| Automobile racing is one of the most popular | | | | The turbocharger and auto racing |
| sports in the world, and certainly has its | | | | |
| place among the most watched sports in North | | | | The first use of a turbocharger in auto |
| America. Every year, thousands of people | | | | racing was in the late 1970s, when auto |
| watch what is happening on the NASCAR and | | | | producer Renault of France introduced the |
| CART circuits and every year thousands of | | | | turbo charged engine into their Formula One |
| people seek to emulate the pros. | | | | vehicles. This was a relatively late |
| | | | development given the long history of the |
| The history of professional and amateur auto | | | | turbo charger, but up until this point |
| racing probably goes back to the days when | | | | racecar developers believed the technology |
| the automobile was first invented and the | | | | was not fuel efficient or reliable enough to |
| first competitive spirit jumped into his | | | | power a successful racecar. |
| driver's seat, while his friend jumped into | | | | |
| their car. Since that time, the sport has | | | | Renault proved critics wrong, however, by |
| been refined and marketed to become the past | | | | using a turbocharger that provided a |
| time that it is today, and that has meant a | | | | significant boost to the speed of the car |
| lot of change along the way. | | | | with the use of a fairly small engine. By the |
| | | | early 1980s, all Formula One cars were |
| The turbocharger | | | | equipped with turbo chargers. |
| | | | |
| One of the big changes that revolutionized | | | | Turbo charging and the driver |
| auto racing was the introduction of the turbo | | | | |
| charger. The charger itself was actually | | | | Aside from increasing the speed a racecar |
| invented in the very first years of the 20th | | | | could hit in a short amount of time, the |
| century, and began showing up in practical | | | | skill needed to use a turbo charger in an |
| applications (specifically ships and | | | | engine also meant a new breed of drivers were |
| locomotives) around the 1920s. | | | | needed. This development was not just limited |
| | | | to professional circuits like Formula One; |
| Turbochargers increase the amount of air | | | | amateurs all over the world found that |
| drawn into the piston of an engine at each | | | | successfully racing a turbo driven car meant |
| stroke, thereby increasing the power boost | | | | an increase in timing ability, reflexes, and |
| that the engine supplies to the vehicle in | | | | even strength. |
| motion (more air equals more fuel). | | | | |
| Turbochargers use the rotation of the | | | | The introduction of the turbo charger changed |
| crankshaft as their power source, using the | | | | auto racing forever. Today, there are several |
| heat produced to power in the extra air. They | | | | styles of auto racing that do not allow turbo |
| are said to be more efficient than | | | | chargers, but even so, the very fact that |
| superchargers, which draw power from the | | | | there has to be litigation against these |
| engine itself. | | | | innovations is an indication of their far |
| | | | reaching impact and application! |