(When done properly) does a turbocharger improve or hinder gas mileage?

Answer 1

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It will be somewhere between a small decrease to a huge decrease in fuel mileage.

If you drive the vehicle very gently, the turbo won't spool up very fast and it won't increase the amount of air and fuel going into the cylinders dramatically.  But push it hard and mileage will suffer.

Answer 2

If set up  right and not abased, a turbo allows engine to produce more power without  having to floor it (same engine, of course).

   This can increase mileage as well as performance. ln the Real World,  most  cant resist kicking in the T So, avg. mileage goes down.   My sister had an old Merce  Diesel, no turbo. In this case, it is almost Required for Decent performance. Apples and oranges

Answer 3

Well I have a 2 litre turbo with 270bhp, can’t say gas mileage is it’s strong point., but it might be better than a n/a of 3.5 litres.

Manufacturers are increasingly replacing larger engines with small turbo engines because they do well in the specified tests ( the turbo barely operates). It’s a big con because in use you have to rev the nuts off them ( 1 litre Mondeo?) to get any sort of performance. The claimed gas mileage is then way down on the test result.

Fiat fitted a 500 with a 2 cylinder turbo charged engine that managed over70 mpg in tests but more like 37 in real life.

Answer 4

If done properly Don't expect a increase of mpg The fact it's ramming air into the engine at say 5 or more psi That means more fuel can be added too .Basically it's gonna decrease depending on how you drive it The more throttle the more fuel and air Add a turbo and you've increased that fuel air mix a lot But still it's all about how it's driven The heavier a foot the less mpg you'll get That's goes for any cat or truck The heavier the foot on the gas The less mpg So it's dependant on how it's driven is what will determine the mpg A turbo is for performance gains not mpg gains In reality it'll drop with the added turbo BUT BE A LOT MORE FUN TO DRIVE OVERALL 

Answer 5

All other things being equal an engine's efficiency is proportional to the compression ratio.

A turbo  effectively raises the compression ratio. Provided you dont use this extra to drive harder you will improve fuel economy.

Answer 6

Not True at all! Under normal driving circumstances, fuel mileage will increase. As with a non-turbocharged car the only time a turbocharged car uses more fuel is when the throttle spends too much time on the floor.

Answer 7

Congratulations! You're the first to connect the two. Dude, please don't try to be a mechanic. That worries me. If you want better mileage & increased power, buy a K&N cool air & a performance cat. Done!

Answer 8

Think of it like a 4 barrel carb - if you stay out of the secondaries then gas mileage can be better than a stock 2 barrel because the mains are bigger in 2 bbl. 

Same thing with turbo, stay out of the turbo and you have smaller engine working efficiently and just like a 4 barrel when the turbo gets revved up it provides much needed acceleration (at the cost of more fuel) that would be lacking without it. I have a 1L 3cyl Ford turbo. Gets great fuel mileage and when needed a shift or two down to pass and it has enough hp to get me going. Without the turbo it would be a very weak engine.  

Answer 9

A turbochargers boost increases horsepower gas mileage is effected by how heavy the drivers foot is on the gas pedal! If you drive like you're going to Church on Sunday you save gasoline.

Answer 10

If you get an engine and add a turbo it decreases gas mileage. If you have the same car and you swap the 3 liter engine our for a 1.5 liter turbo engine, THEN you might save a bit of gas money over the entire life of the car.

It would be retarded to spend 700 on a turbo setup just to spend more on gas money because you're always flooding it.