turbo/supercharge/etc.

OK... I am a novice to cars.. I have only been interested for a little while and am still learning.. and I have a few questions..

What is the difference between intake, turbocharge, supercharge, etc.?
in terms of hp increase, price, and how it works..

Thanks alot

Intake: Just replaces your stock intake, only adds a few hp, not too expensive, under $200

Turbo: Runs off your exhaust and compresses the air going in to the engine creating much more hp. Increases range from 40-150 hp depending on what kit you get and what else you have done to the car. A full turbo kit will run you about $1500-4000 depending on what kit you get and what car it is for.

Supercharger: Belt driven, also compresses air going in to the engine. A Jackson Racing Supercharger will give a civic about a 35 hp increase and costs roughly $2500. Most people prefer Turbo over supercharger.

J pretty much covered it all, but realize that the turbo, while making more power, will have a slight lag at low revs while it "spools up". Hence most racers will prefer to turbo their cars since they'll be up in the higher rev anyway. For city driving the supercharger will be much more noticeable, providing an instant boost as it is driven by the engine crank.

Really depends on what you're looking for.

Downsides of the supercharger are that it runs off the engine, and you can't change the PSI without taking it apart. A turbo has a wastegate, which allows you to raise or lower PSI (if you have a controller).
They call the turbo "free" HP because it runs off the exhaust. Yes, they take awhile to spool up compared to a blower, but this also depends on other factors of the turbo...as in, trim sizes of the housings. Not to get to technical...so I won't. Bottom line, you'll usually get more boost out of a turbo, but it won't spool up as quickly as a blower.
The intakes add more gas mileage than anything. Might make your engine sound louder, but you can do that by removing the resonators (Accords have about 4 on their intakes it seems). Mine was pretty cheap, about 70 bucks.
The full turbo will cost me under 2000, since I'm doing it piece by piece. You can get them even cheaper if you're lucky.

I've been trying to decide if I want a turbo included in my long-term plan, but I've heard that there's a lot of maintenance involved even after you're finished with it, is that true?

Originally posted by bloodzombie
I've been trying to decide if I want a turbo included in my long-term plan, but I've heard that there's a lot of maintenance involved even after you're finished with it, is that true?

No, that's not true. Well, not a LOT anyway. I would suggest you change the plugs with your oil (every 3k miles) and perform your normal maintenance schedule. All the performance shops also suggest running fully synthetic oil to prolong your motor and turbo.

synthetic oil and normal maintenance? I think I can handle that. this other guy made it sound like you had to constantly work on the thing

Well the turbo isn't exactly "free" hp. It adds resistance to the exaught, much like a muffler. yes, the supercharger does leech some (~15HP) from the engine, but the turbo won't come free (7-10HP) either. The boost created more than makes up for these side effects.

Originally posted by bloodzombie
I've been trying to decide if I want a turbo included in my long-term plan, but I've heard that there's a lot of maintenance involved even after you're finished with it, is that true?

it really depends, if u get, for example, a greddy turbo kit and just bolt that bad boy onto your car, and run stock boost (5-6psi), then you shouldnt have too much problems, maintenance shouldnt be too much different from a naturally aspirated car, my friend has a 1999 civic si, with a greddy turbo kit, the only problems he really has is that the stock clutch slips all the time (it cant handle that much power), and traction problems, since it is FWD,

but let me tell u, speed is addictive, once u feel the power gain from the turbo kit, you'll want more, trust me!

since u already have the turbo kit installed, all you have to do is up the boost right? WRONG! thats where the maintenance comes in, if you raise the boost, lets say to over 10psi, your looking at spending alot more money on your car, such as modifying internal components of engine to make it more robust, upgrading fuel components such as fuel pump, fuel injectors, and fuel management (since the turbo compresses the air going in, your going to need to shoot more fuel to compensate, to keep ur Air to Fuel ratios pretty solid), and its just begun, it gets a lot more complicated if u try to get a stand alone engine management system (eg. AEM EMS, it has great capabilities, but dont get it if u dont know wat ur doing)....

anyways i hope my point is proven,

stock boost, u should be fine, but u should baby ur car anyways =/

if u try to raise the boost, hope u got a deep wallet and high stress tolerance =)

but if u get it right, you and your car will be happy!

You should be able to run 8psi on the Greddy kit with no problems. I ran 10psi without a problem, but I seem to be the exception. Either most people are too afraid to run the Greddy kit up to 10psi with the blue box or they just have too many miles and encounter other problems like a weak fuel pump/injectors. I'm just lucky :bloated:

Well, I've only got about 1500 miles on my car. I've Had it for about a month now, and I'd rather be on the safe side than the sorry side.

Iro, what you said is kinda exactly what I was hoping for. I want to be able to run it without needing much more than to baby the car like any guy would who really likes his car. But I also want the option to push it further in the future when I'm more knowledgeable, and have a little more cash.