Okay so I know what the differences are between a turbo and a supercharger my question is which one is actually better, since a supercharger is belt driven would that be harder on the engine than a turbo, and is it just as easy to up the boost on a supercharger as on a turbo, because I know with a turbo you just mess around with a boost controller, but since superchargers are belt driven do you have to upgrade the pulley that they have, or do you just buy a boost controller just like a turbo. And what exacly is an aftercooler, I've heard somebody say something about these with supercharger. Sorry for all the questions I am just really thinking tonight. I dunno why?

And I also know that they do not make a supercharger for our cars I was just wondering.

A supercharger and turbocharger work on the same idea, compressed air contains more oxygen. Turbo's use exhaust gas, supercharger is a compressor driven off of a belt, like you said. Therefore a turbo has to "spool" up before its effective, and a supercharger is "always on". Really there is not a better one... But a turbo can always be made bigger! I really dont know much about a supercharger, and how you increase boost, or if its a one setting type of thing. It really is driver's choice.

Examples of extreme turbo's and superchargers!

WRX STI Pumping out 300hp out of a 4 banger! thats a wow in my opinion.

Mercedes AMG Engine, 496hp, 516lb ft torgue! out of a supercharged V8. Thats the power of a V12....

so in conclusion they both can give you massive power, like I said its driver's choice...

Personally I think that turbos are better. The supercharger is somewhat parasitic because it takes energy from the engine to get the belt and the supercharger moving. Whereas the turbo does not use any engine power to do its work. The demand caused by the supercharger may be small but it is still that many horses that are doing other work and not on the ground.

yes. what he said. super is belt, and turbo is exhaust driven...basically, w/ a turbo...the air comes out of the engine, through the manifold, spools the turbo...the compressed air then goes through the piping, hopefully to the INTERCOOLER(which i think is what you were referin to..), which cools the compressed air, then into the throttle body...

side note: basically...the Intercooler is to cool the compressed air...it acts much the same way as the radiator works....anytime you compress air, you get heat...and we all know that heat + engine = baaaad.

now then, back to class..

whereas, generally, w/ a supercharger, the air comes in the intake, then into the supercharger, where it is compressed in roughly the same way as a turbo...then it goes either through piping, through an intercooler, into the throttle body...or, in some cases, it will go straight to the throttle body w/o any cooling.

now then...as for upping boost...w/ the turbo, things such as a downpipe, exhaust, etc, that kinda stuff can help out on boost numbers, also can help on the time it takes to spool the turbo. also, the boost controller is also a very effective method. FYI, iono if you know, but all a turbo timer does is really let the engine cool down after use...you turn the car off and get otu...but the car stays on, and shuts down after X amount of time...but anyway....

now then, upping the boost on a blower is different...you do need to change the pulley. now, you can either get a smaller supercharger pulley...which makes the belt spin at the same speed, but pulls the blower into more rotations...oooooor...you can get a larger crank pulley, which will spin the blower faster, thus upping the boost....um...a boost controller will do nothing for a supercharged engine...

um...i think that's it...anymore questiosn, just holla...

-John-

a turbo charger causes more stress to an engine than a SC.

an SC will always outlast a TC.

SC's generally have 50%-60% efficiency, when matched properly to the engine.

TC's generally have 60%-70% efficiency, when matched properly to the engine.

there is no lag with a SC, if sized properly, a turbo will have little lag.

generally, the saying with SC's is that it takes power to make power. imho, i dont think an SC is worth while on an i4 engine. to up the boost, you will need new belts and a new pulley, with aTC, you can get a MBC and adjust the power with a screw

How about just go with what floats ur boat.

i made this to help explain how a turbocharger works


all the cylinders have the exhaust put out to a turbo manifold which has a bracket or flange on it to collect all the exhaust energy. that in turn spins a wheel then the extra air is put out the end then it gouts to the downpipe and out the exhaust system.

the wheel that is spun first is connected to another wheel which has a port on the side which you connect your intake to. then that air is compressed and shot out the bottom through some piping to the intercooler which is cooled by the outside air which is hitting the intercooler then up into the engine bay again into the intake manifold and back into the engine





This post has been edited by GT2GT4: Aug 14, 2003 - 3:19 AM

I knew I had some info on this somewhere - Tuning Guide magazine (French).

As has been said before:
The turbo works off Exhaust Gases.
The Supercharger (Compressor) works of a Pulley and belt.

The Supercharger gives you a much better acceleration because it does not have any lag like a Turbo. Having said that the Turbo gives you better high end performance.

Approx. hp figues (and I mean approximate) are that a Turbo will give you up to @150hp where as a Supercharger will give you up to @100hp.

As far as cost is concerned, I think that you will find that a Supercharger setup is cheaper than a Turbo setup. (Less parts).

Another point to consider is that Turbo setups already exist for our cars where as noone has gone the Supercharger route, therefore info. is available on Turbo kits and setup.

I guess it basically comes down to how you drive your car and what you want to gain.

-vphmc+Aug 14, 2003 - 4:58 AM