Turbos in our future ?

[Bagwan]

http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?...756&fSetId=381

Check out the final paragraph .

[Knock-on]

http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?...756&fSetId=381

Check out the final paragraph .

Personally, I don't know why Turbos were banned.

They have the potential to offer smaller, faster, more efficient engines yet are banned

[Mark]

Quite so, I don't recall the reason for them being banned. Perhaps at the time (late 80's) turbos were still an expensive technology and it was done to save costs.

I know that at the time there were still teams running normally aspirated engines, there must have been a reason for that. As I recall Johnathan Palmer was normally aspirated world champion!

Of course these days turbos are very much a mainsteam technology and are well understood, getting on for half of new cars sold in the UK have turbo-chargers, although most of those are bolted onto diesel engines.

The main problem with bringing back turbos is it would require a fundamental redesign of the engines from scratch, and that's just about the most expensive approach there is!

[Daniel]

Turbocharged engines will almost always be cheaper than n/a engines. But like Mark says the whole redesign thing is a bitch for costs.

[V12]

I'd love to see turbos return in their purest form like in the 80s. But sadly I worry that in today's climate they'd be used to "control performance" and introduce stupid gimmicks like "push to pass" and what have you.

[Whyzars]

Quite so, I don't recall the reason for them being banned. Perhaps at the time (late 80's) turbos were still an expensive technology and it was done to save costs.

There was a cost component as you say and safety was also a reason. Now this is working my few brain cells - I also seem to remember there was something about turbo's being a 'dead end' technology.

Engine developers and manufacturers wanted their money going into technology that could benefit their consumer sales and customers just didn't want turbo's to go to the local shops. F1 kept limiting the pressures but the turbo cars kept winning in spite of the efforts to level the playing field with the non-turbo cars.

Don't quote me on this but that has always been my memory of why the turbo's were banned.

Roll forward 20 years and we find turbo's coming back into favour because they provide a lot of power from a very small and lightweight block which provides very efficient usage of our planet's resources.

In years to come an F1 developed turbo charger might be the must-have for the environmentally conscious driver.

Who'd've thunk...

[Daniel]

I've posted that a few times Don't be suprised if all but the cheapest new petrol cars in 5-10 years time will have a turbo, direct injection and no camshafts. All in the name of efficiency.

[Whyzars]

I've posted that a few times Don't be suprised if all but the cheapest new petrol cars in 5-10 years time will have a turbo, direct injection and no camshafts. All in the name of efficiency.

I think modern oils and modern manufacturing tolerances are going to make this very possible.

Turbo's got a bad rap because of poor driver habits and coked oils and I think only Saab and Volvo really stuck with turbo's for the consumer market. New oils and better manufacture should see turbo's in the mainstream more and more. As was mentioned earlier, we're already seeing this in diesels

BTW, its 20 years since turbo's raced in F1 and I was at the track in Adelaide in '88 for their last appearance. The turbo cars really screamed. I still remember my teeth vibrating whenever a turbo car went by. You REALLY needed ear plugs with the turbo's. Great memories to look back on.

[Bagwan]

So , you guys haven't noticed at all that this was Max saying this ?

I want you guys to notice that you are all in complete agreement with the man this time , as am I .

This is a good idea , and relevent to today's world .

That said , I also think that the technological aspect of F1 being irrelevent to today's road cars is much overstated .
The simulations and modelling used in F1 , the computer aspect must be yielding benefit to the road car world .
No matter the size or shape of the part , the engineering behind the manufacture and innovation within must also surely transmit ideas into the assembly line .

Simply put , if you can run with the big guys , you must be able to make a street car .

[Knock-on]

So , you guys haven't noticed at all that this was Max saying this ?

I want you guys to notice that you are all in complete agreement with the man this time , as am I .

This is a good idea , and relevant to today's world .

That said , I also think that the technological aspect of F1 being irrelevant to today's road cars is much overstated .
The simulations and modelling used in F1 , the computer aspect must be yielding benefit to the road car world .
No matter the size or shape of the part , the engineering behind the manufacture and innovation within must also surely transmit ideas into the assembly line .

Simply put , if you can run with the big guys , you must be able to make a street car .

As with Monkeys in a room writing a Shakespeare play given enough time, the amount of crap ideas Max throws at the wall must one day result in one of them being a good one.

However, the Law of Sod detirmines that as such, this idea will not reach fruition