electronic superchargers

[JSUsaxman]

Do these things really work or are they just a big waste of money??

[neon_rt]

Waste of money.

[JSUsaxman]

what exactly does an electronic supercharger do???

[neon_rt]

I assume that you talking about the superchargers that run on electrical power. They are attached to or have a built-in electric motor to run the supercharger. Electric superchargers take as much power to run as a regular belt driven supercharger. To power a supercharger you need about 10hp (est) that is about 7400 watts, automobiles use 12volt systems, so that means you need a charging system that can push over 600 amps of power to your electric supercharger. Where are you going to get 600 amps? Typical car systems only provide 80-120 amps. There are some "electric superchargers" on the market, they are not really superchargers, they are fans that make a lot of noise and don't actually offer any boost.

[das2123]

Originally Posted by JSUsaxman

what exactly does an electronic supercharger do???

Waste your money is what it does...Seriously don't waste your money on one. The turbonator, electric supercharger, it's all crap. No proven dyno sheets and not one real performance engine that I have seen has anything like this on their car. There was a guy here in Houston who claimed to feel some improvement with the turbonator on his neon, but could/would never get to the dyno to prove it.

[dimefury]

right now it is a waste of money and time. currently there are not any electirc superchargers that are worth installing. (doesn't produce much boost, can't sustain continuous use, lots of batteries, lots of weight, etc.)

there was a good thread about this a month or so ago, i'll try and find a link for it.

it is a cool idea, but right now the technology just isn't there yet. it's good to see that there are people out there experementing with these kind of technologies, but don't install anything that is out on the market now. it's all expensive junk.

edit-
i can't find the thread i was talking about, but damn.......do a forum search and you will find lots of threads about this topic. most come to the same conclusion as i wrote up there........

also look at thomas knight turbo
http://www.turbomagazine.com/tech/0406tur_knight/
this is the best i've seen and it still isn't really that good.