what is faster a turbo charged or super charger ?

Asked by Yousef Nov 21, 2008 at 06:11 AM about the 2004 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class SL 500

Question type: Car Customization

3 Answers

25

Neither of them is faster, its all in the horse power. The turbo runs off of the engine's exhaust and draws in air, compresses it, then sends it into the engine. A supercharger, however, gives horse power but not as much as it says it does. For instance a super charger that says it will give you +17 hp it will only give 9 or so because it uses horsepower off of the engine to run itself.

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15

they re both good in their own respects. a turbo will bring ur top end out, while a supercharger will get u off the line quicker..more or less. kind of a trade off but thats the way she goes.

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115

It depends on the type of forced induction used, the engine setup and the desired attainable power figures. Turbos: As far as these go, they can make big power. All turbochargers pretty much work the same; they use otherwise wasted exhaust energy to spin 2 turbines connected to a shaft to allow the engine to ingest more air. The larger the turbo housings [and compressor/turbine wheels inside, along with the number of blades and blade angle] are, it will require more of the engine's exhaust energy to spool the turbo up, hence turbo lag. A smaller turbo will give great response at the expense of top end power, while a bigger turbo will take longer to come alive but will make more power [at the same boost levels]. Other than the lag on larger turbos, there isn't any negative tradeoff using a turbocharger. If you want to see how much power & torque turbos can make, search for tractor pulling. The best thing to do when turbocharging your car isn't to go for the biggest turbo you can afford, but which turbo can supply the boost response in the rev range you spend most of your time at. Learning how to read a compressor map will aide you greatly. Superchargers: These can also make big power [as seen with the 8000hp NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car classes]. Superchargers operate in a similar fashion to turbos [pressurizing the incoming air], but they use a belt driven off of the engine's crankshaft to provide the impeller blades [or lobes] motion. S/C's are also referred to as blowers. There is more than 1 kind of S/C, I'll explain. Centrifugal - These S/C's look similar to the compressor [intake] housings on turbos. These blowers use the engine's RPM to achieve boost pressure, meaning they don't respond right away but build boost as engine RPM increases. These can cause an engine to feel weaker in the bottom end of the rev range, but their power delivery is gentler on the drivetrain. Good examples of this style blower come from Powerdyne, Paxton and Vortech. Roots - These blowers are typically bolted right on top of the engine they're powering [example: 2003-04 Ford SVT Cobra]. They have twisted lobes inside the casing that provide the air pressurization. These blowers provide boost instantly, as in right now. They do heat the air slightly more than the other styles of forced induction [a result of pressurizing air is that heat is generated, simple physics]. Due to their easy packaging, this is the most popular S/C setup that OEMs choose, such as Jaguar, Land Rover, Ford, Chevrolet [General Motors] and others. Good examples of these blowers come from Eaton [OEM choice], Kenne Bell and Lysholm [european OEM choice]. Depending on the lobe twist and efficiency, these blowers produce that signature 'supercharger whine' many people recognize. The quieter the blower, the more efficient it is. This is the blower style found in the NHRA drag cars.

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