On Forced Induction (Turbo/Supercharging)

07 Dec 2014

The new Mercedes 4-cyl turbo is quite a masterpiece. I’ve been really impressed with what they have done in the range.

The recipe? Take a 2-liter engine, stick on a twin scroll turbo and have the engine block function as the headers, so you have little piping/kinks to block exhaust flow. Then run it all through an air-to-water intercooler (far better than air-to-air).

The result? An engine with little to no turbo lag, huge available power (CLA45 AMG anyone?) and the ability to make even an economy car a real hoot.

This recipe seems to be making its way across the range of all manufacturers, and for good reason. Better emissions, better power-per-liter, more smiles and lower cost.

What will be interesting is when we get better power density for batteries/capacitors and can augment these engines with electric power. Audi will be using an electric-based forced induction in the SQ7, which is probably one of the best uses of hybrid power imho. Power when you want it and not when you don’t == even better.

What an exciting time for being a car fan!