An engine may not produce the same power output when it is operated at different locations and altitudes. This is due to variation in ambient conditions. Supercharging and turbo charging are used to overcome this problem. Supercharging is the process of supplying to the engine the air fuel mixture above the atmosphere pressure. A supercharger increases the pressure of the air fuel mixture from the carburetor before it enters the engine. Supercharger is the pressure boosting device which supplies air in a diesel engine or air-fuel mixture in a petrol engine at a higher pressure.

A centrifugal or axial flow or displacement type supercharger which is driven by the engine crankshaft is used in IC engines. Some superchargers are driven by a gas turbine which derives its from the engine exhaust gases. This type of supercharger is called turbocharger. The purpose of using turbocharger is to improve volumetric efficiency of the engine at high altitudes, as in aero engines and high speeds as in racing cars.

Ford Motor has introduced new model Ford Focus to be launched in the year 2011. Ford focus car is the smallest car going to be launched in the race for Hyundai i20 and Tata Nano. This model has excellent style and design. Four-cylinder engine with 1.6 liters aprroximately give 180 horse power. The engine features contain direct fuel injection and turbocharging. Ford company produce small gasoline engines that are installed in the engine as the 1.6-liter. This model contains auto-stop feature which synchronizes the engine’s restart. Electricity is converted from braking energy in advanced battery management system.The diesel variant will be available from the starting of production and also electric version which uses high capacity lithium ion battery charged in 220 volt. Which delivers the efficiency of a manual with the ease of operation of a automatic transmission. It contains six speed transmission power shift clutch. Ford focus provides smooth driving and safety measures.

Of relevance to India was the Cruze saloon. It gets two engines a 1.8 litre, 140bhp petrol and a 2.0 litre, 150bhp diesel. Both automatic and manual transmission options will be offered. Expect it to cost around Rs 12-13 lakhs and hereby launched by this end of year 2009. Along with the Aveo hatchback and Cruze saloon, Chevrolet also displayed its entire range of LPG variants including the Nubira ( Optra), Matiz(Spark) and the Aveo. These green cars could just be in the pipeline for India.

General Motors India’s Chevrolet Spark and Aveo U-VA have won the top awards for quality in the India Automotive Initial Quality study announced by J D Power Asia- pacific 2008. The spark and the Aveo U-VA were ranked the highest in their respective segments. The Spark was ranked first and won the top award in the competitive Compact Car Segment, with a score of 148PP100. This is the second year in a row that it has bagged the award.