I'm kinda unclear what a supercharger is and what a turbo is.. can any1 explain it so I can understand it lol

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1988 Sport Coupe 305 TBI
K&N
Flowmaster exhaust


Daily driver:
1988 K1500 5.7 4x4 shortbed flowmaster cat-back gutted cat.
AOL: RyanNH84

 

Both are ways of feeding a lot more air to an engine than is possible naturally aspirated. They force the air in and that's why they're refferred to as forced induction. A supercharger is belt-driven off of the crank, and a turbocharger is driven by exhaust gases. Superchargers are generally easier to install and cheaper than turbos, but are more parasitic (take more power to run). Turbos are easier to make power with and are less parasitic, but require more custom ducting and fabrication. There aren't currently any turbo kits for third gens, but there are many supercharger kits us.

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82 Camaro:
350
Erson cam, ported heads,Comp Cams 1.6:1 rocker arms
Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, Holley 600
Crane Hi-6 ignition, Accel supercoil
TH350 tranny with 2500 stall.
Eibach Pro Kit
SLP 1 3/4" headers

 

thanks . If the supercharger works of the crank how does it help the hp wouldn't it take it away ?

 

Sorry for the book I just wrote. It doesn't draw that much hp away. It just draws less than a turbo. Here's an example with really high %.
Lets say you have a 300 hp engine.
There is a supercharger that will add 50% more hp and a turbo that will add 50% hp.
The blower draws 15% hp and the turbo draws 7%.
So both add 150 hp for a total of 450 hp.
The blower draws 45 hp for a gross of 405 hp.
The turbo draws 21 hp for a total of 429.
So, you see that both take power to draw in air, but both provide more power than is lost.


There are also different kinds of superchargers with different ammounts of parasiticness (don't think that's a word but I'm exhausted). Roots blowers are the most parasitic, but still provide gobs of power. Also, boost is available immediately. These are the ones that you see sticking out of people's hoods. The two common sizes are 8-71 and 6-71. There are also single carb roots blowers. There are screw superchargers which are a variation on roots, but I don't know much about them other than they are supposed to be more efficient than roots. Then there are centrifugal blowers. These are most common on fuel injected cars, but there are some for carbs. ATI has some. These look like a large compressor and fit under the hood, since they are mounted as an accessory. These are the least parasitic and provide some of the highest power gains, but they take longer to raise boost than roots blowers. I'm by no means an expert on these, but this is some of what I have gathered since I got interested in cars. I don't know much about turbos so I'll leave that up to some one else to explain.

[This message has been edited by mcconahay37 (edited July 30, 2001).]

 

thanks that really helped Now I wont feel so dumb when this topic comes up lol

 

i'm far from being the expert, but since i just pulled a turbo motor from a Grand national this weekend, i know more about them mconnahay(sorry i know i misspelled it, but i dont feel like hitting back to look) explained the basics well concerning parasitic loss.. dont let it fool you though, its not like the power 'loss' that a centerfugal S/C'er takes makes a helluva difference i mean, it does, but i wouldnt dismiss them becaues of that. anyhow, back to turbos. basically, they mount the same as centerfugal models do, and like said before, they are exhuast driven. the exhaust comes out of the headers like usual, but instead of going down and back to the rear of the car, it goes up and blows through the turbo.. causing the rotor inside to spool up and suck in massive amounts of air from another air intake pipe(fresh air). unlike the impeller(rotor) inside the case as in centerfugal S/Cers, boost is controlled by a blow off valve and waste gate(im pretty sure on this). to turn boost up, you simply adjust the blow off valve so the waste gate (just like name implies, the 'waste' air that doesnt turn the turbo exists here) doesnt open, which means more air goes through the turbo, hence more boost. hmm, think i covered it all, ask again if you have more questions. turbo's can be done cheaply, like if you buy them used out of a yard or off the net.. a friend of mine bought two turbos off ebay(garrett T-O3's, i believe), plumbed them himself onto his 460 Ford engine, and is now making 700hp.. he can lay rubber all the way down an 1/8 mile track with 10" slicks on... impressive. anyways, think thats it

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83 Z28--not a pretty site, sold thank goodness

74 Z28-- 383/400, green on black. pretty clean. FOR SALE!!!

 

not exactly sure but this is how i think it works

supercharger- works with the intake... it uses a belt off the crankshaft to work and it just sucks air to the intake of the engine, to condence the air...

turbo- works with the exhaust... and i think is sucks on the emissions to pull the air through at a higher speed but it heats up the exhaust(to make it move faster) and the exhaust system too much after extended use which isnt good for the system...