When it comes to performance cars or increasing horsepower, turbochargers can be a great investment. A good turbocharger will give you the performance boost without having to increase engine capacity or the number of cylinders. The smaller the engine the lower your emissions will be.
Everything nowadays hasits advantages and disadvantages. Turbochargers might give turn heads when you step on the gas, but the extra power will only be delivered after a second or so. There will be a lag. There is also a boost threshold, only after you pass this threshold will the boost kick in.
Although this can be quite annoying for some, this is done to protect the turbo and the engine. When the turbo isn’t under full load, the pressure is usually released so when you take your foot off you need to put it back in full load again. This load builds up is what we feel is the lag.
Nowadays turbochargers are preferred over big capacity engines like V8s. Below are the different types of turbochargers you can find.
Single Turbo
This is the most common type of turbocharger in the market. There are quite a few brands around Australia with some good local ones too. Try to shop from Australian brands to support local businesses.
Now back to the topic at hand,
The single turbo is relatively simple and therefore it is also the cheapest type of turbocharger in the market. Since it’s a single turbo the rev range isn’t as much when compared to other types.
Sequential Turbo
A sequential turbo is when a large turbo and a low small one is fitted with each other. A small turbo reduces the lag while a big turbo gives a high rev range. This is actually the ideal setup but the downside to this is that the engine set up will be quite heavy, expensive and complex.
VGT Turbo
A VGT or Variable Geometry Turbo is one of the most complex and expensive turbo solutions in the market. This is quite popular with diesel engines. In terms of design, a VGT turbo has rings that are aerodynamically shaped and placed inside the turbine housing. These rings can modify their area-to-radius ratio giving a wide rev range with less lag.
When the engine is at low revs, the ratio decreases which creates a higher pressure and velocity. At high revs, the area-to-radius increases which let in more air giving a wide boost.
Electric Turbo
This is a rather new introduction to the world of turbochargers. An electric turbo is named such because it has an electric compressor. The lag is reduced, and this electric compressor gives a quick boost when you step on the gas.
The downside is that it is complex and very expensive.
To pick the type of turbocharger, consult a professional and tell him your goals and needs. Remember to always pick the turbo to match your needs so that you won’t be spending unnecessarily.
