How does a turbocharger work?

A turbocharger is built around two linked wheels on a single shaft. Exhaust gas leaving the engine — energy that would otherwise just disappear out of the tailpipe — spins a turbine on one side. That turbine is bolted to a compressor wheel on the other side, and as it spins, the compressor draws in fresh air and forces it into the engine's cylinders at higher pressure than the atmosphere alone would manage.

More air in the cylinder means more fuel can be burned alongside it, and more fuel burned means more power, all from an engine that hasn't grown any bigger. It's effectively a way of borrowing extra performance from exhaust energy that a naturally aspirated engine simply lets go to waste. If that kind of engineering deserves to be admired rather than buried under a bonnet, that's what car art is for.

Written by Craig Fearn, Petrol & Ink.