If you are reading this, chances are that you’re new to this arena so let’s start off with a small review of turbochargers and how they work.

A turbocharger is a device that is coupled with your engine to give an extra boost of power. The goal is not to increase the weight of the car but to provide adequate support to the engine.

Your engine needs a steady inflow of air to burn fuel in order to produce power, what a turbocharger does it increase this air flow so that more air is used to burn fuelefficiently. So therefore, you could say that the main purpose of a turbocharger is to up the horsepower of the car and improve performance.

Most of the ecofriendly low capacity engine nowadays come with pre-installed turbochargers but if your car doesn’t have one you can always custom fit your engine with a turbo. Turbos are made of pipes that that increase air flow and turbine blades rotate to provide more air flow into the exhaust. They also have a compressor to compress the air before feeding it to the engine.

What Exactly Happens Inside?

Everybody knows how exhaust gases are produced from your engine, these gases flow through the turbo and then through the turbine of the turbocharger. The turbine wheel is connected to the compressor, so when these gases rotate the turbine the compressor starts to pull air in.

While this is happening, air is also pushed out. The turbo also has also intercooler because the compressed air is heated up because it operates on exhaust gases straight out of the engine.

This compressed air flows into the combustion cylinders to increase the volumetric efficiency and thereby increasing the power of the engine.

Types of Turbochargers

There are 3 main types of turbochargers in the market: axial flow, radial flow and exhaust gas. However, these are only the more common ones. There are plenty of new turbo ranges available in the market nowadays.

Axial Flow Turbocharger

The principle is similar bit however, the flow of air through the turbine is in an axial direction. The ideal vehicle type for axial flow turbochargers are ones with wheel diameters of 300mm or more.

Radial Flow Turbocharger

Similar to axial flow turbos, this type of turbos has air flowing in a radial direction. Radial flow turbos are more efficient when compared to axial flow turbos.

They also put less mechanical and thermal stress on the turbine when compared to the axial turbo. The efficiency comes from this low stress.

Vehicles with wheels less than 160mm or less can use radial flow turbochargers.

Exhaust Gas Turbocharger

This type of turbocharger recycles the exhaust gases and is the most common type of turbocharger in the market. This is also environmentally friendly

This is just a quick overview of what a turbocharger is and what the main types are. To get a more detailed look into what type suits you best, talk to a technician in your closest garage.