Engine boosting goes full bore

Pumping more air into the cylinder is key to solving the CAFE puzzle, and engineers are hard at work figuring out the best ways to do it with turbocharger and supercharger innovation.

“Downsizing for fuel economy is hot. Everybody has got to do it. And boosting is really the way to do it.” That quote would be equally true regardless of who from what automaker said it. As it happens, it came to AEI from Ford's Robert Wade, Boosting Technical Specialist in charge of design requirements for all boosting systems in North America. Nearly every vehicle model sold by the Dearborn automaker has a version with a turbocharged, direct-injected (DI) gasoline engine.

Similarly, every engine family at General Motors has a boosted version, according to Rick Balsley, Engineering Group Manager for Charging. “Boosting is a pretty big portion of our business these days, and it's definitely an area where there's a lot going on,” he told AEI. Engine design at GM begins with a boosted version from which a naturally aspirated one is subsequently derived.