Today, many cars are supercharged for reasons of anti-pollution standards or simply for power. But how do you supercharge a car? What are turbochargers and superchargers? All the answers to your questions are in this sports article
Summary:
The principle of supercharging
The different types of overeating
The principle of supercharging
Supercharging a combustion engine, whether diesel or gasoline, simply means that you are feeding the engine with more air-gasoline mixture. To measure how powerful or not a supercharging system is, two main units of measurement are used: psi and bar. The psi or “pound per square inch” which means the pound-force per square inch, is mainly used in the United States. On road cars, its value varies between 0 and 20 psi. The bar, more used in Europe, is a unit that measures the pressure, its value rarely exceeds 3 bar for road cars.
Turbocharging is widely used by enthusiasts of modifications or by car preparers because they give a significant gain in power without having to change, or almost, any part of the engine.
The different types of overeating
The turbocharger:
The turbocharger, more commonly known as "turbo", is the most widely used supercharging system in the automotive sector in the world. It first appeared on a road car with the Saab 99 Turbo, in 1978. The principle of a turbo is rather simple, it increases the volume of air used in the engine block by forcing compressed air in the combustion chamber of the pistons. The air, coming from the air intake, is directed into the turbo, which, thanks to the engine's exhaust gases, will turn its turbine. Once this turbine is in action, it will compress the air, which will then be directed to the combustion chambers. The air-petrol mixture being thus more oxygenated, the explosions generated by the pistons will be stronger and will give the engine more power.
The only defect of this supercharging system, lies in the fact that, to function, the turbo needs exhaust gases, except, at a low engine speed, the exhaust gases are less voluminous and the turbo will work less well . Thus, there is a loss of power at a low engine speed, unlike the compressor, which adapts to its engine speed.
There are engines that are called biturbo, which simply means that they have two turbochargers instead of one, which allows the engine to be better balanced for a slightly heavier weight. The first car to receive two turbos was the 1981 Maserati Biturbo.
The turbocharger is widely used today not for sporting reasons but rather for ecological reasons. Indeed, a diesel car with a turbocharged engine which has the same power as an atmospheric diesel car will pollute less because part of its power comes from the turbo, which does not pollute, and not from the engine. So it has better performance. Thus, by using a small engine with a smaller displacement that we equip with a turbo, we will obtain the same power as an atmospheric engine which pollutes more.
The mechanical compressor:
Older, the mechanical compressor does not use exhaust gases and a turbine to operate but a chain or a belt directly connected to the engine crankshaft. This is how it is supplied with motive power and can compress the air that enters the engine via the air intake. Thus, the engine is supplied with a greater quantity of oxygen, allowing it to burn more gasoline and therefore, to operate more efficiently, thus increasing the maximum power. Namely that the compressor is little used in Europe, but is enormously in the United States.
The Twincharger
Mainly used in motorsport, the twincharger is a very special and very rare system on road cars: it is the combination of a turbocharger and a compressor on the same engine. This system is very rare because it is very difficult to combine these two supercharging systems and make them work together correctly. The first engine using a twincharger was the Lancia Delta S4, a homologation series for the S4 that raced in Group B rallying. Today, few brands produce them, among them, Volkswagen and Volvo produce twinchargers for example. The advantage of the combination of the two is that you do not suffer a loss of power regardless of the engine speed.
Today, many cars are supercharged for reasons of anti-pollution standards or simply for power. But how do you supercharge a car? What are turbochargers and superchargers? All the answers to your questions are in this sports article
Summary:
The principle of supercharging
The different types of overeating
The principle of supercharging
Supercharging a combustion engine, whether diesel or gasoline, simply means that you are feeding the engine with more air-gasoline mixture. To measure how powerful or not a supercharging system is, two main units of measurement are used: psi and bar. The psi or “pound per square inch” which means the pound-force per square inch, is mainly used in the United States. On road cars, its value varies between 0 and 20 psi. The bar, more used in Europe, is a unit that measures the pressure, its value rarely exceeds 3 bar for road cars.
Turbocharging is widely used by enthusiasts of modifications or by car preparers because they give a significant gain in power without having to change, or almost, any part of the engine.
The different types of overeating
The turbocharger:
The turbocharger, more commonly known as "turbo", is the most widely used supercharging system in the automotive sector in the world. It first appeared on a road car with the Saab 99 Turbo, in 1978. The principle of a turbo is rather simple, it increases the volume of air used in the engine block by forcing compressed air in the combustion chamber of the pistons. The air, coming from the air intake, is directed into the turbo, which, thanks to the engine's exhaust gases, will turn its turbine. Once this turbine is in action, it will compress the air, which will then be directed to the combustion chambers. The air-petrol mixture being thus more oxygenated, the explosions generated by the pistons will be stronger and will give the engine more power.
The only defect of this supercharging system, lies in the fact that, to function, the turbo needs exhaust gases, except, at a low engine speed, the exhaust gases are less voluminous and the turbo will work less well . Thus, there is a loss of power at a low engine speed, unlike the compressor, which adapts to its engine speed.
There are engines that are called biturbo, which simply means that they have two turbochargers instead of one, which allows the engine to be better balanced for a slightly heavier weight. The first car to receive two turbos was the 1981 Maserati Biturbo.
The turbocharger is widely used today not for sporting reasons but rather for ecological reasons. Indeed, a diesel car with a turbocharged engine which has the same power as an atmospheric diesel car will pollute less because part of its power comes from the turbo, which does not pollute, and not from the engine. So it has better performance. Thus, by using a small engine with a smaller displacement that we equip with a turbo, we will obtain the same power as an atmospheric engine which pollutes more.
The mechanical compressor:
Older, the mechanical compressor does not use exhaust gases and a turbine to operate but a chain or a belt directly connected to the engine crankshaft. This is how it is supplied with motive power and can compress the air that enters the engine via the air intake. Thus, the engine is supplied with a greater quantity of oxygen, allowing it to burn more gasoline and therefore, to operate more efficiently, thus increasing the maximum power. Namely that the compressor is little used in Europe, but is enormously in the United States.
The Twincharger
Mainly used in motorsport, the twincharger is a very special and very rare system on road cars: it is the combination of a turbocharger and a compressor on the same engine. This system is very rare because it is very difficult to combine these two supercharging systems and make them work together correctly. The first engine using a twincharger was the Lancia Delta S4, a homologation series for the S4 that raced in Group B rallying. Today, few brands produce them, among them, Volkswagen and Volvo produce twinchargers for example. The advantage of the combination of the two is that you do not suffer a loss of power regardless of the engine speed.
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