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Twincharger engines – maybe motorcycles, too?

By Paul Crowe

VW Twincharger engineSpeaking of engine ideas for the Vmax, here’s a recently developed engine from VW, the Twincharger, that holds promise not only for small displacement cars but possibly the motorcycle market as well.

The Twincharger, is a 1390cc 4 cylinder engine with both a supercharger and a turbocharger. The supercharger is used for power below 2400rpm well before the turbo gets spooled up, boost is gradually reduced until you are using turbo only over 3500rpm. End result is no turbo lag since the supercharger is adding boost right from the start. At high speeds the power loss from the supercharger is gone and the excellent high speed boost from the turbo provides the drive.

VW says you get 147 foot pounds of torque at 1250 rpm and 177 foot pounds from 1750rpm to 4500rpm, with 170hp at 6000rpm, a 20hp and 29 foot pound boost over their 2 liter engine and equivalent to their 2.3 liter engine yet also yields 20 percent better fuel economy and lower emissions.

With auto manufacturers working with ever smaller displacement engines to meet fuel economy and emission requirements, it’s natural to look at those engines and see if there might be a little crossover possibility. The other point to consider is that auto engines have to be tuned differently to carry the extra weight and to operate in lower rev ranges. The same technology, tuned for use in a motorcycle, might yield pretty interesting numbers.

via Autoweek
photo: Motor Trend

Posted on October 23, 2005 Filed Under: Engines, Motorcycle Technology


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