Do turbocharged engines (gasoline/petrol) serve an actual purpose? Are they getting good gas mileage as they say they do? Are turbocharged engines (gasoline/petrol) even reliable? How long do they last before replacing? Is there any gasoline turbocharged engine that has lasted at least 300k miles overall?
Is there any gasoline turbocharged engine that has lasted at least 300k miles overall?
My daily driver's turbocharged gasoline engine is still going strong with over 360,000 miles on it.
Which one? Highway miles?
1997 Saab 9000, 2.3 four-cylinder turbo. Mix of highway and local driving.
Those engines were heavily built and can typically be run to very high mileage if maintained. They have cast iron blocks with high nickel content, all forged internals, and sodium-cooled exhaust valves. No plastic engine parts, no low-tension piston rings, no GDI, and they were not pushed to the limit by the factory. In stock form the 2.3 turbo produced 200hp, or 225 for "Aero" models. Pretty mild state of tune by today's standards for an engine that size, not overly stressed.
The pre-GM 2.3 can safely be boosted to double that power output with no internal modifications. (After GM bought out the company the 9-5 model was introduced on a GM platform and the 2.3 was redesigned to make it cheaper to build.)
If modern turbos were built like yours , I would have no problems owning a modern turbo-charged vehicle.
They're relatively easy for the shade-tree mechanic to work on as well. Most everything you need to get to is easily accessible either from above or though the wheel well.
(Stock photo, mine isn't that clean!)
I think they can be, however, they require more maintenance at shorter intervals. People generally don’t take care of their vehicles to begin with or educate themselves on what their particular motor needs are. Also, with the cost of most routine maintenance so high even among independent mechanics, people don’t have the money to keep up on the maintenance and end up really paying for it down the road. you’re going to see a small portion of these small gas turbo charged vehicles make it to 300k mi without major work being done to it.
