How to care for a turbo-boosted engine

A turbocharger is a turbine driven by exhaust gases. It increases the combustion efficiency of an engine by compressing intake air before the engine consumes it. Because the air is being compressed, the engine has more oxygen available for combustion, thus increasing output and efficiency.

Why boost?

In recent years, we’ve seen nearly every vehicle manufacturer drop large displacement naturally-aspirated petrol engines from their line-ups, and focus attention on the more efficient (turbocharged) diesels. Some markets still demand the old-school petrol engines (including ours, the United States and the Middle East), which is why Toyota still offers a 4.0-litre V6 in its Hilux, Prado and 70 Series Cruisers, for example, while Jeep is not sidelining its 3.6-litre Pentastar V6... and Nissan’s 5.6-litre V8 still shunts its Patrol Wagon. But these are becoming exceptions, rather than the rule.

The death-rattle of free