Why are turbos rare?

On Oct 17, 12:11*pm, a wrote:
On Oct 17, 9:57*am, Ron Wanttaja wrote:

On 10/17/2010 2:54 AM, Mxsmanic wrote:

Why do turbocharged piston props seem to be so rare/unfavored? Don't they
provide a substantial advantage over normally aspirated engines?

More expensive to buy, more expensive to maintain, more prone to
problems. *Key issues for a private buyer. *For a business purchase, the
advantages are mostly ephemeral (arrive fifteen minutes earlier,
smoother ride over weather) and are hard to use to justify the
additional expense.

Ron Wanttaja

The reality is, no one has scaled a turbo down to where it might
replace an IO 360 or IO 540.

This was a topic of interest to me some time
back, and I ran across the Rolls Royce "RR 500"
which was developed to fill the GA turboprop market.

http://www.rolls-royce.com/civil/new...mallengine.jsp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2nD7Nqh7B4

Then there's also the "Gap FJX-2" diesel.
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/fs01grc.html

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Mark