buddyIam wrote:
Tystevens.
The 3.5 had a lot of turbo related intercooler problems that took a long time to fix.
Chevy had a stop sale and recall on it's 1.4 turbo.
I will say that the more expensive diesels have worked out the problems on their turbo's. GM has seemed to fix al their injector problems and Ford seems to have worked out all their problems. But while they worked out all their problems their diesel option price has almost doubled.
I am not sure that 1 or 2 grand really covers the cost to Ford for it's turbo setups. And if it does, has it been at the expense of reliability.
Am I a doubting Thomas? Well with regards to turbo gas engines I guess I am. But you have to remember I have been interested in cars and driving for over 50 years. And up until now have not really seen a lot of turbo/super charged gas engines in a vehicle that was required to go more that 1/4 mile maybe a couple of hundred miles in the Indy cars.
Lets not forget the wonderful power and unreliability of the old Indy Buick.
The turbo could be the next miracle. But why not the supercharger? The supercharger doesn't have to sit on top of the block anymore so the clearance issues are no longer a problem. The super charger doesn't have to deal with the tremendous heat that the Turbo does. It can come in at real low rpm and doesn't restrict the exhaust.
VW have developed a small 1.4 liter gas engine along with Eaton. It's called the Twin Charger and has both a supercharger and a turbocharger. The supercharger provides good low end power....the turbocharger....enhances power at higher rpm.
Good power throughout the rpm range...equivalent to a significantly larger, non forced induction engine and with better MPG.
A better idea that a turbocharged or displacement on demand engine ? I'm not sure and of course there is that modern technology given...complexity.
VW Twin Charger engine
