Exclusive first drive: Torotrak's V-Charge technology

Being the first journalist to test drive the only example of a new piece of technology still in development always concentrates the mind. Doing so in wet and windy weather battering rural roads close to England's North Sea coast brings an added dimension to the experience.

But that was how Torotrak demonstrated to Automotive Engineering the potential of its new, CVT-controlled V-Charge pressure charger-a mechanical, gearless, fully variable pressure charger driven by a conventional pulley. It allows compressor speed to vary independent of engine speed. It's designed to provide low-end torque and tackle the effects of turbo-lag on downsized gasoline engines. (See http://articles.sae.org/12401/; also SAE Technical Paper http://papers.sae.org/2015-01-1971/).