Jeep Claims to Have Gotten Rid of the Worst Thing About Turbochargers

Jeep and its performance division SRT, are apparently on an automotive innovative kick. The revealed a new turbocharging system that eliminates one of the most annoying things about it. During the automaker’s annual Roadkill Nights, preceding the iconic Woodward Dream Cruise, the automaker showcased one of its latest technological feats.

According to their press materials, engineers completely got rid of turbo lag on the company’s venerable turbocharged Hurricane inline-six. The the system, dubbed “eBoost,” debuted at the event on a Grand Cherokee test mule.

What is turbo lag?

Jeep

If you’ve heard of “turbo lag” but aren’t quite sure what it means, picture this. You’re driving a modern automobile with a turbocharged engine.

You’re cruising around town and normal speeds with the engine lazily spinning at either idle speed or below the engine’s initial power band. But suddenly, you need to accelerate.

The transmission recognizes the call for more power, downshifts a gear or two, the engine speed quickens, but the pace does not.

Jeep

That is, until a few seconds later, there’s a massive surge of power that finally accelerates the vehicle as the engine works through its rev range. That brief delay is called turbo lag.

It basically describes the delay in power delivery that’s bespoke to turbocharged engines (this doesn’t really happen with superchargers, I’ll explain in a minute). That’s because turbochargers run off of engine exhaust gas pressure to “spin.” This spinning process then forces more air and fuel into the combustion chamber, resulting in significantly more power.

Jeep

When compared to a naturally-aspirated engine (no turbocharger), this forced feeding does not happen. But because the turbo has to wait for the engine to pump out exhaust gases, that momentary delay in acceleration is known as turbo lag.

Additionally, the larger the turbo, the more lag there will be. This doesn’t happen on supercharged engines because the “blower” is driven by auxiliary belt via the engine’s main crankshaft.

Now, Stellantis and its geniuses at SRT claim to have completely gotten rid of that delay, specifically on its Hurricane turbocharged inline-six.

Stellantis says no to turbo lag

Many automakers in recent past claimed to have eliminated turbo lag with their own innovations. Some mounted sequentially sized turbocharged in succession (twin-turbocharging).

The smaller turbocharger handles the lower engine speeds. Under acceleration, valves then switch the exhaust flow to a larger turbo for higher engine speeds. The result is a more progressive and linear power delivery.

Others have also created electrically-assisted turbochargers and more. But Stellantis apparently has another trick up its sleeve.

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According to their technical descriptions, the new SRT-modified Hurricane inline-six with its innovative “eBoost” system does exactly that.

Essentially, it comprises of a small electric motor, additional tubing and some valves to control and provide additional intake pressure. Similarly to a conventional turbocharger..

But instead of waiting for the engine to pump out exhaust pressure, the e-motor spools up the turbo in advance before a valve closes and transitions to the exhaust pressure supply.

So what does this ultimately mean?

Jeep

While Jeep, SRT and Stellantis said it’s currently in its prototype stages, there’s a high chance it’ll make its way into the next-gen Hurriane.. This means everything from the Grand Cherokee SRT, to the current Dodge Charger SIXPACK and Ram 1500 TRX.

Additionally, SRT prided itself over the fact its team developed the system in just weeks. Obviously, some thorough test needs to be done before it can be put into production.

With high-performance models on the way, we wouldn’t be surprised to see this technology in those new models. Especially since a more potent Charger SRT and Grand Cherokee are in the pipeline.

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