A turbocharger including a turbine wheel having a hub-to-tip ratio of no more than 60% and blades with a high turning angle and a curved leading edge, a turbine housing forming an inwardly spiraling primary-scroll passageway that significantly converges to produce highly accelerated airflow into the turbine at high circumferential angles, and a two-sided parallel compressor. The compressor and turbine each produce substantially no axial force, allowing the use of minimal axial thrust bearings.