Nowadays , there are many diesel vehicles/cars that come with an enhanced feature known as turbo charged engine/Turbo intercooler. The turbocharger feature definetely improves the performance of the vehicle in a significant way. Let us examine this feature in a little more detail today.
The name turbo charger refers to a turbine which sucks in adequate amount of air to enable efficent combustion of the fuel in the vehicle.The concept behind the need for a turbo charger is simple. When your car needs to accelerate or go uphill, it needs to burn more fuel to generate the required power . Usually the vehicle would have the sufficent fuel available in the tank. But Fuel needs adequate Air to burn and any acceleration request demands an adequate amount of fuel and air mixture to enable complete burning . In the vehicles that do not have a turbocharger, the acceleration demand is met only once the fuel gets the required amount of air . This leads to a acceleration lag or a power generation lag in the vehicle.While vehicles equipped with tubo chargers would not experience this noticeable lag as the turbo charger turbine provides the required boost of air by sucking in more air needed for the combustion of the fuel.
Turbo charger
Principle . The turbo charger is a mechanical device that is actually a turbine which sucks in air. Now comes the question as to how does the Turbine turn to suck in air. We all know that the diesel engine produces exhaust fumes/ gases after the burning of diesel. In a turbo charged engine, this exhaust gas is redirected on one side of the turbine path. The exhaust gas energy spins the turbine which in turn sucks in more air from the atmosphere . As the engine starts, it continuously produces exhaust gas that is used to propel the turbine . Thus the turbo charger re uses part of the energy to enable adequate supply of air. Note that the intake paths and the exhaust paths do not mix in the turbo charger mechanism .
Petrol cars do not use a turbo charger concept as the petrol engines directly use a air fuel mixture that is sent and burnt inside the cylinder. Also the request of acceleration( Pressing the accelerator pedal) would directly translate to a higher amount of air fuel mixture sent into the cylinder.In Diesel cars, only air is sent into the cylinder first. Once the air is compressed , only then the Diesel is injected. Hence the turbo charger inherently increases the amount of air that goes into the cylinder (more dense air) that is needed for the combustion in diesel engines.
An engine or a vehicle with a turbo charger would usually be a little costlier than the model without a turbo. When you decide to buy your car. If you are a power freak or you want your car to accelerate at will, make sure your engine is equipped with a turbo charger.Race cars usually have 2 -4 turbochargers fitted in the engine.The Bugatti Veyron comes with 4 turbo chargers.
Cars without turbo charger would ususally take more time to accelerate and deliver power as they need some time to get an adequate supply of air to burn the fuel. For all the Diesel cars, it is usually advisable to go for models that have a turbo charger unless you are ready to accept a car that is sluggish in responding to your acceleration needs. To practically test the turbo charger’s effectiveness, Drive the Diesel Indica taxi and then drive an Indica equipped with a turbo. You can feel a world of difference in the performance.
Some examples of Indian cars with turbo chargers are namely, Ford Ikon Tdci(turbo diesel common rail) , Indica/ Indigo Tdi (tubo diesel injection), Swift Vdi etc.
