Is It Time To Put To Rest The Notion That A Turbocharged Car Is An Unreliable Car?

Agent009 submitted on 5/31/2012 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 12:28:47 PM

12 user comments | Views : 5,603 | Category: Misc News | Source: | SOURCE: content.usatoday.com

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The auto industry is turbocharging the sales of cars with turbochargers.

The little devices, which use otherwise wasted exhaust gases to help engines breath better, increasing performance and fuel economy, will show up in an estimated 3.2 million new vehicles this year, according to Honeywell Turbo Technologies. That's up from 2.2 million last year.

Passenger vehicles will account for 850,000 of those turbocharged engines, up 61% from last year.

 



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Is It Time To Put To Rest The Notion That A Turbocharged Car Is An Unreliable Car?

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Agent009

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User Comments

Yonder7

MB, Porsche, Audi, Nisan, Mitsubishi they all use work with Turbos and they do really good turbo cars, now even BMW is doing great Turbo cars so I do not see the issue. Is a tested and reliable technology..

— Yonder7 (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2012 1:03:09 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

85bmw745i

Funny, all 18 wheelers in the last 20+years are turbocharged, and run pressures upwards of 40psi and they are reliable, so why can't a 10-12psi system be. The diesels in HD pickup trucks for the last 10 years have all been turbocharged running about 30psi. BMW was making turbos in the 70's with the 2002Tii turbo and in the very early to mid 80's with the e23 745i. So, yes, turbos can be reliable, they are just trying to do too much right now with all of this technology when multiple small turbos would work fine (ever see how small the turbos were on the Mitsubishi 3000GT Turbo?)

— 85bmw745i (View Profile)

Posted on 6/1/2012 6:23:14 PM | | Votes: 2   

vdiv

Not all turbochargers are created equal. A large volume, low pressure turbo that say a Volvo would use may be more reliable that a high-pressure small turbo that requires a complex intercooler.

I still prefer normally aspirated engines and would take a small in-line/boxer 6 cylinder (say a 2.5L) any day to a turbocharged 4-cylinder.

— vdiv (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2012 5:06:05 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

GTR35

Not yet. BMW's turbo's are still pretty unreliable.

And to think that i voted for the BMW 335's as engine of the year back in 2007. Oh well. live and learn.

— GTR35 (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2012 6:21:30 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

Agent009

It would be interesting to see is there is data to support that. I would wager that the percentage of issues with turbo engines is about the same. Typically the turbo is not the fault it something like a fuel pump in a turbo motor. the same part that can fail in a normal motor.

— Agent009 (View Profile)

Posted on 6/1/2012 9:13:50 AM | | Votes: 0   

LexSucks

Ask the same question to someone from Europe? They've been using turbos for decades. A turbo 4 is the best engine setup imo. You have to go up t0 a N/A V8 to match some of the turbo 4s that are out there.

— LexSucks (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2012 10:43:10 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Steve

Most people aren't aware that you need to treat a turbo differently than a normally aspirated engine. A Turbocharger depends on a supply of oil at the right viscosity to be lubricated properly, and it spins at very high RPMs compared to other engine parts, so proper lubrication is essential for long life. Start-up includes giving the engine a minute to warm up, and being very gentle on the throttle to prevent the turbo from kicking in until the oil is up to normal operating temperature. Shut-down includes being gentle on the throttle so the turbo does not engage prior to shutting the engine down, and then idling for a little while to ensure the turbo is not spinning when you shut off the engine, thereby cutting off its supply of oil for lubrication.

Most people don't know this, so they end up spinning up the turbo while the oil is still cold and unable to properly lubricate the turbo, and they shut off their engine while the turbo is still spinning, so it ends up spinning without a supply of lubricating oil. Both of these shorten turbo life.

— Steve (View Profile)

Posted on 5/31/2012 11:20:01 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

85bmw745i

Very true, except that even at idle the turbo is spinning, just not very fast. the reason for idling before shutdown after freeway driving or heavy acceleration is to allow the turbo to cool down to normal operating temp before shutting down to prevent the heat from coking up the oil (crystalizing it). BMW had a turbo timer in their e23 745i, a blower fan with ducting to the turbo and piping to cool it after driving.

— 85bmw745i (View Profile)

Posted on 6/3/2012 3:42:44 PM | | Votes: 1   

vdiv

So you're saying the turbo's fine, it is the intercooling pump that likes to go for a smoke. Certainly more reliable then.

— vdiv (View Profile)

Posted on 6/1/2012 2:44:22 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

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