Turbocharged cars make up 50-70 percent of the European fleet. We’re guessing a majority of them are of the diesel burning variety. Here in the USA, there are scant few factory turbocharged, small displacement offerings from any manufacturer. An industry analyst citing the economy and other factors thinks that 25 percent of American cars will be turbocharged, small-displacement models in coming years.
Citing the death of the V8 engine, high fuel costs, and ever tightening CAFE standards, writer John Gartner, working for Reuters makes the argument that smaller motors with hair dryers are going to be the wave of the future, even over hybrids.
These are not going to be performance cars, instead they will be bread boxes on wheels. The only thing that’ll be good is the fact that turbo supplies at wrecking yards will grow quick and cheapo junk scroungers like us will have cheaper and easier access to them for our own projects.
