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Turbo's in Modern Petrol Cars - b80

Hi!

Do turbo's in small modern petrols put you offer buying them, such as those in clio's or fiesta's, as it's another potentially expensve item that could break down?

Or do you think they're likely to be reaasonably reliable if well serviced?

Turbo's in Modern Petrol Cars - gordonbennet

The fact an engine has a turbo wouldn't me off buying, whether i would want to own any of the current crop of cars is another question entirely.

No reason they shouldn't last the life of the vehicle, more likely if they see fresh oil of the correct quality and spec more regularly than specified, and the driver uses a bit of common sense mechanical sympathy allowing the engine to warm and cool down a bit before and asking the engine to do some hard work.

Unless buying new i'd be as wary of previous servicing and possible use as i would with a Diesel.

Changes to the VED situation supposed to be happening in 2017 for new cars might make slighlty larger NA petrol engines more wallet friendly than current, though given both political parties are in chaos, those proposals might be altered.

Edited by gordonbennet on 02/07/2016 at 11:32

Turbo's in Modern Petrol Cars - Cyd

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=114789

Turbo's in Modern Petrol Cars - Avant

Cyd - I should have thanked you for this before.

Cyd has written a guide to looking after your turbo which I've made a sticky thread in the Technical section.

Turbo's in Modern Petrol Cars - Engineer Andy

Just read it - all that 'extra' TLC (and expense), presumably for any turbocharged car, seems quite a lot unless you're buying that sort of car specifically for the high performance or load-lugging ability. For those 'light-pressure' turbo petrol engined cars that are currently in fashion, the expense of all this (more expensive fuel, running the engine when stopped , extra servicing work, etc) surely outweighs the supposed benefits of having the small petrol engine with it.

At present I'm umming and arring whether to take the lunge and change my car within the next 6 months, and other than a sort-of direct replacement for my Mazda3 1.6 petrol (probably the 2ltr petrol, normally aspirated), most of the alternatives that aren't insipid (other than the Honda Civic 1.8 petrol, which is getting on a bit and quite high on emissions compared to others) are of the small-medium sized light-pressure turbo-petrols, such as the VAG stable (I like the 1.4 but just don't trust their general reliability at present), Ford EcoBoost (some issues generally on reliability, but more about very poor real-life mpg) and a few others, including one in the Volvo V40 (unsure about - not a load of good or bad publicity as there's less about than the others), which is currently second on my list.

I'm still leaning towards the more 'straightforward' normally aspirated Mazda3 as a result (I'm normally quite conservative when it comes to choosing cars), but to be honest I'm not really sure. The Volvo V40 turbo petrols have a funny line up after reading the reviews here - not sure what to make of it, especially in the light of how to look after them - some appear to be much more 'performance biassed' than others of the same displacement or bigger. Very odd (especially as I'm seriously contemplating getting an auto for the first time as well).

Turbo's in Modern Petrol Cars - craig-pd130

In reality, there's really no extra TLC or expense required in running a turbo car. Most do not require premium fuel unless the owner's manual explicitly states the use of 97 / 98 octane is recommended. And even then, it's an extra 3 or 4 quid per fill-up, which is hardly going to break the bank.

Only in exceptional cicumstances (such as pulling off motorways into service areas) is it truly necessary to idle the engine - and even then, you can avoid the need for a long idle period by backing off half a mile before and pulling into the inside lane. The engine cools a LOT faster when under no load, while air is still moving through the radiator at 55 / 60mph.

Personally, I like the way turbo engines deliver their torque, they're relaxing to drive. Have some fun test-driving and see what you think!

Turbo's in Modern Petrol Cars - skidpan

In reality, there's really no extra TLC or expense required in running a turbo car. Most do not require premium fuel unless the owner's manual explicitly states the use of 97 / 98 octane is recommended. And even then, it's an extra 3 or 4 quid per fill-up, which is hardly going to break the bank.

Only in exceptional cicumstances (such as pulling off motorways into service areas) is it truly necessary to idle the engine - and even then, you can avoid the need for a long idle period by backing off half a mile before and pulling into the inside lane. The engine cools a LOT faster when under no load, while air is still moving through the radiator at 55 / 60mph.

Personally, I like the way turbo engines deliver their torque, they're relaxing to drive. Have some fun test-driving and see what you think!

Absolutely spot on. Got a Leon 1.4 TSi and drive it no diferently to any other car. Use 95 octane Tesco's fuel and have never let it idle to cool down after driving, unless you drive like you stole it all the time its totally unnesesary since modern turbo's tend to be water cooled unlike turbo's of the 80's which woul cook the bearings unless idled.

Would never buy a non-turbo car, just like the way a turbo car drives. Try one and be amazed.

Turbo's in Modern Petrol Cars - scot22

I started a thread on TSI engines. If an engine is 'only' turbo charged does that make a difference to potential problems.

Turbo's in Modern Petrol Cars - Avant

The ones to avoid are those that were both turbocharged and supercharged: there were reliability problems with these. Manual gearbox versions of the VW Group TSI engines - 1.2, 1.4 and 2.0 - with just a turbo are no worse than many others. Some have cam belts, some cam chains, and people disagree about which of them is more reliable.

Turbo's in Modern Petrol Cars - Big John

The tsi engines also don't have an EGR valve. This function is done using variable valve timing. On later diesels EGR becoming more complex to reduce NOx - and less reliable