History
The history of
turbocharging is almost as old as that of the internal combustion engine. As
early as 1885 and 1896, Gottlieb Daimler and Rudolf Diesel investigated
increasing the power output and reducing the fuel consumption of their engines
by precompressing the combustion air. In 1925, the Swiss engineer Alfred Bchi
was the first to be successful with exhaust gas turbocharging, and achieved a
power increase of more than 40 %. This was the beginning of the gradual
introduction of turbocharging into the automotive industry.
The first turbocharger applications were limited to very large engines, e.g.
marine engines. In the automotive engine industry, turbocharging started with
truck engines. In 1938, the first turbocharged engine for trucks was built by
the "Swiss Machine Works Saurer".
The Chevrolet Corvair Monza and the Oldsmobile Jetfire were the first
turbo-powered passenger cars, and made their debut on the US market in 1962/63.
Despite maximum technical outlay, however, their poor reliability caused them
to disappear quickly from the market.
After the first oil crisis in 1973, turbocharging became more acceptable in
commercial diesel applications. Until then, the high investment costs of
turbocharging were offset only by fuel cost savings, which were minimal.
Increasingly stringent emission regulations in the late 80's resulted in an
increase in the number of turbocharged truck engines, so that today, virtually
every truck engine is turbocharged.
In the 70's, with the turbocharger's entry into motor sports, especially into
Formula I racing, the turbocharged passenger car engine became very popular.
The word "turbo" became quite fashionable. At that time, almost every
automobile manufacturer offered at least one top model equipped with a
turbocharged petrol engine. However, this phenomenon disappeared after a few
years because although the turbocharged petrol engine was more powerful, it was
not economical. Furthermore, the "turbo-lag", the delayed response of the
turbochargers, was at that time still relatively large and not accepted by most
customers.
The real breakthrough in passenger car turbocharging was achieved in 1978 with
the introduction of the first turbocharged diesel engine passenger car in the
Mercedes-Benz 300 SD, followed by the VW Golf Turbodiesel in 1981. By means of
the turbocharger, the diesel engine passenger car's efficiency could be
increased, with almost petrol engine "driveability", and the emissions
significantly reduced.
Today, the turbocharging of petrol engines is no longer primarily seen from the
performance perspective, but is rather viewed as a means of reducing fuel
consumption and, consequently, environmental pollution on account of lower
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Currently, the primary reason for turbocharging
is the use of the exhaust gas energy to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.