DAY 14 - The Turbo

I watched a movie last night entitled The Black Legion. It was a 1937 film starring my long-time favorite actor, Humphrey Bogart. I did a little research afterwards and learned, to my total surprise, that he and Lauren Bacall had a son named Stephen Humphrey Bogart.

Now that in itself isn't anything astonishing. However, the amazing part is that Stephen was born on January 6, 1949. I couldn't believe it! My favorite actor's son and I were not only born in the same year, we were born on exactly the same day, maybe even at the same time! Wow. How cool is that? But, as interesting and phenomenal as that may be, that's not what this blog is about. So let's get back to the subject at hand.

It's been two weeks today since picking up Zelda and bringing her home. We've clocked a little over 400 miles in those two weeks, and I'm anxious to give that Turbo a little kick in the pants. But we're still in the break-in period, so I can't.

I did a little research tonight to figure out how that Twin Turbo on the N55 engine works. To be honest, all the details left me a little verklempt, but I got the basic technology of the system through my thick skull. At least partially. So, here's an attempt at 'splaining it to my readers, if there are any.

First of all, the N55 is not actually a "twin" turbo, as was the N54. BMW redesigned it and currently calls it a Twin Scroll Turbo. The way I understand it, turbocharging involves putting more air, or pressurized air, into the cylinders. It uses the exhaust to spin the turbo fins which compress the air. Naturally, when it's compressed, heat is produced, so it has to be cooled before being forced into the cylinders. The Twin Scrolling feature is related to "turbo lag" and this technology reduces or eliminates that undesirable feature.

And that's about all I was able to learn. But if you'd like to read a more detailed narrative, you can find a really good explanation HERE. Check it out.