subject: Contrast Among Three Main Air-intake Method Of Vehicles [print this page] Such letters as 1.8T, 2.7TDL and 2.4L attached on the tail end of each vehicle show the methods with which the car supercharges on the road. If there is a sign of T-Turbo on the backside of the car, then it tells you that the car is turbo charged with air intake. The capital letter L represents that the car is either naturally aspirated or mechanical supercharged in the way of charging air. However, is there any difference in the three ways of air intake?
Naturally aspirated way: without any help from supercharger, the air will be pressured into combustion chamber only by atmospheric pressure in this way. Since the process of compression is saved in the naturally aspirated way, the naturally aspirated engine will perform better than that of supercharger on such areas as the ride of the power takeoff and the response characteristic. But its demerit lies in the fact that the proper air/fuel ratio cannot be adjusted. Then the naturally aspirated engine turbocharger will be inferior to that of supercharger on the basis of same engine displacement.
Mechanical supercharging: it is the way in which the power output of power wheel will be enhanced with no increase of engine displacement. It makes use of the torque of engine to drive the supercharger and increases the output of engine by feeding high-density air into the cylinder. The engine of mechanical supercharging increases its output while the engine speed boosts. Consequently, it consumes more fuel as the belt is used in the mechanical supercharging and the driving force is derived from the engine. Besides, loud noise in high speed status and high costs of maintenance are the disadvantages.
Turbocharger is gaining popularity lately and becomes the hot topic in discussion for it almost represents the new technology. The theory of turbocharger is making use of the exhaust gases from engine to drive compressor. The pressure increased by turbocharger is several times than that of mechanical supercharger. Since the energy comes from exhaust gases, it brings no added consumption of fuel for engine abstractly. It is also easy to point out the disadvantages of turbocharger, which is the turbo lag. The response of turbo will be always lags behind the speed of right moment as the process that air flows from the beginning to the end of exhaustion will take a few minutes.
There are more matters that need attention in the maintenance of the car that is equipped with turbocharger. As the turbine blade is exposed in the exhaust gases of about 400 in a long term, problems on radiating and lubrication will occur easily. That is to say, frequently changing engine oil and lube oil is necessary. However, impurities bring the turbo much detrition as well. Thus, oil filter, fuel filter and air filter should be changed in time. It is necessary to slowly start in cold, so that the turbine oil and lube oil will have enough time to turn into working status. There is also the need to make a car run in idle speed for a few minutes before the engine is totally shut off, ensuring that the temperature of turbocharger will naturally drop.
In general, the three methods have their own merits and demerits and there is no absolute superiority. One should choose a car that is the most suitable for him with the consideration in personal preference and the driving habits.
