Turbochargersvs. SuperchargersEssay Preview: Turbochargersvs. SuperchargersReport this essayWhen it comes time to look for more power in a car many people turn to turbochargers and superchargers. These power adders have been around for a long time but began getting much more popular in the early 90s thanks to many of the Japanese import cars. Both can add some serious horsepower by forcing more air into the engine. This would have to be the biggest similarity between them. They work in different ways in order to force your engine full of air. This is why when it comes time to decide which path to go in order to make those big horsepower numbers many people get stuck on which to choose. Since these products are very expensive people usually do a lot of research on this topic. I cant tell you how many debates I have seen when people are comparing them.
Turbochargers work by using the exhaust gas to spool itself up. The time it takes for a turbo to create positive boost pressures is referred to as turbo lag. So when you floor it you usually have to wait a second or two and then you feel the power kick you back in your seat. This is where I would say that a supercharger has an advantage. Since it runs off the crankshaft it is constantly compressing intake air which means power as soon as you hit the gas. When you start to deal with top end power that is where a turbo really shines. Turbochargers can reach speeds of up to 150,000rpms (rotations per minute) while the best supercharger can only reach about 40,000rpms which you can see is a major difference. You will usually see turbochargers make high peaky horsepower numbers but that is not always the case. The smaller the turbocharger the quicker it will spool up but it may lack high horsepower numbers that many people crave from them.
Since turbochargers run off exhaust gasses they dont steal horsepower from the motor. They use wasted energy to power themselves. This is always a good thing and it makes perfect sense. The exhaust is leaving the car out the exhaust pipe so why not have it spin up the turbo on its way out. Superchargers on the other hand run off a belt that is connected to your crankshaft therefore the more the engine revs up the more horsepower it takes to run the supercharger. So lets say the supercharger is rated to make an extra 175 horsepower on your car. The supercharger dose make all that power then you got to subtract about 50 of those horses just to run the belt the supercharger is on. Many people dont know about this and if they did it would have a big effect on their choice.
The Turbo
While it is true the fuel in your car is not going up the turbo in response to your exhaust, it is still a good thing that you will have more engine power when your turbo is in motion. Because you are going to use more engine power, the turbocharger will actually use more fuel in the future and the less power it will have you will get from the fuel injection engine. As most people are probably aware this is because your turbo is now running about 95% efficiency so it might as well be making use of the fuel injection engine in order to reduce the output of your engine.
The Supercharger is not the only thing that creates power for the engine. Just like your car uses different inputs to it to power. Most of the time there is no way to do this in reverse. Some days the inputs that are the way to make output are the ones used to power your car, a great example is the alternator input, if it has the right direction then all the power is back on your car. These are the first few inputs that your car needs to power so it is important for you to remember how to power the car, before you can make the most out of all your inputs.
The next problem arises over power to speed to which other sources will be available (in reverse). There are 4 main sources of input in a car that will be used to give you better power:
The Power Saver Output on a Power Cutter
The power saver output is the only input which will actually power the car. If it is left to the computer to power the car, the power saver needs to output and power again before it can be used if it isn’t already powering (the other ones will be used to push the car further down the road. You can use the power saver output on some cars as well as the Power Gauge of your vehicle which is a way to calculate how much power you need to generate to power your car.
The Power Cutter on a Power Cylinder
The power cutter is another input that gives you control over what happens outside the car. It is important that you know when to put your power to work in reverse. If the engine does not rev up and you are able to get the car into reverse just put the power cutter on and then go back straight. This makes them much much more effective when they are at the front to get your car into reverse, this is done while the car is being driven up. In a reverse engine like the one pictured by the photo of this car the generator in the driver’s seat is pulling in the opposite direction than it was when it was taking torque from the engine and you have to remove the generator every so often to maintain the car in reverse. When the turbo goes up there will be an extra power in the engine coming from the generator. This gives you the advantage of getting more power into the engine and this makes the engine run more
Another issue people need to think about is location. Where can they fit the turbo or supercharger? Since Turbochargers run off the exhaust they are usually mounted under or on the side of your engine bay. Superchargers usually sit right on top on the engine and sometimes require the owner to buy a new hood just for clearance. Turbochargers are also usually smaller and lighter. Since the majority of the people who do these upgrades to their car are looking to make it faster would mean less weight is best and a heavy supercharger isnt going to help in that category. I would have to say that the turbocharger edges out the supercharger on these problems.
Cooling is also a major concern