Everything you need to know about superchargers and turbochargers

Super chargers


Superchargers are pressure boosting devices which supplies air at high pressure to the engine. It is driven by the engine itself & power is transmitted via a friction belt to the device.

The power is utilized by the device(compressor) to compress the air & then delivers the pressurized air to the engine via intake manifold. Various types of supercharger such as centrifugal type, root’s type  & vane type are available in the market.

Turbochargers


Turbochargers have the same function as supercharger except that they don’t draw power from the engine. Turbochargers get their power from exhaust gases. The engine produces huge amount of exhaust gases carrying enormous heat energy. This energy usually gets wasted since they are released directly to atmosphere.

Turbochargers utilize this energy by letting the exhaust gases pass through a turbine. The turbine produces work which drives a compressor. The compressor then compresses air & supplies it to the engine at high pressure.


Turbo vs Supercharger: pros and cons


Each method of forced induction has its pros and cons. While a supercharger provides immediate boost, fuel economy does suffer compared with a turbocharger that is inactive at low revs (turbo lag) or at idle. 

Compared with turbochargers, superchargers are easier to install and (generally) do not require an intercooler. This is because supercharges do not heat the compressed air as much as a turbo. Turbochargers can sometimes provide too much boost, which damages an engine. A waste gates removes excess boost which protects an engine.


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Everything you need to know about car's headlamp.

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Lights have come a long way since the original tungsten filament light was introduced and subsequently replaced by the Halogen lightbulb in the early 60’s. It remained the standard with little in the way of innovation until the early 90s when the HID headlamp was unveiled by BMW and then 13 years later the LED Headlight by Audi.

These days the most common head lamp to be found on cars is still the halogen headlight, but this is eventually going to become antiquated in favour of newer technologies such as HID, LED and as futuristic as it sounds LASER.

Before we get into the details of each of the above there are a few things to become acquainted with if you intend on buying a replacement or upgrading your existing headlights.

Alignment: A lot of people may be unaware of this but your headlights are actually aimed specifically to suit countries that drive on the right side or the left side. Headlights for use in left lane traffic countries have low-beam headlamps that dip to the left, the light is distributed with a downward/lefthand bias to show the driver the road and signs ahead without blinding oncoming traffic and vice versa for countries that drive on the right side with most of their light directed downward/righthand. So you could not buy a Headlight in Ireland if you intend to drive in France unless you plan on having the car lights properly calibrated for the change in the road. However, some cars have headlights that can adjust themselves with the flick of a button that will set it to either RHD or LHD.

Auto Levelling/Load adjustment: Used very effectively in trucks load adjustment means that the headlights will adjust themselves and dip the beam downwards to not blind other road users if the car becomes higher or lower depending on the weight fluctuation or when the car accelerates or decelerates.

Lumens: This is the standard measurement of light output.

Reflector and Projector Headlights:

A reflector headlamp is just what it sounds like, the actual light comes from a bulb in the center of the headlamp housing and reflects off of the sides of the housing. This allows the light being emitted from the small bulb to be spread out on the road in front of the vehicle.

Projector headlights also do exactly what they sound like-they project the light rather than reflecting it. This type of housing calls for a different type of light bulb to accommodate the housing. Projector headlights allow for more control of the light beams as they are emitted from the housing. One should not confuse projector headlights with HID headlights. While all HID’s come in a type of projector housing, not all projector headlight housings use HID bulbs which is why you will see projector headlights come with H1/7/15 bulbs etc.

Halogen Headlights

 Halogen: Halogen lights contain a gas, usually a combination of nitrogen and argon, and a tungsten filament, that are encased in a glass tube. The glass is made to resist extremely high temperatures. When the light bulb receives the electrical current from the car, this heats the tungsten filament creating light. The most common headlight bulb you will find in the automotive world, it is estimated to be installed in as much as 80% of all cars. Since the 60’s it has become the standard due to the cheapness and the ease of replacement mixed with a relative good lifecycle. They also turn on extremely quick in comparison to a Xenon bulb

However, there are reasons why newer technologies are being developed to replace this type of Light.

• It is inefficient and dim in comparisons to other available light options. A standard Halogen bulb will produce 1300 Lumen. While this is good there are far better options if the better light is what you seek.
• Another downside is that they are extremely sensitive to substances, using your bare hands will leave an oily residue on the glass which will alter the heat distribution and lower the lifespan emphatically.
• Energy wise it is inefficient as it creates a lot of heat which is then wasted.
• There is also the problem with light not being focused so any illumination of the road isn’t what it could be.

HID (High intensity Discharge):

 HID: Sometimes referred to as Xenon made their debut in the early 90s by BMW for the BMW 7 series and since then it has gradually been adopted by increasing numbers of manufacturers for various Premium and non-premium level cars.

High intensity discharge headlights contain a mixture of gases and rare metals that are heated to generate a bright white (or blue) glow which legislators have stipulated all new cars must illuminate. Not only do they produce white light this white light has a blue hue to it which adds to the aesthetic beauty of your car.

HID’s are roughly two to three times brighter than the standard halogen bulbs about 3000 Lumen compared to 1400 produced from Halogen bulbs and as a result, has led to complaints about the level of glare these lamps produce.

This increases vision which increases reaction time to unforeseen obstacles making driving safer at night.

HID lamps actually require more power to start up but once they are on they operate at a much lower power usage than Halogen. Drawing only about 35 watts of power, they generally are good for about 2000 hours of life. This makes HID lights more efficient than halogen.

This also means there will be less taxing demands on the alternator which won’t require more engine torque to sustain the electricity demand. However, any fuel efficiency gains will be minimum at best but if your environmentally aware it does mean slightly fewer emissions.

Like most things it is not all plain sailing for Xenon lights or everybody would install them.

• Firstly, the cost alone is most of the reason these haven’t completely taken over as the industry standard. They are not cheap to replace due to the rare metals they use.
• They are also notorious for being a failing component of car inspection tests(NCT) if someone manages to jerry rig these bulbs into a halogen bulb housing.
• The uncontrolled brightness will cause huge amounts of glare compromising road safety. These Xenon bulbs require a projector style headlamp to house them.
• They require a short period of time to attain full brightness.
• Some countries require a Xenon equipped headlight to have an automatic washer installed.

Bi-Xenon: On most car models, HID lighting is only used for the low beams while the high beam light is provided by an entirely separate set of halogen lights primarily because high beams need to be turned on and off instantly which HID is not great at. For vehicles with bi-xenon headlights, the HIDs provide both the low and the high beam from the same enclosure of xenon lights via a shutter that moves up and down when prompted meaning since the bulb is already operating there is no delay when turning it on.

Also, a Bi-Xenon lamp uses two bulbs whilst normal Xenon lamp uses 4 which means more cost attached for replacements in the long run.

However, whilst not overly common the shutter is susceptible to wear and tear and could malfunction given time. However, this is not a problem for standard Xenon lights which don’t use shutters.

LED

LED (short for light emitting diodes) car lights have surprisingly been around since 2004 but have only begun to gain popularity recently with more and more people looking for better alternatives to the standard Halogen bulbs.

One of the biggest draws for the LED bulb is that it is by far the most energy efficient option on the market. LED Bulbs draw 15 to 18 watts of power whereas Halogen bulbs draw 55 to 65 watts and HID draws around 42.

They also have an incredibly long lifespan 30000-40000 hours which could potentially see out the entire lifetime of the car which is pretty unprecedented in itself.

LEDs do not contain mercury and a push is being made to replace lead-containing solders with material devoid of any lead, keeping them in line with European directives further decreasing their environmental footprint.

Their small size also enables them to be arranged into virtually any design which makes them ideal for customization fanatics. In terms of illumination, they fall in-between HID and Halogen for brightness.

However, LED’s like most things have their own drawbacks.

Although LEDs do not produce heat like halogen headlights would they do however create a small amount of heat at the emitter when electricity passes through since this location is close to a number of sensitive cables and other electrical components this creates the possibility that other parts (assemblies and connectivity cables) become damaged.

This is why LED headlights require cooling in the form of fans and heat sinks to keep from melting. However, LED cooling systems are generally positioned in the engine bay. This limits manufacturers ability to make lights for certain makes and models, this also explains why they are more expensive than other types of headlights.

Something to be very wary of when buying LED kits and if the price is a consideration…A lot of the cheap LED kits use poor quality aluminium heat sinks, and these sometimes significantly shorten lifespans.

Luckily LED daytime running lights and tail lights don’t use heat-sinks because DRL’s and rear lights/indicators aren’t used to see at night so less power is diverted to the running of these lights/ less power = less heat when it comes to LED’s. The current running through the chips is not enough to create any sort of problem.

They also have the shortest rise time (the time it takes to turn on) at 1 millisecond, this makes it over 250 times faster than Halogen making it extremely useful as a brake or indicator light.

Unfortunately, at the moment LED large scale manufacturing isn’t cost effective as there are so many components human hands have to do the majority of the assembly. This leads to high production costs that are pushed onto the end user, so far now LED lights are going to be pricey.

LED Matrix:

It’s a sign of Audi’s confidence in LED lights that despite their poor adoption rates by large scale manufacturers so far, they have kept on innovating and recently they unveiled the Matrix LED headlights sort of the headlights version of the smartphone, they allow drivers to leave the high beams left permanently on as they have the capability to detect other vehicles and pedestrians and divert light away so that they don’t blind other drivers while at the same time continue to cast their full light in the areas where there isn’t another vehicle(probably why they are sometimes referred to as smart lights). This is made possible because the light path is created using numerous LEDs roughly 25 per headlight unit spread over a grid (or matrix), and these are controlled by a central control unit that is being fed information on road conditions through a camera mounted on the front of the vehicle.

It is interesting that this technology is currently banned in the US due to an outdated law made back in the late 60s requiring vehicles to have a driver controlled High and Low beam, it also took nearly a decade for the US to approve of Halogen lights so it might be a while before the US sees smart headlights!

LASER:

The word laser probably conjures up images of Star Wars and other Sci fi type scenarios where lasers are used as deadly weapons. But in the real world, it is not quite as dangerous, or at least the laser headlights produced by BMW and Audi. Laser headlights are touted as being the next big thing in headlights technologies being brighter and more energy efficient than existing lights.

How new are they you ask? Very new is the answer. So new in-fact that only a couple of cars currently have them (and not the cheap types of cars either) BMW’s i8 which costs upwards of 100k and BMW’s 7 series range also currently supports laser light.

Laser headlights also boast at being much brighter than LED or HID lights, so bright in-fact that LASER headlights only kick in when you drive in speeds excess of 60km, anything below then the LED lights take over so it will be tricky showing these lights off in any urban setting.

And if you were worried that an abundance of these lights on roads posed the risk of blinding you then don’t worry as the dangerous part of the lasers are buried deep in the assembly and have reflectors and all sorts of safety systems built in to prevent any danger to the public.

Earlier we discussed the LED Matrix smart-light system, BMW have also come up with their own laser version called the ‘M4 Concept Iconic Lights’. Not only do these lights prevent other drivers being blinded but they also project messages onto the road warning of a dangerous over take etc.

Lasers have many advantages over the conventional LED lights:
Pros:

• They use energy more efficiently, even though the actual lasers are 1,000 times brighter than LEDs, the system uses only about half the power.
• Because laser-powered headlights can put out more brightness for their size, the headlamp units themselves can be much smaller. As a result, designers can have a lot more flexibility to make more aerodynamic designs.
• The laser lights can be much smaller than conventional lighting systems, they can use less energy to operate and well, they look pretty darn cool.
• Lasers lights as we know are much more focused so do not get scattered easily thus they illuminate longer distances than conventional lights.

Cons:

• At the moment they are only available for an extremely small range of cars.
• They are going to be insanely expensive for the foreseeable future since last Gen innovations such as LED and HID are still on the pricey side of things.

Which should I buy?

It goes without saying that unless you’re driving a BMW i8 or M7 then you should forget about laser headlights for the time being until they become more widely available. If the price isn’t too big of an obstacle, then HID for better illumination but if you’re looking for something almost as good but way better for efficiency and the environment then LED is the way to go.

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How does manual transmission in cars work?

A manual transmission transfers power from the engine to the differential using a clutch and pairs of gears that are manually selected using the gear selector and locked to the output shaft. Most cars today with manual transmissions have four, five or six different forward gear ratios.

 The five-speed manual transmission is fairly standard on cars today. Internally, it looks something like this:

 

There are three forks controlled by three rods that are engaged by the shift lever. Looking at the shift rods from the top, they look like this in reverse, first and second gear:

 

The clutch is positioned between the engine’s flywheel and the transmission. Normally when the clutch is engaged, it locks the transmissions input shaft to the flywheel. When the clutch pedal is depressed, the clutch is disengaged by a thrust bearing, and no power is transferred. With the clutch disengaged it is possible to select gears. To start the vehicle moving, the clutch is slowly released, and slipped slightly. It is important not to ride the clutch once you are moving  because this can lead to clutch slippage or premature thrust bearing problems. Gears are normally selected using a shift lever, often mounted on the floor, but sometimes mounted on the dash or steering column. The gears are usually laid out in an H pattern with neutral being a space between gears.

 

Early manual transmissions (and those found in some trucks, heavy machinery, and racecars) use an unsynchronized design. In an unsynchronized transmission the gears are selected by sliding them on shafts until they have engaged the dog clutch. In order for the gears to engage properly they need to be spinning at the same speed as the output shaft, otherwise the gears (actually the dog clutches) will grind. To do this you can either double clutch by essentially using the clutch to shift into neutral, and then again to shift into the desired gear, or you can rev match by matching the engine’s RPM with the RPM the engine will be at for the road speed in the desired gear. Unsynchronized transmissions are generally tougher than synchronized ones, as the synchros are usually made out of soft brass that wear much more quickly than the steel gears. Because of this added strength, unsynchronized transmissions can usually be shifted quickly without using the clutch, especially when designed with fewer teeth on the dog clutches, as in some race cars.

 Most transmissions found in modern cars are synchronized. The synchronizer is attached to the dog clutch, and consists of a cone clutch and a baulk ring. When you try to shift gears and the parts aren’t at the same speed, the cone clutch contacts first, bringing the gears and output shaft to the same speed using friction. The baulk rings prevents the dog clutch from engaging until everything is synchronized. The synchros are usually made out of a soft metal such as brass, which makes it important to use the clutch when shifting, because imperfect rev matching will be masked by the synchros. Continuous abuse will lead to synchronizer failure, and grinding. Rev matching while using the clutch can reduce wear on the synchros as they will need to work less hard to match the speeds of the gears and output shaft.

 

 

In a sequential gear box (usually found in race cars) there is no neutral between gears, and the gears are selected in sequential order instead of in an H pattern, often without using the clutch. In a semi-automatic manual gearbox the actual rev matching, gear shifting and clutch control is handled by a computer. In these transmissions the clutch is usually only used to get the vehicle moving. When the driver presses a button or pulls a lever the computer takes the car out of the current gear, blips the throttle or waits for the engine RPM to drop to the appropriate level, and then changes into the requested gear.

 

Manual transmissions are generally more fuel efficient than automatic transmissions because there is no fluid coupling or fluid pump like in a traditional automatic transmission, and no belt to slip like in a continuously variable transmission. A standard transmission also allows the driver more control over which gear they are in, potentially allowing for a lower engine RPM.

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Planning to buy a car? Confused between petrol/diesel car? Check this article before buying one.

To go for petrol or a diesel power is among the first considerations you have to make before purchasing a new car. Is it worth it to get a car that runs on diesel? What are the cons of getting such a vehicle? Weighing both sides will help you decide whether you should go for a diesel car or not.

 

Petrol (Gasoline) Engine

The petrol engine (aka gas engine in the U.S.) is one of the two main types of engines. Essentially, it utilizes the process of combustion to operate. Combustion is basically the mixing of gasoline vapors with air, at a very high temperature and pressure, to drive pistons—which power the rest of the engine. The car's battery is attached via an "induction coil" to the engine and serves to provide a very small "spark" to ignite the air/gas mixture.

Diesel Engines

Diesel engines are very much like gas engines. Combustion takes place to drive power to pistons, just as it does in a gasoline engine. This, by the way, is referred to as the conversion of chemical energy to mechanical energy. Diesels and gas engines also tend to share very similar architectural elements as well, like crankshafts and cylinders.

The fundamental difference in diesel and gas engines is the method of sparking the mixture. In a diesel, the air is the only initial thing that is compressed via pistons and after that happens, fuel is introduced to the compressed air (which is very hot now due to compression). In a gas engine, air and gas are simultaneously combined.

 

Petrol(Gas) engine: pros and cons

Pros

· Gas engines are typically more powerful, by way of horsepower, than diesels.

 · Petrol engines (Gas) also generally benefit from being easier to tune and tune-up.

 · Furthermore, petrol engines have a better ratio of price to power and burns fuel more eco-friendly than diesel does.

 · Petrol is usually cheaper than diesel fuel(Exception of India) in most of the world, this comes with a tradeoff though which you'll see in the next paragraph.

 

Cons

· The downside for the petrol engine is that, typically, its lifespan is almost always shorter than that of the diesel.

 · This basically relates to the fact that diesel engines will usually have a higher residual (resale) value.

 · Equally, if not more important is the fact that gas engines get less miles-per-gallon (sometimes significantly) than their diesel counterparts.

 

Diesel Engines: pros and cons

Pros

· Diesel engines offer better resale values

 · Diesel engines have much better fuel economy

 · Diesel engines are generally more reliable than petrol engines

 · Diesels often have much more torque (twisting power of pistons) than petrol

 · Much more suitable for things like heavy-towing, industrial applications, and driving long distances more frequently (as it relates much more to trucks than diesel cars)

 

Cons

· Diesel-powered autos are generally more expensive: giving petrol engines the advantage

 · Diesel does not burn as clean as petrol, and it is "filthier" in a loose meaning of the word

 · Diesels almost always have less horsepower (for accelerating, merging, etc) than similar gas engines

 · Most car models are gas-powered, at least until diesel becomes more environmentally friendly.

 · Diesel can be harder to find in different regions—according to availability.

 · Diesel engines, especially older ones, are noisier than petrol engines.

Conclusion

The fundamental differences in the two types of engines, the pros of each and the cons of each. Keep in mind that engine technology is as ever rapidly growing and changing. Things are constantly being improved in the realm of diesel technology. There is increased pressure to build passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, as well as farm and construction equipment that not only produce low emissions but also low-sulfur diesel fuels. This is something a diesel-powered engine can provide. The facts presented above could become quite skewed as such things as hybrid, electric, hybrid-diesel and so forth start to gain mainstream momentum.

 

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What is an airbag, how does it work and why do we need it?

What is an airbag, how does it work and why do we need it ?

Let’s find out what exactly is an airbag, why is it essential and the working mechanism of an airbag.

 

The airbag system is one of the most important parts of your vehicle's safety components. Proper airbag deployment can ensure that you and your passengers survive a crash that you may have otherwise experienced serious injury or death as a result of. When an accident occurs, airbags inflate faster than you can blink your eye. Airbags are key components in automotive safety systems, and, although we cannot see them perform under normal conditions with the naked eye, they soften the impact of collisions by keeping passengers from contacting the steering wheel, dashboard, front glass, and other parts of the automobile. Airbag deployment has saved thousands of lives through the years.

What Are Airbags?

 Airbags are stretchable fabrics or other materials that are tightly packed in various locations throughout your vehicle. There are airbags at the front of the dashboard in most cars, and many vehicles have airbags along the side of the car as well. These bags are compressed and kept in a small area. When there is an accident, the airbags fill up with air very quickly to provide a cushioning system for the people in the car so that they are not thrown around in the event of a crash. While this does not necessarily prevent total injury or death, it can be very helpful in cushioning the passengers in a car in many cases.

 

 

 How does an air bag work?                

Although we don't usually associate automobiles with chemistry, a lot of chemistry takes place in a working car--the burning of gasoline to run the engine, for example, and chemical reactions in the battery to generate electricity. Another reaction--one that most drivers would just as soon not experience firsthand--involves the air bag. Air bags are not inflated from some compressed gas source but rather from the products of a chemical reaction. The chemical at the heart of the air bag reaction is called sodium azide, or NaN3.

CRASHES trip sensors in cars that send an electric signal to an inflator. The heat generated causes sodium azide to decompose into sodium metal and nitrogen gas, which inflates the car's air bags. 

 

Under normal circumstances, this molecule is quite stable. If heated, though, it will fall apart. The chemical equation 2 NaN3 --> 2 Na + 3 N2 describes exactly how it falls apart. Notice that the second product of the above reaction is N2, also known as nitrogen gas. A handful (130 grams) of sodium azide will produce 67 liters of nitrogen gas--which is enough to inflate a normal air bag 0.03 SECOND is all it takes to inflate an air bag. 

That's not the only chemistry involved. Notice that the other chemical into which sodium azide falls apart is Na, or sodium. Sodium is a very reactive metal that will react rapidly with water to form sodium hydroxide; as a result, it would be quite harmful if it got into your eyes, nose or mouth. So to minimize the danger of exposure, air bag manufacturers mix the sodium azide with other chemicals that will react with the sodium and, in turn, make less toxic compounds.

Crash Sensors

 The most important parts of the success of the airbag system are the crash sensors. These small pieces of electronics are designed to tell when the vehicle has been damaged in an accident. They respond to several different sets of stimuli, including sudden stopping, increased pressure as pieces of the car are moved due to the force of the collision, and more.

Different types of sensors measuring wheel speed, seat occupant status, brake pressure and impact, and other vehicle status indicators are monitored by the airbag control unit located in the front portion of the cabin. The sensors relay signals to the airbag control unit, which analyzes the data and can orchestrate safety features like seat belt lock, automatic door locks, as well as airbag deployment.

Two types of airbag sensors used in cars are electrical and mechanical. Electrical sensors vary in design. Some use an electromechanical "ball and tube" mechanism, which basically consists of a small tube containing a circuit switch and ball that's held together by a small magnet. If a collision occurs, the ball is dislodged from the magnet and rolls forward in the tube, hitting a switch that completes the electrical circuit. Other electrical designs are similar in principle, using a metal roller or spring loaded weight instead of a ball, or in newer cars, an accelerometer to trip the sensor. Mechanical sensors work independent of the electrical system and respond similarly to the electrical sensors, with a design that actuates a firing pin triggering a small explosion after a crash. Since a mechanical sensor does not require a power source, it cannot be deactivated like an electrical sensor can when the battery is disconnected.

The success of the airbag system relies upon the crash sensors working not only accurately but also extremely quickly, so the most expensive and technologically advanced part of the airbag system are here.

Inflator

 Once the control unit determines there is an accident, it sends a signal to the inflator system. The inflator sets off a chemical charge, producing an explosion of nitrogen gas, filling up the airbag. As the airbag fills up, it bursts through the paneling that contains it and enters into the space of the car in order to protect you.

This all happens in an instant, usually within 25 or 50 milliseconds. That translates to almost 200 miles per hour. The airbag then will deflate itself on its own once it deploys.

If you want to check out the video on how airbags work click the link

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