The idea behind turbo chargers is actually pretty simple. There are 2 turbines installed on the same axis. The first one is attached to the exhaust manifold (the hot side) and the other one to the intake manifold. It pumps air into the engine. So, how does all this work?

The exhaust manifold is actually designed to be pretty tight to increase the speed with wich the exhaust fumes exit the engine. This really help increase RPM. The hot fumes can rotate the turbo charger with up to 100 000 RPM. The bigger turbine on the other side of the axis is experiencing huge weight. No mechanical part will manage to stay intact at these RPM. That’s why the turbo is literally swimming into oil. That’s why turbo charged vehicles need regular oil replacement, otherwise their turbo will burn out! Some vehicles have turbo timers installed. These timers leave the engine working for 2 to 3 minutes after you turn it off. This is done, because the oil which helps cool down the turbo chargers needs to be cooled down itself. I certainly recommend you to drive very gentle the last 3 to 5 minutes after a long day of hard sports driving!

So, are turbo chargers the perfect engine boosters- power in exchange of nothing, just exhaust fumes.

Well, they certainly aren’t! Turbo chargers bring a lot of problems with that extra juice. The exhaust fumes that power them need to be pretty hot. That’s why you usually install a turbo charger near the engine. Here come the problems I mentioned- the turbo gets hotter and starts heating the cold side of the turbine which in return heats the air being pumped into the engine. Hot air equals less oxygen equals  less fuel equals less power. That’s why the better turbo kits have inter coolers.

They are used to cool down the air before it enters the engine. There are many ways to do this, for instance, WRC cars have intecooler systems which can use water for cooling. That’s one of the reasons why turbo charged cars have cool air flow slots on the hood. You might be thinking- “What’s the problem here, we’ll just put a huge radiator and everything is set!” No, that’s not the case. Where are you going to get an air pump big enough for the huge radiator? Another problem is the tight exhaust manifold. You need to install a blow off valve on the cold side of the turbo.

by Alexandre Prévot under CC-SA In some situations, the tubo charger will need 1-2 seconds to lower the RPM.

Normal vehicles don’t have any counter measures for that. However, WRX cars have specially designed injectors in their exhaust manifolds that inject fuel which helps the turbo charger spin, so when the driver hits the throttle again the turbo will respond quick enough. That’s why you might hear a poping sound when vehicles slow down on races. Actually, you are hearing the micro explosions that keep the turbo chargers spinning.

Imagine that- you miscalculate the precise moment to shift down.

What will happen? The engine will rev up quickly and the turbo charger will start pumping more and more air into it. That’s a bad moment for that. That’s why most turbo chargers come with a valve that controls the pressure. Normally, this valve operates with a spring mechanism or an electronic system. When the pressure rises, it acts like a blow off valve. This valve is used to limit the pressure which the turbo charger creates. In case the pressure reaches a higher value than the allowed, the valve opens up and lowers it by releasing the exhaust fumes that power up the turbine. It’s possible to put a tighter spring or reprogram the computer to respond at a higher pressure point. That way you will be able to squeeze extra HP out of the engine. That’s also the way that modern day turbo chips work- they just keep the valve closed for longer.
Check also bmw tuning with turbo kits!

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