"Turbo" redirects here. For the movie, see Turbo (film). For other uses, see Turbo (disambiguation).

Cut-away view of an air foil bearing-supported turbocharger.

A turbocharger, or turbo (colloquialism), from Latin "turbo" ("spinning top"),^[1] is a turbine-driven forced induction device that increases an engine's efficiency and power by forcing extra air into the combustion chamber.^[2][3] This improvement over a naturally aspirated engine's output results because the turbine can force more air, and proportionately more fuel, into the combustion chamber than atmospheric pressure alone.

Turbochargers were originally known as turbosuperchargers when all forced inductiondevices were classified as superchargers. Nowadays the term "supercharger" is usually applied to only mechanically driven forced induction devices.^[4] The key difference between a turbocharger and a conventional supercharger is that the latter is mechanically driven by the engine, often through a belt connected to the crankshaft, whereas a turbocharger is powered by a turbine driven by the engine's exhaust gas. Compared to a mechanically driven supercharger, turbochargers tend to be more efficient, but less responsive.Twincharger refers to an engine with both a supercharger and a turbocharger.

Turbochargers are commonly used on truck, car, train, aircraft, and construction equipment engines. They are most often used with Otto cycle and Diesel cycle internal combustion engines