Turbocharged engines have taken over the car world. These are our favorites from Porsche, Ferrari, Chevy, Ford, Volvo, VW and more.

Matthew DeBord/Insider

• Turbocharged engines have become a widespread option across many auto brands, from luxury marques to mass-market options.
• Turbochargers used to be the province of European cars, but they're appearing on more American nameplates. I've driven turbos from Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren, and Audi, but also from Ford and Chevy.
• Here's rundown of some favorites.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

When I was a youngster, turbochargers were exotic, European fare. Americans drove big V8- and V6-powered cars. Sometimes, supercharged. But mostly, all motor.

I still love a naturally aspirated eight or six, but in today's auto market, engines that lack forced-induction of some sort are becoming more rare than the norm.

In the past decade, the turbocharger has become ubiquitous. Why? Well, by using exhaust gases to spin a turbine and cram air into combustion chambers, you can offer higher-displacement power on a smaller motor, and pick up some MPGs in the process. Or not: You can also bolt a turbocharger or two on an already beefy motor and extract more horsepower, MPGs be damned.

I wasn't actually sure how many turbocharged engines we'd tested in the past five or six years at Business Insider. Once I dove in, I stopped after crossing the 50-vehicle barrier. 

Turbos! They're everywhere! Here are some good ones. Actually, a whole lot of good ones:

Before we get started, the truth is that I'm a naturally-aspirated V6 man at heart. But I've had some dalliances with turbos — most memorably my 1998 Saab 900S.

Of course, nowadays the V6 cars are in short supply, while the turbos are everywhere. Let's begin with a run of Porches — up first is the 2020 911 Carrera 4S the classic boxer six, with twin turbochargers, making 443 horsepower with 390 pound-feet of torque.

Read the review.

The 2020 911 Porsche 911 Turbo S has an incredibly potent 640-horsepower, twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter flat-six, making 590 pound-feet of torque. The most powerful Turbo S ever, Porsche says.

Read the review.

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