Quote:
Originally posted by Polygon
Turbo: This is a device that is driven by the exhaust. The exhaust causes a turbine to spin. There is a shaft connecting it to another turbine which then forces air into the cylinders. This uses no power to make power. Also because of this you will have turbo lag allowing you to retain good gas mileage when you aren't getting on the gas.
Super: This is a belt driven device. It has to use some of the power from the engine to force air into the cylinders. Also the power is instant as soon as you hit the gas; this will affect your gas mileage.
I feel that the turbo is better but it is all personal preference.
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A turbo does take a little bit of power, but not so much as a mechanically-driven supercharger. Remember, there's nothing in life that's free.
Mechanically-driven superchargers (either by belt, chain or gearset) are driven off the crankshaft and directly pressurize the intake charge with a compressor wheel (a centrifugal supercharger), two 3-lobed rotors (Roots supercharger), or two screws (Lysholm/twin-screw supercharger). Because the crankshaft drives these kinds of superchargers torque is spent running this as an accessory, much as turning on A/C slows down weak engines.
Just a little reminder as to why I wasted time putting "mechanically-driven" in front of "supercharger" - turbochargers are classified as superchargers. Kind of like how squares are always rectangles but not all rectangles are squares.
EDIT: I forgot to mention another supercharger type - the Wankel. Yup, before the rotary was an engine, it was a pump.