I rode in a friend’s Ferrari (1978 308) recently and while I love how it sounds… I often can not get enough of the turbocharged sound. So if you love the sound of turbochargers doing work here you go:
Link for you RSS peeps.
It may be an older video of ours, but I love it and cannot get enough.
Update: Apparently I decided to post this exactly two years after uploading it to YouTube. Odd.
One thing that I’ve noticed a lot is that rally cars seem to use turbochargers almost exclusively over their supercharger counterparts.
I have gone into detail on turbochargers in the past on how they work, and why they’re used to increase the amount of power an engine puts out. What is different about a supercharger? Well, both compress the intake air to increase power, but the supercharger’s compressor is driven mechanically (usually a belt off the crankshaft) instead of by the energy in the exhuast gas. So instead of reducing the efficiency of the engine by increasing exhaust pressure, energy is taken directly from the engine to increase power.
There are some plus sides to this, mainly no lag in waiting for the compressor to spin up. The compressor speed is directly related to the engine speed. This predictability makes design simpler, and the engine’s power response much more consistent.
However, ultimately a turbocharger setup can make more power with a similar amount of weight added to the car. The pressure increases non-linearly with engine speed, and can hit a high pressure before the supercharger would.
Each setup has it’s pros and cons, but to me, it seems like turbochargers are winning in popularity by a long shot. I know Charles and I both prefer turbochargers, and own turbocharged cars, mainly for the power efficiency and fun torque curve. Which do you prefer, turbochargers, superchargers, or even normally aspirated, and why?
Powered by WordPress | Blue Weed by Blog Oh! Blog | Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS). | 