Centrifugal Superchargers

[DRAG Boosted Si]

Originally introduced by McCullough (which is now Paxton), centrifugal supercharger systems have became the backbone of the late-model (5.0 and beyond) Movement. Today, Paxton, Vortech and ATI ProCharger dominate the centrifugal blower market. Due to the lack of complete centrifugal supercharger systems for imports, finding a centrifugal supercharger under the hood of a Honda is about as likely as finding all your tools after someone borrows your toolbox.
Although both are classified as superchargers, centrifugal blower has a substantially different boost and performance curve than a postive-displacement supercharger. Unlike positive-displacement units, which provide the same airflow regardless of RPM, centrifugal units provide airflow proportional to the supercharger's speed. the effect is usually charactarized by not realizing full-boost redline, If a centrifugal supercharger uses a pulley combination to generate 4 psi of boost at 4000 RPM, it will produce 8psi of boost at 8000 RPM.
Many Consider this gradual boost curve to be the biggest drawback or limitation of a centrifugal supercharger. On traction-limited cars, this isn't necessarily a problem--in fact, it can be a solution to tire-spinning problems. In the real world, gradual boost curve could translate into better traction on traction-limited, front-wheel drive street applications. On a positive note, centrifugal superchargers benefit from high adiabatic effiencies and can be teamed with an intercooler system for additional performance and increased reliability
If you're interested in building a custom supercharger system around a centrifugal supercharger, give the manufacturer a call to see which supercharger is needed to generate your target horsepower. Also, you need to let the supercharger manufacturer know which way the supercharger will spin when mounted on the engine since the rotation direction of a Honda engine is unconventional (Couner-Clockwise). As more and more traditional companies address the import market, we expect to see centrifugal supercharger systems for Hondas in the future