Slideshow: Can Turbo Replicate the Feel of Natural Aspiration?

The Future is Getting Smaller

There's a lot of debate regarding the rise, and subsequent domination of turbocharger tech in automotive engineering. Packing some bonus power under the hood isn't going to spark controversy-- well, maybe a little. All the same, no engineering component is an island unto itself, and it's what a car tends to lose in translation that bears the question. Where original turbochargers were designed with the intent of boosting existing power, modern engineering often uses turbo to compensate for downsizing the engine itself. As engines get smaller, they tend to get lighter; add a turbocharger to the mix, and they become significantly more efficient machines, tugging around less without proportionate cost to power. A small engine can pack as much punch, but it still feels like just that: a small engine.

Efficiency at the Cost of Catharsis

Following the steady improvement of turbo tech, practically speaking, the benefits outweigh the costs. However, any fascination with muscle cars (scratch that-- cars in general!) has never stopped at pragmatism. To use a musical analogy, it's the difference between a vintage analog recording and the too-perfect crispness of a post-2000 digital production. The timeless clash of "imperfect warmth" versus "stiff efficiency" pervades every area where human creativity is involved. While there are undeniable justifications as to the shift to turbo, the question then remains: will a small-but-turbocharged engine manage to successfully recreate the full grit of the "real thing?" Can aspartame ever really mimic the taste of sugar in diet soda? 

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A Long Time Coming

Turbochargers have been around in some form for about as long as muscle cars themselves. Considering what buzz of controversy the technology has sparked in recent years, the fundamental principle behind it is really quite simple. Installing an additional turbine in a car's exhaust system can force more air into the engine's combustion chamber, creating more of a blast than the engine's size would typically permit. The benefits of "going turbo" have been apparent as far back as 1962, when Chevrolet evangelized the industry to the notion of turbo-petrol engines with a limited production of turbocharged Monza Spyder cars, based on Chevrolet's existing Corvair line. While turbocharging used to be a feature of performance cars alone, its use has extended to the point of becoming standard, even in the most domestic vehicles.

>>Join the conversation about turbocharged and naturally aspirated engines right here on LS1Tech.

Natural Aspiration is Getting Passed Over

Most turbo engines coming out today have been designed to deliver peak-level torque at around 1500 RPM. On the one hand, this improved efficiency means that a turbocharged engine can match the performance of one with significantly higher rev. While this precludes the importance of a high-revving engine for the most part, there's a cathartic roar and sharp responsiveness that gets lost in translation. Companies like Porsche acknowledge the inimitable feel of a beefy engine, and there have been conscious efforts to bring all of the longed-for traits of natural aspiration into a turbocharged framework.

>>Join the conversation about turbocharged and naturally aspirated engines right here on LS1Tech.

Turbo Technology Keeps Getting Better

Among the longstanding issues surrounding turbocharger systems was their limitations at high RPMs. Although being able to wring more out from smaller engines has a host of benefits (not least of all including the freedom from the cumbersome weight of displacement rigs) there are still cases where the dramatic qualities and rawness of a high redline would be preferred. While some people are strongly accustomed to the idea of judging an engine by its max RPM, recent years have shown turbochargers eking up their grasp of rev steadily. Industry experts might point you towards the R&D efforts of the engineers at McLaren, who have produced turbo that can reportedly keep up with an impressive 7000 RPM. 

>>Join the conversation about turbocharged and naturally aspirated engines right here on LS1Tech.

The Practical Benefits of Ultra-High Rev are being Negated

While it's natural to expect that this technology will continue to improve, it's doubtful that turbochargers will ever be able to contend with the sort of ultra-high, five-digit RPMs found in models specifically designed with pushing the redline in mind. This is because there's no practical application for it; turbo engines can achieve much the same without plunging the same excesses.

>>Join the conversation about turbocharged and naturally aspirated engines right here on LS1Tech.

Rolling with the Punches; Working with Regulation

It's a much different world today compared to those much-romanticized yesteryears where muscle cars were free to roam and roar as they pleased. As one article from Car and Driver points out, a series of environmental regulations following the 1992 Kyoto Accord have made it increasingly difficult for naturally aspirated technology to keep afloat. The European Union regulations are typically seen as the ones that put the writing on the wall for a lot of them; automakers must adhere to fleet average carbon dioxide emissions of 95g/km by 2020. Relative to natural aspiration, turbo boasts a consistently better scoresheet when it comes to fuel efficiency and environmental impact.

>>Join the conversation about turbocharged and naturally aspirated engines right here on LS1Tech.

Authenticity Matters

As for the question of whether turbocharging a small engine can replicate a bigger one?

The short answer is Yes. 

The long answer is No.

Between the examples of Porsche and McLaren alone, there's every reason to feel whatever remaining technical hangups will be washed out in time as the technology continues to develop. And it is developing, at a faster rate than naturally aspirated engines, which seem to be relegated now as a "niche interest" for hardcore enthusiasts, at least in the eyes of the industry's business execs and their bottom line. Displacement isn't the only route to engine power and a lot of the technical arguments against turbocharging are getting steadily slimmer with time.

On the other hand, there's that question of authenticity. Just as some people feel repulsed by the idea of lab-grown meat as an alternative to raising cattle for hamburgers, there's never going to be the same emotional kick from a vintage V8 packed into a 2.0L, even if the latter could roar like a Goliath in comparison. As the technology improves and continues to spread, it will feel like the normal thing for younger generations of auto enthusiasts. In the meantime, we hope at least that there remain options open for the customer to be able to choose.

>>Join the conversation about turbocharged and naturally aspirated engines right here on LS1Tech.

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