight.

But by 2020, almost three in four cars built will be kitted out with turbo, it says.

At the heart of this development there are conflicting demands from drivers, according to Alex Ismail, chief executive of Honeywell Transportation, one of the world's leading turbo manufacturers.

"People want smaller cars and smaller engines, but they are not prepared to give up power and performance," he reasons.

"The only way to meet these conflicting demands is to turbocharge smaller engines," Mr Ismail says.

"With turbo added, carmakers can get away with fitting cars with smaller engines without their performance being reduced."

Over the next decade, in large part thanks to the growth in turbochargers, the average size of engines in the US will fall from 3.6 litres to 2.9 litres, according to Global Insight.

In China and Europe, where the average engine size is currently 1.8 litres, it is predicted to fall to 1.6 litres and 1.4 litres respectively.

As such, "turbochargers offer the fastest response to global warming at a lower cost per vehicle than any other technology", according to Mr Ismail.

"It can probably help the motor industry improve emissions by 35-39% for the total cost of $1,600 (£1,000) per vehicle," he claims.

Better turbos

In the US, "where they've been running big engines, big V8 engines", only 5% of cars have turbos, says Mr Ismail.

Ian Robertson, BMW Group
By 2020, 85% of cars in the US are expected to be turbocharged, Global Insight predicts.

In China, 60% of cars are expected to be fitted with turbo by 2020, up from 13% today, it forecasts.

Growth is set to be strong in Europe too, even though European manufacturers are already ahead of the pack.

Although few cars have turbo badges slapped onto them the way they used to during the 1980s, more than 50% of the vehicles built in Europe are fitted with turbochargers. This is predicted to rise to 85% over the next decade.

"Turbo has developed hugely since the 1980s," explains BMW's Mr Robertson.

"I can remember, back then, it was an interesting piece of kit, but clearly things like turbo lag [which is the delay between pressing the pedal and the turbo kicking in] were very visible," he says.

"But with twin-scroll turbos now, and triple-scroll turbo, you've effectively got minute turbos running inside a unit - there is an absolutely seamless performance.

"You'd never know there was a turbo there."

[jmancuso]

they still burn more oil and consume more fuel than the same engine without them.

[WatcherZero]

Yep, but they also produce more HP, meaning you can run a heavier car with a smaller engine.

[jmancuso]

but as they age, they tend to run into mechanical problems by having a motor produce more power than was intended. more blown head gaskets, valves, seals, etc...

[WatcherZero]

Anything which is more complicated and with more parts has more things that can go wrong. Thats why you wont catch me keeping electrical tools in my toolbox or using combi TV/VCR/DVD players.

[Butterfield]

...that nevertheless deliver "more power, more torque and more driving fun".

Oh great, so that means more cars tailgating and people driving carelessly at higher speeds. Surely as long as a car can do 0-60 in 10-15 seconds means that it's good enough for all normal road conditions and will get you places quick enough. I don't know why people want fast cars on our limited roads - it must be so frustrating!

[blahblah]

Yes, there are lots of small capacity low pressure turbo petrol engines coming on stream now - Renault, as an example has just replaced it's 1.4 petrol engine with a 1.2 turbo which has the same power, more torque, lower CO2, and is more efficient.

But what you really want if you want a really impressive eco car is the new Jaguar XJ



Which is expected to make production in the next few years with a 1.2 litre engine

Basically, a petrol engine is at its most efficient when it is at a constant RPM - so this petrol engine doesn't drive the wheels - it charges the battery along with regenerative braking and electric motors power the car.

[Æsahættr]

I just LOVE fuel-efficient small-displacement turbocharged engines. I definitely live in the wrong country for that, the only company that makes the cars with the engines I love are overprices Saabs, Volvos and Audis. I really hope America joins the trend of small turbocharged engines, and even better, small-displacement TURBO DIESELS.

The current car I drive, a 2.5L gasoline Subaru Forester, gets 29mpg--the turbodiesel equivalent gets 52mpg!