An experimental study was carried out on a turbocharged gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine fueled by n-butanol/gasoline blends. Effects of n-butanol percents (15%, 30%, and 50%) on combustion and performance of the engine operating on stoichiometric combustion condition were discussed and also compared with pure gasoline in this paper. The results indicate that n-butanol/gasoline blends increase combustion pressure and pressure rise rate, fasten burning rate, and shorten ignition delay and combustion duration, as compared to pure gasoline. Moreover, these trends are impacted more evidently with increased n-butanol fraction in the blends. In addition, higher n-butanol percent of gasoline blends increase combustion temperature but decrease the temperature in the later stage of expansion stroke, which contributes to the control of exhaust temperature at high-load. With regards to engine performance, higher n-butanol percent in the blends results in increased brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and higher brake thermal efficiency (BTE). However, higher n-butanol addition helps to improve combustion stability but shows slightly higher knock possibility in high-load. In that case, the knock trend could be weakened by retarding ignition timing. Moreover, higher n-butanol addition significantly decreases NOx emissions, but it increases CO emissions obviously. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.