Continental jumps into turbocharger business
Filed under: MPG
Car makers the world over are looking for the most cost effective ways to increase fuel economy as fuel prices continue to climb and CO2 limits and fuel economy standards come into force. One approach that seems to be appealing to most is adding direct fuel injection and turbocharging to smaller displacement engines. Continental Automotive Systems sees the trend and is jumping on the bandwagon. Continental has announced their intention to build their first turbocharger plant for production begining in 2011. The initial production run will be for 2.0L four cylinder engines at the rate of 100,000 per year. No location has been announced for the plant, but somewhere in Eastern Europe seems probable. Volkswagen is also rumored to be the first customer for Conti's turbos.[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-01-2008 @ 1:09AM
TomtenT said...
That's really odd.
Could there be a hidden agenda here ?
Profoundly sad that money and effort's going
into something so ancient and outdated as
combustion engines (be it with or without pressure
feeding).
Turbocharging doesn't improve efficiency, it increases power.
To the price of a vastly more complicated system,
you can squeeze the same power out of a smaller
engine, and consequently end up with a slightly
lighter package. That slightly lower weight might
increase the possibility of a better MPG.
But man, that's an unbelievably complicated way
to get there.
Every effort should go into ELECTRIC propulsion
development, and the inevitable changes of the infrastructure
needed for the future.
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5-01-2008 @ 11:41AM
spdracerut said...
The pathway of turbos allowing for better fuel economy is exactly the downsizing of the base motor.
No one needs a 3.5L motor making 300hp 100% of the time; it's probably more on the order of 1%. So you can take a 2.0L motor and turbocharge it to make the same power for when the driver wants it, but it'll use less fuel the other 99% of the time, like when you're idling in traffic.
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