Turbos (The Snail Looking Things)

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DreamWorks - Turbo

DreamWorks knew exactly what they were doing, naming the cartoon in the image above "Turbo", because apparently turbos look like snail shells. Since the inception of this blog, our catch phrase has been, "always remember to Turbo that engine!". Today, we are finally going to discuss what it means to slap a turbo onto an engine.

Different Sizes Of Turbos

Turbos, otherwise known as Turbochargers according to Wikipedia, is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases in an internal combustion engine. Let us break things down. Forced induction on the other hand, is a term most car people are familiar with, but for the non-car people, forced induction is where turbocharging or supercharging is used to increase the density of the intake air. Forget all the many jargons, all we need from that whole sentence is "increased air intake".

Spot the Turbo in the right corner of the engine bay

WHAT DOES A TURBO DO?

I hope you remember the formula we learned last week, on how engines work? To serve as a recap, it goes thus, "suck, squeeze, bang, blow". A turbo or turbocharger acts to enhance the 'suck' part of that formula. Another recap, the suck part of the formula involves the pistons going down, thereby creating a suction pressure for drawing air and fuel mixture into the combustion chamber of the engine. Now, a turbo's single purpose is to suck in more air, so it is delivered into the combustion chamber and from our basic chemistry, we learned that more air means more fire/combustion.

How a Turbo Works

The functioning of a Turbo is way more complicated but for a lay man, all you need to know is that the turbos increase the air needed to burn fuel in the engine and hence, more power. If you want to nerd out on turbos, meet me in the comments section or message me via any of the social media handles in my profile. Anyhoo, a supercharger works with the same principle as it also compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power. The supercharger is what gives Dodge vehicles like the Hellcat and Demon that signature high pitched whine which is created from the suction of air into the engine.

The big white box thing sitting on top of the engine is the Supercharger

Japanese imports are more turbo inclined while American muscle cars are synonymous with superchargers.

Disadvantages of Turbo Chargers in Nigeria

A friend of mine hit me up a while back, that his mum got a Chevrolet Cruze and he wanted a review because he found out it had a Turbo. I was just as excited as he was about having a Turbo charged vehicle in Nigeria but I also had to deliver some bad news. The main issue with Turbos in Nigeria is maintenance, because mechanical parts are bound to fail. If one does not live in Lagos or Abuja where there are skilled mechanics to either repair or replace a damaged Turbocharger, the car becomes a liability. Even when you do find a mechanic, it is quite costly because it is an uncommon problem and they believe you have money to afford a turbocharged car.

Chevrolet Cruze

That will be all for this episode Turbonerdz. Merry Christmas and safe journey to all the travelers. Ensure to use your seat belts and please do not drink and drive all in the name of having a jolly good time. Thank you for reading and Santa says, always remember to Turbo that engine!

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