Turbo Vs Supercharger

[Pimpin Yoda]

Okay i did some searching and was unable to find the answer to my questions so i decided to post. What is the difference between a supercharger and a turbo? Which one is better and for what? Can you have both? I heard turbos over heat easy...is that true? Is turbo lag as bad as everyone makes it out to be? And so on.

I really want to learn more about different engines and how they wrok. So if you know of any sites that i can go to and learn more about them i would love that! Thanx for all the help...hopefully!

[94tegRS]

supercharger - belt driven, no spool time
turbo - exhaust gas driven, lag while it spools

I think you can eventually get more HP out of turbo though, and you can get a basic turbo setup for lots cheaper than a supercharger.

but a supercharger is self contained, dont need to run oil lines to it, and you get to keep PS and AC, but some turbo manifolds allow this as well.

[Polygon]

Supercharger:

They are belt driven so the power is instant, but this causes some power loss since you are powering the supercharger off the engine, much like your A/C. So you have to give a little power to make a lot. You also will loose any good fuel economy that you once had. No matter what you are boosting when push the gas.

Turbocharger:

Is powerd off the exhuast. The exhust drives a turbine wheel that is attached to a shaft which then drives another turbine that compresses air into the cylinder. This way is far more efficient and there is no power loss. You do experience some lage, but that all depends on the size of the turbo, and there are ways to reduce and even eliminate lag such as N2O. You will also be able to keep a descent gas mileage as long as you don't have a heavy foot.

There are superchagers that work like turbos, but overall I feel that turbos are a better option though being more complicated and costing more. They are no less reliable as some might say.

A good site to find out how things work is: How Stuff Works.

[Kill4A911]

its my understanding that with a supercharger you cant keep boost at an even level. like if you have 6 psi at lower rpms higher up you might have more?

[Polygon]

Originally posted by Kill4A911
its my understanding that with a supercharger you cant keep boost at an even level. like if you have 6 psi at lower rpms higher up you might have more?

This is true, but it is only a problem with small turbos like a T-25.

[Pimpin Yoda]

So is there a Supercharger that kicks in instantly and then dies after the turbo is able to kick in? Or do you have to do one or the other? How hard is it to make a turbo? Are you better off buying one? How expensive are we talking for a quality supercharger vs quality turbo. Both with middle range power.

[Polygon]

Yes, a supercharger will kick in instantly and should hold its power throughout the power band. You can supercharge and turbocharge an engine. I don't see the point as it would be very costly. For a midrange powered turbo and supercharger you will pay anywhere in between $4,000 - $5,000 for a kit. Then for the turbo you may or may not want to buy an intercooler on top of that depending on boost levels.

As for building a turbo, do you meant the actual turbo itself, or the kit? If you mean the turbo, buy it new. If you mean the kit, I would say build your own.

[JD@af]

This is probably the best turbo versus supercharger write up at AF:

Overview: supercharger vs. turbocharger

[Polygon]

Originally posted by JD@af
This is probably the best turbo versus supercharger write up at AF:

Overview: supercharger vs. turbocharger

The best at AF? HA!

I would say just about the best anywhere, that was a great article. Thanks for the link, Texan knows his stuff.

Great article!!!

[gigatron]

Supercharging and turbocharging? LoL why not just twin turbocharging Hmm has anyone actually supercharged and turbocharged an engine, lol nothing's impossible however stupid it may seem @_@ You can always remove your AC.

[Kill4A911]

yes its called twin charging. pretty cool...

[Kill4A911]

one on a 4AGZE

[gigatron]

Cool

[Gerbilo]

i've seen it on an MR2... thing wasn't reliable from what i remember.

[slave]

Yeah a guy out here did it to his Corolla, got a good write up in the magazines but apparently the twin charged thing goes crap, and is very unreliable.