The thing about turbocharged cars is that a lot of people don't know how to use them properly. A turbo loves higher revs and wide open throttle.
Before VGTs, turbos only worked in a small rpm range. You had lots of lag where nothing happened at lower revs, sudden burst of acceleration you weren't ready for and more nothing near redline. (One reason I want to buy a Saab 99 Turbo)
But modern VGTs work from idle up to redline. Hell, Mercedes even use compressed air from the turbo to start. Any damage to the turbo, or a ripped turbo hose and car will not start on the first try. And if you baby a turbocharged car, only change gear at low revs and generally drive slowly, or in the city, sooth builds up. You have to get rid of it.
This is where the "Italian tune up" comes in... Older turbos had the same problems, but more often. The solution is to drive flat out, or at high boost as often as possible to keep the temperature high enough to burn away sooth.
This technique still applies to modern cars. I like to do a top speed run, or at least a 150+ kmh drive on the Autobahn/ quiet road nearby once a month to burn away carbon deposits.
Hell, I had to clean both turbos in my E420 after I bought it, cause the doctor who owned it before me drove it like an undertaker. DPF was clogged (got rid of it), error codes on the EGR (also cleaned) and insufficient boost.
Had the dealership (friends) take off the turbos, so I could take them home and clean them. Access to V8 turbos is a bitch and a half.
After cleaning I applied a bit of high temperature resistant lubricant to the turbines themselves.
Had them installed back in the car and let it idle for 10 minutes after I started the engine.
Car runs like new. 400hp and 950Nm after tuning, she'll smoke the tires until she reaches 100kmh.
But yeah, if it's bearings, or bad quality turbine - you're screwed. Tends to happen a lot with frenchies... best to avoid French cars.
Yeah, I'm guilty of habitually babying that car, so it isn't surprising at all that there was lots of crud in the turbo. Something else that doesn't help is that when I bought it, I did a fair amount of motorway driving every week, but over the last few years it's mainly been short, local trips.
That's the main reason I went for a petrol car when I recently had the funds to do it. Got a 2019 Skoda Superb 1.5 DSG, and I find it quite interesting seeing what sort of revs the computer chooses to run it at. I know petrol engines always rev higher than diesels, but the difference is quite startling. Not that it's really noticeable, of course, since it's so much quieter and smoother than the ancient 1.9 TDI.
Petrol is good for a city daily/ short trip car. Diesel is better for longer distances. Or in my case, if you want to jump start a small sun, or have enough torque to be able to destroy your gearbox...
7G-tronics are rated up to 800Nm, I'm pushing 950.
I can't push my E-class too much, or I'll get a very expensive repair bill.
But yeah, engines have gotten a lot quieter over the past few years. My dad has a 2018 VW Touareg diesel and it's much quieter than my E-class, even before I modded it and made it louder.
Also I like the new design of the Superb, it's a mix between Audi A4/A6 and VW Passat.
I wonder, what kind of MPGs do you get in your Superb. I'd like to compare them to my hybrid C350e...
Mercedes claim I should be getting 2.2l/100km (128MPG), but I struggle to reach 4.7l/100km (60MPG).
I have no idea what MPG value I could reasonably claim on the Superb, since we've only had it a few weeks, and we've not been driving much.
I'm sure it's much less than what Skoda claims, and a helluva lot worse than the 2002 1.9 TDI Octavia gave me when it was in its prime. Back then, I could easily do 650 miles at motorway speeds before I got the tank low warning light, so that's something like 55 MPG in the real world. Not only is the Superb petrol, it's also considerably bigger and heavier than the Octavia, so I wouldn't be surprised if its MPG isn't much better than half that.
As much as I appreciate the need for reducing the consumption of oil, the whole official MPG thing is a little ridiculous. Something that annoyed me was that the Superb didn't come with a spare as standard (it has the well for one, but I assume the standard fitting is one of those stupid inflation kits), and I strongly suspect that was primarily a weight-reduction measure in order to improve the MPG.
My 7-year-old Samsung washer just shit itself.
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The thing about turbocharged cars is that a lot of people don't know how to use them properly. A turbo loves higher revs and wide open throttle.
Before VGTs, turbos only worked in a small rpm range. You had lots of lag where nothing happened at lower revs, sudden burst of acceleration you weren't ready for and more nothing near redline. (One reason I want to buy a Saab 99 Turbo)
But modern VGTs work from idle up to redline. Hell, Mercedes even use compressed air from the turbo to start. Any damage to the turbo, or a ripped turbo hose and car will not start on the first try. And if you baby a turbocharged car, only change gear at low revs and generally drive slowly, or in the city, sooth builds up. You have to get rid of it.
This is where the "Italian tune up" comes in... Older turbos had the same problems, but more often. The solution is to drive flat out, or at high boost as often as possible to keep the temperature high enough to burn away sooth.
This technique still applies to modern cars. I like to do a top speed run, or at least a 150+ kmh drive on the Autobahn/ quiet road nearby once a month to burn away carbon deposits.
Hell, I had to clean both turbos in my E420 after I bought it, cause the doctor who owned it before me drove it like an undertaker. DPF was clogged (got rid of it), error codes on the EGR (also cleaned) and insufficient boost.
Had the dealership (friends) take off the turbos, so I could take them home and clean them. Access to V8 turbos is a bitch and a half.
After cleaning I applied a bit of high temperature resistant lubricant to the turbines themselves.
Had them installed back in the car and let it idle for 10 minutes after I started the engine.
Car runs like new. 400hp and 950Nm after tuning, she'll smoke the tires until she reaches 100kmh.
But yeah, if it's bearings, or bad quality turbine - you're screwed. Tends to happen a lot with frenchies... best to avoid French cars.
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Boojum
2 years ago
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Yeah, I'm guilty of habitually babying that car, so it isn't surprising at all that there was lots of crud in the turbo. Something else that doesn't help is that when I bought it, I did a fair amount of motorway driving every week, but over the last few years it's mainly been short, local trips.
That's the main reason I went for a petrol car when I recently had the funds to do it. Got a 2019 Skoda Superb 1.5 DSG, and I find it quite interesting seeing what sort of revs the computer chooses to run it at. I know petrol engines always rev higher than diesels, but the difference is quite startling. Not that it's really noticeable, of course, since it's so much quieter and smoother than the ancient 1.9 TDI.
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megadriver
2 years ago
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Petrol is good for a city daily/ short trip car. Diesel is better for longer distances. Or in my case, if you want to jump start a small sun, or have enough torque to be able to destroy your gearbox...
7G-tronics are rated up to 800Nm, I'm pushing 950.
I can't push my E-class too much, or I'll get a very expensive repair bill.
But yeah, engines have gotten a lot quieter over the past few years. My dad has a 2018 VW Touareg diesel and it's much quieter than my E-class, even before I modded it and made it louder.
Also I like the new design of the Superb, it's a mix between Audi A4/A6 and VW Passat.
I wonder, what kind of MPGs do you get in your Superb. I'd like to compare them to my hybrid C350e...
Mercedes claim I should be getting 2.2l/100km (128MPG), but I struggle to reach 4.7l/100km (60MPG).
--
Boojum
2 years ago
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I have no idea what MPG value I could reasonably claim on the Superb, since we've only had it a few weeks, and we've not been driving much.
I'm sure it's much less than what Skoda claims, and a helluva lot worse than the 2002 1.9 TDI Octavia gave me when it was in its prime. Back then, I could easily do 650 miles at motorway speeds before I got the tank low warning light, so that's something like 55 MPG in the real world. Not only is the Superb petrol, it's also considerably bigger and heavier than the Octavia, so I wouldn't be surprised if its MPG isn't much better than half that.
As much as I appreciate the need for reducing the consumption of oil, the whole official MPG thing is a little ridiculous. Something that annoyed me was that the Superb didn't come with a spare as standard (it has the well for one, but I assume the standard fitting is one of those stupid inflation kits), and I strongly suspect that was primarily a weight-reduction measure in order to improve the MPG.