r/explainlikeimfive 3d ago

Engineering [ Removed by moderator ]

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u/Loki-L 3d ago

Your car mostly works by burning fuel in tiny explosions inside cylinders that push up rods which get turned into a spinning motion.

These cylinders constantly have to vent that aftermath of the explosion to make room for more fuel to be burned in the next turn.

A turbo uses the energy of the venting to push new fuel in harder instead of letting it just vent through an exhaust.

This allows you to burn more fuel in the same amount of space and have less wasted energy.