turbo and vehicle

ilikesound

i know this is off topic, but i was wondering what the advantages of sticking a turbo in a car. would gas mileage suffer? would there be a need for a better alternator? would it be worth it? how much are they, etc. i know a lot of you guys know a lot about cars themselves and not just the electronics that go into them.
thanks

PolkThug

The price of a turbo setup depends on what kind of car you have. The advantage of a turbo is that your vehicle's exhaust is used to spin the turbo (aka 'free power'), which in turn, forces more air into your engine. If you have more air, then you can add more fuel and make more horsepower.

Things to consider:
-How much boost can your stock engine take?
-Is your fuel system adequate?

ilikesound

well i have an accord v6 ex sedan, with a magnaflow exhaust and an aem v2 intake. will the intake still help if i add the turbo? i do have a fuel system. whether it is good, per se, i know not. how can i find out how much boost it can handle, and if my fuel system is adequate?

Jstas

A turbo charger will not improve gas mileage. The whole point is to add more air to the combustion process. An engine is an air pump. The more air you move through that pump, the more power you will make. A turbo forces the engine to use more air by pressurizing the combustion chamber to a level higher than 1 atmosphere of pressure. It is usually measured in PSI and each PSI point is a fraction of one atmosphere. I think 16 PSI is equal to 1 BAR so 16 PSI of boost is basically doubling ambient air pressure.

If your fuel curve is tuned for the air capacity that the engine can suck down on its own then, if you double the air capacity in the engine by forcing more air in and pressurizing the combustion chamber, to maintain your optimum air/fuel ratio, you would need to effectively double the amount of fuel your injectors are feeding the engine.

If you are doubling air pressure and doubling fuel pressure, how on God's green earth would your Honda get better gas mileage from a turbocharger setup? To make power, you need 3 things, air, fuel and spark. To make more power, you need more air, more fuel and more spark. If your car gets 30 MPG with 150 horses on a standard, naturally-aspirated tune, provided nothing else changes except engine power levels from a turbo charger, you will only hurt your mileage because you will need to use twice as much fuel to make 300 horsepower. That's an over-simplification but hopefully you get the idea.

The best way to improve fuel mileage is not to up the performance level of the engine but rather to drop weight. Unsprung weight dropped is much better than suspended weight dropped. In other words, get lighter wheels and tires, lighter control arms and brakes and anything that is anchored to something that sits under the spring. Even replacing rubber bushings with lighter and more durable urethane bushings helps. 10 pounds of unsprung weight lost is equivalent to about 100 pounds of suspended weight lost.

Face

What year is the car?
I don't know if there's any quality mass produced turbo kits for the V6 Accord, but I found one supercharger kit.
http://comptechusa.web01.yourhost.com/store/av6sc.html

audiobliss

No offense, but if you don't know anything about your car, or cars in general, find a shop close to you and ask them a few questions about turbo setups. If it sounds like you want one, then let them set you up with something.

In a nutshell, a turbo gives you more power. More fuel mileage? I suppose if you had a turbocharger on your vehicle stock and you went with something more efficient you could see better mileage. But I really don't know how fuel mileage would be affected if you added one to your Accord. It would definitely go down, though, if you liked the added power and couldn't keep your foot out of the go pedal.

audiobliss

Wow. Three posts in one whack.

black magic

The main advantage of getting a turbo is your ability to add a lot more power with a little extra weight. Your fuel mileage won't change much if you're not always driving around with your pedal to the metal. If you make your engine rev high enough, the turbo will begin to spool and compress air forcing more into your engine. this is the point where your engine will need more fuel to keep the air:fuel ratio at its optimum. Long story short. Don't consistently drive like a moron or else you will notice a quite a noticeable difference in your fuel mileage... thats besides the wear that you'd be adding to the engine.

The price of a turbo kit will always vary. If you're building your own kit, you'll probably be able to get it cheaper than the "complete kits" you can purchase. Also, a bigger turbo will most likely cost more. However, a bigger turbo is not always better. When choosing a turbo you have to choose between two things:
1) Whether or not you want to make power quickly or
2) If you'd rather make even more power with the downside of having to wait longer.
A bigger turbo will spool slower than a smaller turbo (ie a smaller turbo will begin spooling at lower rpm). This is why some twin turbo charged cars have one turbo smaller than the other. The small turbo provides low end power while the larger turbo provides high end power. The new BMW 335i is a great example. Another thing to note is that a bigger turbo can produce the same amount of power as a smaller turbo at a lower amount of boost (psi). In other words, a smaller turbo will have to work harder to produce as much power as a large turbo. Therefore 8psi on a large turbo is not comparable to 8psi on a small turbo. The small turbo will produce less power. This is probably a little obvious but some people just don't realize that.

ps. When getting a turbo, it is usually a good idea to get a turbo exhaust (or e-cutout) to free up some power. If you've already purchased an after market intake, header and exhaust, you might be a little upset to realize that they prolly won't work with a turbo. The exhaust can, however it might restrict some power as opposed to a larger free-flowing exhaust. A turbo requires a new header which has the turbo bolted to it and all you really need for an intake (when you have a turbo) is a just the filter. Thus if you plan to get a turbo, its pretty much a waste of money to buy those 3 parts for your stock engine.

ilikesound

well i know a little bit about interiors, not much about the mechanical workings. i ask about the gas mileage because once i added the intake and exhaust, i gained about 50 mpt. i don't know why, it totally defeats what i expected to see. mainly my gas mileage drop drastically. i know what a turbo does, just have no experience with it first hand. my local shop is full of old geizers that wouldn't even want to put a turbo or supercharger in a car of any kind they just don't wanna mess with it. so i ask here.


offense not taken.

Face

A properly tuned intake and exhaust should increase fuel economy, but not by a drastic amount.

I had a 99 Regal GS with the supercharged Series II 3.8. By adding a smaller supercharger pulley(boost 7.5psi to 11.5psi), a fenderwell intake, 3" downpipe, 2.5 catback, ported throttle body, and ported exhaust manifolds, my fuel economy went up 5mpg on average. As long as I keep my foot out of the throttle, the fuel economy is better than the naturally aspirated engine. So in some cases forced induction can increase fuel economy, but I believe that's hardly the case with a turbo, mostly in (roots style) supercharged applications.

I now own a 98 Buick Riviera with the same supercharged 3.8 with only a intake and pulley done and my average fuel economy jumped up 3mpg. I eventually plan to open up the exhaust if I decide to keep the car.

csnut18

You are obviously not installing this yourself so go to a shop and they will help you.