Garrett Turbo

Vikram Kumar asked:


Speed and power are two of the most highly desirable qualities in racing cars and high-performance sports cars. More power, more speed, more excitement, more danger seems to be the motto of car owners who install a turbocharger and a turbo kit in the engines of their most prized earthly possession. And why not? Cars are as much a personal statement of who you are and what you stand for as clothes and personal adornments do. If a turbocharger installed in your engine will further stress the point then purchasing a turbo kit is the best decision you will ever make in your automotive career.

But before embarking on the very important and radical decision to purchase a turbo kit, which gives you the right to boast that your car has a very expensive turbocharger, educate yourself about the pros and cons of these high-tech thingamajigs. If you think that a turbocharger can enhance your macho image (well, it does), then you had better brace yourself for the physical and financial demands the purchase and installation of a turbo kit requires from anybody.

Technically speaking, a turbocharger is a turbine-driven forced induction compressor powered by pressure from the engine’s exhaust system, to quote the ever-reliable Wikipedia. If that is still too technical a definition for the common layman, a turbocharger simply converts a waste product, in this case exhaust or air, into more horsepower and therefore more speed. Think of it as recycling with a powerful purpose; if you are an environmentalist who likes hard and fast drives, a turbo kit would satisfy both your likings. A turbo kit, on the other hand, is composed of the turbocharger itself, the exhaust manifold, the wastegate and blow-off valve, the oil supply and the intercooler. But I digress. The pros of having a turbocharger installed include attaining more power (and again, more speed like the Batmobile or the Knight Rider) with the same engine volume. Also, a pre-configured turbo kit is smaller and lighter that other forced induction systems like a supercharger and it is easier to install. Even if you are not using your turbocharged car for its speed, you can still benefit from better gas mileage. Now, the environmentalist in you would love this feature. However, the cons in a turbocharged car include over-steering and under-steering, as well as wheel spin; these are factors in most fatal car accidents. A turbo kit can be very expensive, too. This is not even taking in the cost of maintenance as extensive upgrades are often necessary. Furthermore, the complexity of the technology can cause do-it-yourself headaches. Besides, you need a dyno machine to make sure that everything is working perfectly. Thus, taking on a DIY turbo project is best left to experts.

Fortunately for us automotive idiots, there is Vivid Racing to tell us about turbochargers and turbo kits. It is a company in Chandler, Arizona famous for its aftermarket modifications to cars, with services such as exterior and interior works, painting jobs, electronic car products, engine parts and a whole line of turbochargers and turbo kits for almost every car make and model imaginable, among other products and services. Vivid Racing can take care of finding the right turbo kit for your car, its installation in your car (with dyno testing) and the maintenance necessary to keep the turbocharger in tiptop shape.



Tyson

BoostTown.com asked:


This a article from BoostTown.com

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The turbo (also known as turbocharger) has been around for many years, almost as long as the internal combustion engine itself. A turbocharger, has two wheels on it. One is called the turbine and this sits in the exhaust system. The exhaust gas leaving the engine causes the turbine and the shaft fixed to it, to spin.

On the other hand of the shaft is the impellor, or compressor wheel. This pulls air in and the forces into the engine. For this to work effectively, the impellor wheel typically spins at 120,000 – 150,000 RPM (Revolutions Per Minute).

Many kinds of bearings used at these high rotational speeds need lubrication and cooling systems. The turbocharger’s lubrication system can be an isolated system or receive oil from the engine’s oil supply. For cooling the lubrication system may double as the cooling system, separate coolant may be pumped through the center housing from an outside source such as the engine coolant system, or the turbine may be air cooled. An oil lubrication and water cooling system using engine oil and engine coolant are commonplace in automotive applications. Special kinds of bearings, e.g. foil bearings, can reduce or eliminate the need for lubrication and reduce the cooling requirement.

Turbos rely on the flow of the exhaust gas through the turbine housing, they only start to spin after ignition has taken place and so there is a delay between opening the throttle and the turbo spinning and producing boost. This is known as ‘turbo lag’ and is considered to be a downside compared to superchargers.

The turbine and impeller are each contained within their own housing on opposite sides. These housings collect and direct the gas flow. The size and shape can dictate some performance characteristics of the overall turbocharger. The area of the cone to radius from center hub is expressed as a ratio (AR, A/R, or A:R). Often the same basic turbocharger assembly will be available from the manufacturer with multiple AR choices for the turbine housing and sometimes the compressor cover as well. This allows the designer of the engine system to tailor the compromises between performance, response, and efficiency to application or preference.