One or the other

[Iroc89z]

What is better a supercharger or a turbo?? what is the prices id like to put a comparison chart up on it just trying to get some input thanx guys

[Liger]

I believe that they are about the same in prices but I would like to know which one might be better as well!!!! I am thinking they each have their own pros and cons and one would work better than the other on certain setups. Thats a good question bud!!!!!

[Iroc89z]

Let's start with the similarities. Both turbochargers and superchargers are called forced induction systems. They compress the air flowing into the engine. The advantage of compressing the air is that it lets the engine stuff more air into a cylinder. More air means that more fuel can be stuffed in, too, so you get more power from each explosion in each cylinder. A turbo/supercharged engine produces more power overall than the same engine without the charging.

The typical boost provided by either a turbocharger or a supercharger is 6 to 8 pounds per square inch . Since normal atmospheric pressure is 14.7 psi at sea level, you can see that you are getting about 50-percent more air into the engine. Therefore, you would expect to get 50-percent more power. It's not perfectly efficient, though, so you might get a 30-percent to 40-percent improvement instead.

The key difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger is its power supply. Something has to supply the power to run the air compressor. In a supercharger, there is a belt that connects directly to the engine. It gets its power the same way that the water pump or alternator does. A turbocharger, on the other hand, gets its power from the exhaust stream. The exhaust runs through a turbine, which in turn spins the compressor.

There are tradeoffs in both systems. In theory, a turbocharger is more efficient because it is using the "wasted" energy in the exhaust stream for its power source. On the other hand, a turbocharger causes some amount of back pressure in the exhaust system and tends to provide less boost until the engine is running at higher RPMs. Superchargers are easier to install but tend to be more expensive.

So turbochargers are "better" but why would a supercharger be more expensive? Considering i have limited mechanical abilities but a small budjet it would be a toss up for me but id probably go with a turbo because it uses already used energy. On a website i was looking at says a turbocharger could take away some power from cylinders that pump at the same time. But rember too much boost can be too bad because if your running a strip race it takes a second or so for the turbo to kick in because of the bigger turbine in a larger turbo than a smaller turbo. Anyone else got more stuff to add to this argument?

[Iroc89z]

forgot to add a Turbo turbine runs at about 150,000 rpm thats 30 times faster than most car engines so it will take a little longer for the turbocharger to kick in

[Iroc89z]

any thoughts on it? any choices what do you think?? lets hear it!!

[trtturbo]

hrsepowerz28, what state are you in. Is it Arlington Tx.?

[Iroc89z]

na Arlington MAss

[GodHand]

I've always enjoyed the instant power that a supercharger puts out, which is why I went with the ATI system for my car and I love the way it sounds.

[Lethalchem]

I've never heard of a single supercharger that was more expensive than a turbo. When you go with a turbo, you also have to change your exhaust system (on most cars) to a Y pipe, but perhaps that is not an issue since tha Camaro is single (for some odd reason) to begin with.

Whenever I see this question I always ask, "What are the intended uses for the car?" Turbo's, Centrifugal superchargers, and Positive displacement superchargers all have different power bands.

If you want a fun daily driver with lots of low end grunt that makes power NOW, then you'd want a positive displacement supercharger. It makes tons of power immediately, but is very inefficient, and does not make as much peak power as the other two. For a daily driver, more power under the curve for longer, is better than a brief spike of high peak power.

If you want to use the car for racing, then you might consider a centrifugal blower. It's power is linear, meaning the PSI builds with the RPMS. That's not so much of an issue though when racing, because you can launch and shift in your powerband. For example: A centrifugal blower may make 1.5psi at 2000rpm, 5psi at 4000, and 14psi at 6k, whereas a positive displacement supercharger will make 10psi at 2000, 10psi at 4000, and 10psi at 6000. The PSI numbers I gave are ficticious, but I use them to show that the Centrifugal blower will make more boost (and a higher peak HP number) the last few 1000 RPMs because it's more efficient, but the positive displacement SC makes constant boost as soon as you plant your foot.

A turbo will generally make more power, and is more efficient than both of the other two types of forced induction. It's also more "tuner friendly" because you can control boost levels with a knob, instead of having to swap pulleys on the other two superchargers.

Turbo's are more tricky, because now you're going to have the variable of lag. This is the time it takes for the turbo to spool up. If you go with a twin setup, you can run smaller turbos which will help you almost eliminate turbo lag, but at a cost of peak HP. The bigger the turbo, the more power you make, but the more lag you get. If you go with a large, single turbo, then your power band will almost look like a cliff, and it's very poor for streetability in my opinion. I had a friend with a large single turbo supra. It made 660rwhp, but only at the very end of the RPM range. I watched him drive it one time, and it was like.. "lag..lag..lag...BOOST! Oh ****************, shift!!!!....lag....lag...lag...BOOST/SHIFT!!

In the end, I honestly believe turbo's are more expensive and take more work to install. They are, however, the most efficient, and make the most power. It all boils down to your driving preference, intended use for the car, and of course your pocket book.

[Iroc89z]

see you struck my point with the lag but after reading about your friends car if i would to go with a turbo id do a twin turbo but smaller turbos but now im looking at superchargers but like you said you have to change pullys to change the boost which is why a turbo in my eyes would be better

[Lethalchem]

Originally Posted by hrsepowerZ28

see you struck my point with the lag but after reading about your friends car if i would to go with a turbo id do a twin turbo but smaller turbos but now im looking at superchargers but like you said you have to change pullys to change the boost which is why a turbo in my eyes would be better

I have another friend who used smaller twin turbo's on his RX7, and it worked really well. His HP was limited to 360rwhp, but there was no lag. He has to run a turbo timer on the car and a FMIC and different exhaust etc, so it is fairly expensive. The turbo is a nice way to go, if you have the coin. It's much more work than the other options.

My Cobra has the stock positive displacement SC on it from the factory, but I've put a smaller pulley on it. I didn't do it this way, but they make "quick change" pulleys which can be done in 5 minutes if you want different boost levels, but it's still not going to be as easy as turning the dial on your manual boost controller (turbo).

[Iroc89z]

so what would my bill look like for a supercharger and a smaller pulley? whats the cheapest youve seen i mean ive seen some turbo kits for 3995.00

[Lethalchem]

Originally Posted by hrsepowerZ28

so what would my bill look like for a supercharger and a smaller pulley? whats the cheapest youve seen i mean ive seen some turbo kits for 3995.00

I would research that price and see that the kits includes everything you'll need. I've never priced Camaro parts before, so I won't be right on with my numbers I'm sure. Here's a site I found after a quick browse. There might be some good sites to look at there. http://www.esuperchargers.com/superc...ercharger.html
Looks like you have Vortech, Magnassun, and Powerdyne to choose from. That's two centrifugals, and one Eaton (positive displacement).

For my Cobra, a Kenne Bell or a Whipple blower upgrade is around $3500. I think there are some Centrifugals out there for the same or a little less, but the turbo's are up at 6k or more. As for swapping the pulley on my stock blower, a pulley is only $80. Apten also ports the stock unit for about $400 which will add about 30rwhp as well.

[trtturbo]

sts offers a low priced single turbo set up that is very streetable and easy to install. There is a dealer in Ma. also. Contact www.ststurbo.com to find contact info. It is different, but it is at least worth a look. If possible, you should go for a ride.

[94GreenMachine]

well to be honest turbo is alot better. Yes turbos take a little time to catch up but the low end torque is more then enough for a domestic to weight for the real power to spool up. if it helps just remeber the smaller the turbo the quicker the spool, the bigger the turbo longer it takes to spool up