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 ...
Never exceed 50HP per jug and you’ll share a long and happy life with your engine.
YMMV.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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).
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.
and stop and go is what kills mileage. until you get into the higher gears and over 40, depending on vehicle, your mileage sucks.
you can get a focus without a turbo. the non-eco-boost model.
same here, 296 hp, 6 cyl. good pep.
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.
you sure yours’isn’t a 2012? i can see those numbers on the older truck escape, not on the newer, smaller, lighter escapes.
Now that gas has gone to $4.25/gal here in the Great Lakes area, this stuff is more important than ever.
God forbid any manufacturer put a turbo 4cyl diesel in a small/mid sized pickup.
Whatever happened to that long ballyhoo’d Mahindra pickup?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.