If you drive a turbocharged car, you should remain knowledgeable about protecting your car’s turbo engine. Naturally aspirated engines are more straightforward than turbocharged engines. They don’t require special treatment to maintain their performance and increase their lifespan.
Typical maintenance schedules are enough to get the best out of a natural-aspirated engine. However, you need to do more to protect your car’s turbo engine. So, here are 4 ways to protect your car’s turbo engine.
Ways To Protect Your Car’s Turbo Engine
Warm Your Engine
Before you drive your car every day, you should warm the engine. Cold climates cause the oil to thicken, reducing the ability to flow freely in the engine. Warming the engine reduces the risk of premature damage, as moving parts struggle if you drive your car right away in the morning and get aggressive immediately.
Aggressive driving without warming results in strains on the oil pump. Thick oil is ineffective in lubricating, moving engine parts. Allow approximately ten minutes for your turbo engine to warm before you begin driving aggressively. Most importantly, the oil temperature needs to be optimum before going full throttle.
Idle the Engine After Driving
Turbo engines produce more heat than standard engines. As a result, it’s not advisable to turn the engine off immediately. Doing so can heat up and boil the oil present in the turbo system, resulting in carbon buildup. Over time, this can corrode the engine prematurely. After driving, allow the engine to run for a few minutes and cool down the turbo before switching off the car.
It’s also beneficial to get a water-cooled turbocharger to guarantee proper cooling. Installing a water-cooled turbocharger is among the top ways to protect your car’s turbo engine from experiencing problems.
Downshift When Accelerating
Turbo systems boost engine power and torque. However, you shouldn’t rely entirely on your turbo when overtaking. Downshifting is a better way of prolonging the lifespan of your turbo engine. Using your gears and turbo together will protect your car’s turbo from premature wear and tear. It’s also necessary for luxury cars with turbo engines to get downshifted.
Change Oil Regularly and Use High-Quality Oil
Since turbo engines have parts moving at very high speeds while working under intense pressure and heat, there’s a need for regular oil changes. Most importantly, you should use the proper engine oil to avoid premature wear. Ideally, oil changes should happen after every 5,000 miles. Lastly, oil should be fully synthetic and match the car’s engine type.
While there are more ways to protect your car’s turbo engine, knowing the essential information is a great start. If you warm your engine every day before driving, idle the engine before shutting it down, downshift when accelerating, and maintain your engine accordingly with regular high-quality engine oil changes, you can rest assured your turbo engine will last longer.
Van Rundell is a writer and author who specializes in transportation, travel, guidance, health & fitness. With over 10 years of experience in the industry as a driver and an entrepreneur, he has seen it all. His tone is professional but friendly with a dash of humor thrown in for good measure. In past, he has been advising, educating and writing about transport for the public and professionals alike.
A qualified fitness instructor with over 5 years’ experience as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor, Van brings his deep knowledge of health and exercise science to his articles on health & fitness.
