AIR IN, POWER OUT
Most petrolheads will scoff at this question: what’s the difference between a naturally aspirated engine and a turbocharged engine?
Luckily, these petrolheads will already know all about engines and should, if asked, happily provide you with this answer (more or less):
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
An engine is naturally aspirated when it sucks air in through its air intake and air filter without ‘help’. Whereas, if a car is turbo–charged, extra air is forced into the combustion chamber by means of a turbine–driven combustion device, known as a turbo.
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Well, simply put, more air means more power and better performance.
Naturally aspirated (normal internal combustion) engines tend to be more reliable than forced induction engines (like turbo–chargers and super–chargers).
However, naturally aspirated engines are less efficient and generally come with a high fuel bill, compared to their air–hungry counterparts.
More and more car makers are opting for turbo–charged engines and leaving their naturally aspirated counterparts in the past. The reason for this is fuel economy. A smaller, turbo–charged engine can behave like a larger, naturally aspirated engine, delivering power when the driver needs it, but (because the turbo–charged engine is smaller) it uses less fuel than the larger naturally aspirated vehicle.
And, as the turbo only kicks in when required, drivers tend to use less power and less fuel under normal driving conditions (like their daily commute).
Drawbacks include premature wear of the engine — at the end of the day, it’s a smaller engine being forced to work harder — and ‘turbo lag’ (the delay between pressing the accelerator and feeling the power delivered to the engine).
So, when you next shop for a new car, you will know why the only options are small engines with the word ‘turbo’ pinned to their badge.