Turbo vs N/A engine durability

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A lot of folks are a bit fearful of buying a turbocharged engine because they think that a boosted engine will not last as long as a larger naturally-aspirated engine, because they are more highly-stressed. This may have been true in some cases about 30 years ago, when the only turbocharged car engines were high-performance versions, but it has not been true at all for at least the last decade. This is partly true because engine design has been continuously improving (for the past 100 years for many reasons), and partly due to the fact that the manufacturers engineer the boosted engines to the the same safety factors as any other engine and prove it by subjecting the boosted engines to the same durability and torture testing as any other engine. Another factor is that the turbochargers themselves are also greatly improved; to the point where you should expect the turbocharger to last for the life of the engine. Today, I would expect any engine to last at least 250,000 miles with only normal maintenance. Every manufacturer proves their engine designs out with a set of durability tests that make actual racing seem like a walk in the park.

[theory816]

What’s do you think about CVTs and people not liking it?

[admin]

The problem with belt-type CVT’s is that they tend to be heavy and not all that efficient compared to even conventional automatics. Also the first couple of generations of CVt’s developed a reputation for not being very durable. The current ones used by Nissan, Toyota and Honda are probably pretty reliable and durable and they are more efficient. The efficiency does not come from the actual mechanical efficiency of the transmission, but from the wide and infinitely variable gear ratios that allow the engine to run at the most efficient speed/load point. The exception to this is when the driver calls for moderate-to-heavy acceleration, the programming tends to make the engine buzz up to high rpms to a greater degree than a conventional automatic. The CVT that is in a Toyota Hybrid is completely different and is a very simple and durable device known as a Power-Split Hybrid system. These are probably the most efficient and durable transmissions in production.

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