Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Single Turbo

As an automotive blog, we write not just about cars, but also about car parts, engines and many other things. This article is dedicated to one thing that even newbies in the automotive industry and automotive enthusiasts should know about, so make sure that you carefully read this article if you are interested in learning more about turbo engines.

What Is A Single Turbo?

First, let us go into detail about the very notion of Turbo. A Turbo is another name for a turbocharger for an engine, which means that the turbine device is used to increase internal efficiency of an engine and force extra air to the combustion chamber, all of which results in more power. Turbochargers are used on engines of cars, but also on truck engines, aircraft engines and even on construction equipment engines. A turbocharger is there to increase the efficiency of the engine. Even if you have never heard of a single turbo or turbo in general, you could deduce that when there is a single turbo, there must be a second turbo as well!

You are correct! It is called a twin turbo, and it gives the engine the same properties that turbo, in general, would give to an engine. The only difference between a single turbo engine and twin turbo is the fact that a twin turbo is a parallel system with two turbos, both of which feed the engine’s cylinders. That being said, not all cars are designed for a twin turbo, and some engines due to packaging constraints in the engine bay can prevent twin turbo from being installed in a car. On the other hand, it also comes down to the personal choice made by the owner of the car.

Why Is Single Turbo More Popular?

It seems like despite the saying more is better, single turbo is still more popular than twin turbo. There are many reasons why that is so, but mostly it is because a single turbo receives exhaust flow from and supplies air to all cylinders, it also compresses the air and simultaneously releases it, and gives it the best performance. Therefore for top performance, you should opt out for a single turbo rather than a twin turbo on your car engine. That being said also keep in mind that larger turbos are more efficient than smaller turbos, so a large single turbo is better than a small twin turbo.