Continental’s powertrain developers have started series production of the world’s first car turbocharger with aluminum turbine housing.
The advantage of having aluminum in a turbocharger is that it reduces the weight of the turbocharger by 30% when compared to conventional turbocharger, which indeed reduces the cost and provides system benefits.
Continental's new turbocharger will be debuted in MINI that will have a turbocharged three-cylinder engine with 1.51 of cubic capacity and 100kW of power.
Continental Powertrain Division Turbocharger Product Line, Engine Systems head Udo Schwerdel said: "It's not just the aluminum that makes the turbocharger special; it was also developed from being a typical add-on component to an integral part of the engine."
"In order to meet the requirements placed on the unit and its integration in the cylinder head, we worked closely with the BMW Group starting from the simulation phase - an indication of trust that we greatly appreciate."
In MINI, 1.2kg of weight is being saved per aluminum turbocharger. The reduced weight results in less fuel consumption.
