Why don't they put turbos on more vehicles?

[ClutchDisc]

Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Originally Posted By: ClutchDisc
Originally Posted By: hypervish
Not everyone like's or wants a turbo.

Agreed. I don't want a turbo. I'd rather have a naturally aspirated engine any day.


Why?
Turbo has very little drawbacks.
I mean yes more fuel spent, but it makes more power, and you don't have to have an engine twice the size to do it.

I don't see the need. And just because i'd rather not have it. I'll take a bigger engine over a smaller engine with a turbo.

 

[aquariuscsm]

If you ever get the chance to drive a twin turbo Z,3000GT,Supra,or RX7,you'll feel what a real turbocharged car feels like!! INSANE power!! My friend's twin turbo Z will break the rear tires loose and go sideways in 5th gear while going down the highway at over 140mph. Scary is an understatement!

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Diesels almost need turbocharging in order to have performance similar to a gasoline engine. On the other hand, you wouldn't really put a turbo in an economy car because it costs a lot more. They are a heck of a lot of fun, had a Chrysler 2.2 Turbo from the 80's years ago. Failure can be pretty instant, catastrophic and fatal for the engine. It doesn't slowly fall apart like a regular car. Also the Ford Taurus SHO has ecoboost and it's the most expensive model. Twin turbo's I believe.

The engine itself doesn't die, but the turbo can go out pretty catastrophically. A dead turbo usually only needs a rebuild.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: Blueskies123
Have you checked the cost of replacing a turbo? Have you checked the average life expectancy of a turbo charger?



That's the old way of thinking. They're quite reliable now.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: greenjp
Originally Posted By: Blueskies123
Have you checked the cost of replacing a turbo? Have you checked the average life expectancy of a turbo charger?

Do tell. I'm 10+ years and 185k miles into my turbo Saab and have no experience with this

When I bought my Saab back in 2003 a turbo gas engine was a rarity of sorts, pretty much just Saab, Volvo, and some performance models from the likes of Subaru (nearly all diesels have been turbo for decades). Nowadays there's a turbo option for nearly every model. Saab was ahead of their time RIP.

jeff

Huh? There have been lots of turbos over the years in passenger cars. There were all the Diamond Star cars like the Mitsubishi Eclipse. A lot of Buicks had been turbocharged since the 1980s. There were the notorious Chrysler turbocharged cars of the 80s. Heck - I remember the Renault Fuego Turbo and the Chevy Sprint Turbo made by Suzuki. The Ford Thunderbird Turbo won several awards in the late 80s.

Or the craziest was maybe the GMC Syclone.

Saab was not necessarily ahead of its time. Nearly all other carmakers tried turbos in some form or another but often bailed on them. They just happened to stick with a technology that had inherent reliability issues until water cooling made it more reliable.

 

[bigjl]

Originally Posted By: Blueskies123
Have you checked the cost of replacing a turbo? Have you checked the average life expectancy of a turbo charger?


With proper servicing and some care a turbo will last the life of the engine.

Don't use a lot of boost when the engine/oil is cold.

Give the engine a bit of time when you reach your destination to allow the oil to circulate and cool the turbo particulsrly if the vehicle has just been driven hard.

The only person i know that has changed a turbo recently was a mate that bought a "bargain" Mitsubishi L200 double cab, the dealer out on a turbo they had sitting around but don't think they cleaned out the oil pipes to the turbo.

Result yet snother turbo.

Mate had it fixed properly then got rid.

He got a phone call two weeks after he sold it, the vehicle had been clocked by over 120k miles and was likely an abused builders hack.

But that is the only person i know that has had issues.

We did used to go through the odd turbo in the mk1 Zafira diesels with a 2.0dti lump with an sutobox and 100bhp!

They drive ok but many drove them flat out to calls then just switched them off snd turbos would go every 40/50k miles according to a fitter i spoke to.

 

[bigjl]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Diesels almost need turbocharging in order to have performance similar to a gasoline engine. On the other hand, you wouldn't really put a turbo in an economy car because it costs a lot more. They are a heck of a lot of fun, had a Chrysler 2.2 Turbo from the 80's years ago. Failure can be pretty instant, catastrophic and fatal for the engine. It doesn't slowly fall apart like a regular car. Also the Ford Taurus SHO has ecoboost and it's the most expensive model. Twin turbo's I believe.


There is a 1.0 turbo charged engine in the Focus and Fiesta in Europe. Sold under the Ecoboost name.

The more powerful version has 125bhp i believe and performed better than the old 1.6 in side by side tests on a track.

It also is reputed to be very economical

Not all turbo charged vehicles are the same

 

[bladecutter]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
LOL, my car would be like 600HP with a hairdryer on it and minimum boost. I can't even imagine how insane that would be.....


Yes, but if you had a hairdryer attached to your intake and exhaust systems, you would only need a motor about 2/3 of the size of your current one, and not only would you still be making the same power you currently do, but you would have that insanity you were just talking about, if you were to turn up the boost a bit over the minimum.

Not that I'm an advocate of turbos, but they are nice when they are in a well sorted package.

BC.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Bladecutter
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
LOL, my car would be like 600HP with a hairdryer on it and minimum boost. I can't even imagine how insane that would be.....


Yes, but if you had a hairdryer attached to your intake and exhaust systems, you would only need a motor about 2/3 of the size of your current one, and not only would you still be making the same power you currently do, but you would have that insanity you were just talking about, if you were to turn up the boost a bit over the minimum.

Not that I'm an advocate of turbos, but they are nice when they are in a well sorted package.

BC.


Yup, hence the current F10 M5

 

[bigjl]

If you want to see hilarious 80s turbo fun.

Google Renault 5 GT Turbo, the fwd version not the rwd rally car.

From memory about 120bhp from a 1.4 engine.

Though some people put the bigger 1721cc lump in for 200bhp plus.

A Renault 5 weighs about as much as a paperbag. Think in the region of 7/800kgs or1500/1600 lbs.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: bigjl
If you want to see hilarious 80s turbo fun.

Google Renault 5 GT Turbo, the fwd version not the rwd rally car.

From memory about 120bhp from a 1.4 engine.

Though some people put the bigger 1721cc lump in for 200bhp plus.

A Renault 5 weighs about as much as a paperbag. Think in the region of 7/800kgs or1500/1600 lbs.



The Ford RS200 Cosworth was apparently INSANE.

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Modern turbo stuff is dull, you don't get to enjoy turbo lag!

The stuff from the 80's and 90's was more fun. Rev it up, come on power, come on power, than you go like [censored]! LOL.


Totally agree!!! My old '04 SRT-4, while not having a huge turbo, did have a little turbo lag. While it may be a negative from a performance standpoint, the feeling I got when 20 PSI kicked in and threw me back in my seat was awesome

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL

LOL, my car would be like 600HP with a hairdryer on it and minimum boost. I can't even imagine how insane that would be.....


That's the perfect excuse! You need a turbo for proper mental health upkeep. Will your medical insurance cover it?

"I couldn't imagine what my car would be like with a turbo setup. I felt that my mind was limited. Now that I have turbo everything has changed."

Your car might be insane, but you won't be. It's win-win.

 

[sciphi]

Folks drive them like yahoos. Then they end up with higher overall costs between using more fuel and a needless repair on the turbo and its associated plumbing when they go cheap on the oil changes.

I really like having the torque of a turbo. I also really like having a 1.4l engine when the turbo's not needed. The key is to drive halfway sanely and make sure the car's idled a little bit before shutting it down.

Oh, and change the oil regularly!

 

[Eddie]

I have owned modern turbo vehicles and think it is the only way at present to have one engine that you can drive for economy or for performance. Most modern turbos used in daily drivers seem to have no problems getting 150,000 miles without incident.

 

[spasm3]

They are putting more turbochargers on cars. Even Kia and Hyundai offer turbo models!

 

[Trinh]

Originally Posted By: Number21

Not everyone doesn't want a turbo. Why not offer the option? Should be just like A/C.

That (first) sentence is kind of nonsensical.

The first reason is cost, plain and simple, the demand doesn't justify the cost. If it did, every manufacturer would have turbos on their cars. Performance is also not the first criterion that buyers look at whe purchasing cars. Cost, reliability, and fuel efficiency, sure. People are cheap.

Their are PLENTY of turboed cars out there.

 

[Mykl]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
Folks drive them like yahoos. Then they end up with higher overall costs between using more fuel and a needless repair on the turbo and its associated plumbing when they go cheap on the oil changes.

I really like having the torque of a turbo. I also really like having a 1.4l engine when the turbo's not needed. The key is to drive halfway sanely and make sure the car's idled a little bit before shutting it down.

Oh, and change the oil regularly!


I drive like a yahoo and get very reasonable mileage. Usually about 27 on average for a tank, combined city and highway, with my foot on the floor at every opportunity.

Also, concerning reliability, the only people I ever hear of who burn out turbos are the guys who turn up the boost. Even then if you're running a tune from an established shop you're usually good.

 

[artificialist]

Many people have a negative view of turbos because they knew of someone with a trouble prone 1980s turbo car.

 

[hypervish]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Number21
Hmmm...I didn't realize the ecoboost was turbocharged, but I guess that's more of an economy thing and not a performance thing.

Originally Posted By: hypervish
Not everyone like's or wants a turbo.

Not everyone doesn't want a turbo. Why not offer the option? Should be just like A/C.


It is certainly a performance thing too. Go test drive one

My Audi had a turbo. Not a fan!