A turbocharger is essentially a fan that forces air into an engine. More air means more fuel, and that means more power when the spark plug fires. The fan is spun by exhaust gases exiting the engine, so the higher the engine speed, the faster the turbo spins. Makes sense, right?
This clever Lego creation from Brick Master Builders follows this general principle, namely using forced air to add power. On one end we have a model V-6 engine, identified by the three yellow pistons visible on each V of the transparent block. On a gasoline engine, the turbocharger would be mounted somewhere near the engine with pipes connecting it to the intake and exhaust systems. This build doesn’t have either, but there is an engine-sized gray box with a round spinny thing on top. You guessed it—that’s the turbo.
Since we’re dealing with small interlocking bricks, some liberties are taken with regard to the definition of a turbo. Among other things, there are no exhaust gases to spin it. A vacuum is called into action, pulling air through the box to spin a turbine within. Also, air isn’t going into the engine. Instead, the turbine spins a shaft that, in theory, is strong enough to rotate the engine on its own. But like a real turbo, it’s only a power adder. The Lego V-6 has to be “running” for the magic to happen.
With an electric motor spinning the engine, the turbo is brought to bear. We can’t help smiling when the whistling and whining starts, but the turbo shaft doesn’t change the engine speed. An open axle is getting all the power, but once that’s buttoned down, the homemade setup works as advertised. An actuator on the turbo housing gets the air flowing, spinning the turbine and the yellow pistons respond accordingly. We don’t know what the engine RPM is, but the turbo clearly makes the engine spin faster. How cool is that?
No, it doesn’t meet the traditional definition of a turbocharger. But it’s close enough for us to enjoy the sights and sounds of this small-scale engineering masterpiece.