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Fuel economy faceoff: Turbo fours don’t always win against six-cylinders
National Post ^ | JUNE 7, 2013 | David Booth

Posted on 06/08/2013 3:17:41 PM PDT by rickmichaels

I’ll be the first to admit that this, the third installment in Post Driving‘s ongoing fuel economy comparisons, is not original. Consumer Reports issued a press release some four months ago that decried the supposed fuel economy advantage of small turbochargers over the larger — typically V6 engines — that they are supposed to supplant.

(Excerpt) Read more at life.nationalpost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Hobbies; Science
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1 posted on 06/08/2013 3:17:41 PM PDT by rickmichaels
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To: rickmichaels

Never exceed 50HP per jug and you’ll share a long and happy life with your engine.


2 posted on 06/08/2013 3:23:41 PM PDT by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
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To: rickmichaels

YMMV.


3 posted on 06/08/2013 3:30:22 PM PDT by Paladin2 (;-))
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To: rickmichaels
Not too surprising as you have to be into the boost to get decent acceleration from a turbo four. Boost means more gas, likely more gas than the equivalent amount of power from a normally aspirated engine. Turbo motors are usually low compression off boost, so less efficient.

Suspect small turbos come into their own in steady state light throttle cruise where the engine acts like a low compression four cylinder. I can hook an OBDII tool to my WRX and watch the instantaneous MPG jump all over the place. Darn hard to hold it steady in normal driving. Stop and go is horrible on mileage.

4 posted on 06/08/2013 3:38:29 PM PDT by doorgunner69
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To: rickmichaels

I’m an old guy. I buy my cars new and sell them with lots of miles. Usually in the 200k range. I don’t trust turbo’s to be a long term option. I got a Scion FRS over a Ford Focus ST partly because it’s not turbocharged.


5 posted on 06/08/2013 3:53:31 PM PDT by cuban leaf (Were doomed! Details at eleven.)
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To: blackdog

Never exceed 50HP per jug and you’ll share a long and happy life with your engine.


Yup. Coincidentally, it’s exactly the HP of the engine of the car I just bought.


6 posted on 06/08/2013 3:54:56 PM PDT by cuban leaf (Were doomed! Details at eleven.)
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To: doorgunner69

Turbos are probably ideal for the EPA tests.

We’re getting cars engineered to pass those tests, not to deliver real-world performance.

That said, I have a Passat 2.0 turbo that gets 29 mpg easily and will still power the car beyond 130 mph. It has very little turbo lag and feels like a larger engine.

That’s because Volkswagen has been doing turbos for years. Domestic manufacturers (outside of Chrysler) not so much.


7 posted on 06/08/2013 3:56:42 PM PDT by FLAMING DEATH (I'm not racist - I hate Biden too!)
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To: rickmichaels

I knew this 20+ years ago. I had a 1991 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX AWD...great little car, 195 hp 2.0 liter turbo four, full-time all-wheel drive. It got 30+ mpg on the highway easily but was absolutely hideous around town, and I didn’t drive it THAT hard. (Really.) It had one small turbo and thus the turbo lag was horrendous, so in order to access that 195 hp I really had to bury my foot in the carpet and keep the RPMs high. But that thing was completely unflappable in the corners. It just had a simple fluid-differential AWD system, no fancy electronics, but it was amazingly stable even when dealing with the turbo lag.

}:-)4


8 posted on 06/08/2013 3:59:41 PM PDT by Moose4 (SHALL. NOT. BE. INFRINGED.)
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To: rickmichaels

I dunno, I have good success with my 2.0 turbo sonata. I get about 28-30 a tank mixed driving. I like to beat on it a bit and use all 274hp.


9 posted on 06/08/2013 4:02:58 PM PDT by miliantnutcase
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To: rickmichaels

I have a acura 4cyl with turbo and 240hp. It gets the same mileage city or highway unless I push the turbo really hard.

It’ll blow the socks off most 6 cyl cars.


10 posted on 06/08/2013 4:03:52 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: rickmichaels

I haven’t seen anything better than an old Chrysler (Jeep) 4.0 liter HO six cylinder for four-wheel-drive, pulling loads and mileage (~ 22 real mpg on the real mountains). Those engines seem to never die. [Formerly a life-long Ford owner).


11 posted on 06/08/2013 4:44:32 PM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of rotten politics smelled around the planet.)
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To: rickmichaels

I have a 2013 Ford Escape 2.0 L turbo. Great suv but what a gas hog. I get 18.5 city and the best I have ever gotten on the highway was 23.5. Thank goodness I have a Nissan Leaf for all of my commuting. Funny thing is I had a 2003 Saab with a 2.0 L turbo. I got 42 mpg on an all freeway trip.


12 posted on 06/08/2013 5:15:45 PM PDT by willk
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To: doorgunner69

and stop and go is what kills mileage. until you get into the higher gears and over 40, depending on vehicle, your mileage sucks.


13 posted on 06/08/2013 5:16:11 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: cuban leaf

you can get a focus without a turbo. the non-eco-boost model.


14 posted on 06/08/2013 5:17:11 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: cuban leaf

same here, 296 hp, 6 cyl. good pep.


15 posted on 06/08/2013 5:17:54 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Moose4

from what i’ve read turbos can be tuned to work really well within a certain range of driving, but usually not acoss the entire spectrum.


16 posted on 06/08/2013 5:19:00 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: willk

you sure yours’isn’t a 2012? i can see those numbers on the older truck escape, not on the newer, smaller, lighter escapes.


17 posted on 06/08/2013 5:20:29 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: rickmichaels

Now that gas has gone to $4.25/gal here in the Great Lakes area, this stuff is more important than ever.


18 posted on 06/08/2013 5:24:21 PM PDT by nascarnation (Baraq's economic policy: trickle up poverty)
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To: rickmichaels

God forbid any manufacturer put a turbo 4cyl diesel in a small/mid sized pickup.


19 posted on 06/08/2013 5:24:59 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: central_va

Whatever happened to that long ballyhoo’d Mahindra pickup?


20 posted on 06/08/2013 5:26:46 PM PDT by nascarnation (Baraq's economic policy: trickle up poverty)
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