Turbocharger Vs Supercharger

[Prater]

What is the difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger? What are the pros and cons of each?

Thanks,
-Prater

[tkr]

The difference between a turbocharger and supercharger are in the way they are powered. A turbocharger runs off exhaust flow and a supercharger runs on a belt off the
crankshaft. Both are basically compressors that pressure feed the intake system. A turbocharger takes horsepower away by restricting exhaust flow. A supercharger takes
horsepower away by puting extra load on the crankshaft pulley...so its a matter of opinion which one is better.

Matt Nelson
Team Kwik Racing

[vwguy]

there are so many pros and cons its hard to begin first what would it be used for? what engine? etc
then youll start to learn more about the pros and cons of each application
some people talk crap on turbochargers insisting turbo lag is the worst thing in the world while others think it only a small price to pay for the increase in performance i believe it less power robbing than superchargers because its no strain on the crank pulley and as far as the guy saying it robs horsepower cuz its inline with exhaust doesnt realize the fact that the compressor can be adjusted with something called a wastegate and can be adjusted and controlled accordingly to restrict less or more exhaust the more you restrict though the more intake force and more power you get out of it

[rdc]

I am not even close to an expert on this subject, but I do know that turbos are best suited for fuel injection and superchargers work well with both injection and carbs. Turbos work for the most part at high rpm's with gas motors.. I think you could always do better with a turbo due to the fact that you are using wasted energy. But a custom turbo setup will run you much more than a bolt on supercharger. Both work well, just make sure you upgrade the fuel system to match. I once worked on a race team that had a supercharger put on the dually used to pull the race trailer and it would detinate(sp?) real bad at WOT. They had left the stock injectors in and had to much boost. Hope this helps you, or at least gives you somethings to think about.....

Tony

[Cameron]

Don't know much about superchargers, but with a turbo system the one thing you should do is let the turbo spool down before you shut the engine off. (let the engine idle for 30 seconds or more) If you don't, you can burn up the bearings. This is because the turbo is still spinning at a high RPM and is no longer getting fresh oil to the bearings. This is not as much of a problem with the newer water cooled turbos, but still not a bad practice.
Hope this helps.

<font color=red>Cameron</font color=red>
<font color=yellow>BRAT Racing # 936</font color=yellow>