Kain

I live in Dubai where is gets extremely hot and humid in the summer. I was wondering if all turbocharged cars lose power in hot and humid weather. If yes, how much power do they generally lose? For example, how much power would a 991 Turbo S or a 997.2 GT2 RS lose in such weather?

Shahano

I used to have a turbo powered car (F10 M5) and although they claimed that there was no loss in hot weather, I could definitely feel a reduction of power in very hot weather. Don't know the figure, but the loss was large enough for me to feel. I believe that NA don't have as bad a loss at high heat.

On the other hand, a NA car loses more power at altitude than a turbocharged engine.

ScottKelly911

DrJupeman

All cars lose power in hot weather. Hot air is less dense than cool air, that effects N/A engines and turbo engines.

I will let someone more knowledgeable pick up the argument from here, but I think it could be the case that turbos lose less power relative to NA (on a proportional basis) because they can charge the engine up to a level of boost. NA engines are stuck with atmospheric pressure. This is why you see turbocharged piston aircraft engines having more usable service ceilings than non-turbo: they can pack in more air to make up a bit for lower air density.

Shahano

Of what I know turbos are better are altitude than NAs but NAs are better in hot climate that turbos.

pitt911

from personal experience with multiple turbo cars, i can say they definitely behave off in warm and humid weather with less power , and don't run as smooth

doubleurx

In one word, yes. Highly saturated hot air affects all cars, but turbos more so, as they pump in even hotter recycled air. Bigger intercoolers!

Macca

I'd agree with this. I've noticed at 30c on the track ever the NA GT3 seems a tad more lethargic than when I've run it at the track at 12c. Density of air charge I suspect. The turbo cars I've owned seem noticeably punchier early in the morning when it's cool versus in the warm humid afternoon...

Dlff

IMHO, heat is the turbo greatest nemesis.
In short Yes, it does affect turbo car's power in hot & humid weather conditions. Cheers mate!

LexVan

For a turbo'd moter, there's a difference between running in hot humid weather and being actually "heat soaked".

kosmo

^heat soak no good.

to the OP if youre worried about it experiment w/ some race fuel.

zedcat

All engines will lose power as temp increases. PV=nRT with temp in deg R or deg K, n is moles. So a volume of air at 560 deg R (100F) has about 5% less moles of O2 compared to the same volume of air at 530 deg R (70F). If there is 5% less O2 the engine will burn 5% less fuel at any RPM, so on the order of 5% less power. That's pretty simplistic and other factors involved but that's a primary effect. 5% doesn't sound like that much but you can definitely feel it especially on track.