Turbocharger or Supercharger?

Which do you prefer and why is one better than the other?

[delsolvtec]

I don't think either one is technically "better" then the other. It all depends on what you want.

A turbo is going to have greater power potential as it is easy to turn up the boost and there are tons of aftermarket parts on hand to upgrade a turbo system.

A supercharger can be modified, but your options are limited.

A turbo is going to have some lag, where a supercharger is going to give you off the line boost.

I prefer a turbo, but some prefer a supercharger.

If you want an all out street beast defenately go with a turbo.

TURBO IS WAY BETTER FOR ALOT OF REASON:
1. IT WILL MAKE YOUR CAR FASTER
2. IT WILL GIVE YOU COOL SOUND AS THE BLOW OFF HISSES.
3. IT WILL MAKE YOUR CAR FASTER
4. IT ENABLES YOU ADJUST THE LEVEL OF BOOST FROM INSIDE OF YOUR CAR WITHOUT CHANGING ANY PHYSICAL HARDWARE ON THE SUPERCHARGER.
5. IT WILL MAKE YOUR CAR FASTER
6. YOU GET THE COOL SOUNDS YOU GET FROM THE BLOWOFF AND THE TURBO SPOOLING.
7. IT WILL MAKE YOUR CAR FASTER THAN SUPERCHARGER.
8. THATS ALL I CAN THINK OF RIGHT NOW BUT IF I REMEMBER MORE I'LL WRITE MORE.......

TURBO IS WAY TO GO.... BUT THEN AGAIN THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION.

ONE MORE THING. I HAVE THESE TWO FRIENDS. THEY ARE BROTHERS. ONE HAS AN SI AND THE OTHER HAS AN SI. ONE HAS SUPERCHARGER AND ONE HAS TURBO. THEY BOOST AROUND THE SAME.. AROUND 7LBS....... THE ONE WITH TURBO SMOKES THE SHIT OUT OF THE OTHER... SO THERE....... PROOF....

[ChrisCantSkate]

whats your goal? do you want a autox car or a drag car or just a street car thats quicker? is reliability a concern? the supercharger you can bolt on and just forget about.. it will perform real good, and not kill your wallet forever... turbos are going to require a build up eventualy, but yes, a turbo will own a supercharged car.

This topic will always be debated over. I personally love my supercharger. You can pretty much buy the kit and bolt it right on, where with my old turbo kit I had to get a lot of stuff fabricated. You can get more performance out of the Turbo…but with that you will also need to do constant tuning. In my opinion the supercharger is all around friendlier. You get great performance out of it…it requires less tuning…installation was an ease…I love the whining sound…and it’s carb. Legal.

Good point... HOwever my turbo kit is carb legal and I simply bolted on and it was ready to go.. Instant power and gratification for cheap. I always change my oil at 3000 miles and other than that I do not do any other tuning for its not necessary.......

Cheap, reliable, fast.....just remember you can't all three

[AzCivic]

I say if your not going to rebuild an engine to handle the potential of a turbo then just get a supercharger.

I say go turbo. With a front wheel drive car, turbo lag is your friend. It allows you to get a good launch and gives good acceleration once you get into second gear. Id personaly like to have a turbo because the car you race gets ahead off the line, and then gets beat. lol

[Addict]

The s/c is nice for lowend power. The turbo will give you more flexibility though. That & the cool ass PSSST from the BOV.

Originally posted by MrCLoWnY
TURBO IS WAY BETTER FOR ALOT OF REASON:
1. IT WILL MAKE YOUR CAR FASTER
2. IT WILL GIVE YOU COOL SOUND AS THE BLOW OFF HISSES.
3. IT WILL MAKE YOUR CAR FASTER
4. IT ENABLES YOU ADJUST THE LEVEL OF BOOST FROM INSIDE OF YOUR CAR WITHOUT CHANGING ANY PHYSICAL HARDWARE ON THE SUPERCHARGER.
5. IT WILL MAKE YOUR CAR FASTER
6. YOU GET THE COOL SOUNDS YOU GET FROM THE BLOWOFF AND THE TURBO SPOOLING.
7. IT WILL MAKE YOUR CAR FASTER THAN SUPERCHARGER.
8. THATS ALL I CAN THINK OF RIGHT NOW BUT IF I REMEMBER MORE I'LL WRITE MORE.......

TURBO IS WAY TO GO.... BUT THEN AGAIN THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION.

ONE MORE THING. I HAVE THESE TWO FRIENDS. THEY ARE BROTHERS. ONE HAS AN SI AND THE OTHER HAS AN SI. ONE HAS SUPERCHARGER AND ONE HAS TURBO. THEY BOOST AROUND THE SAME.. AROUND 7LBS....... THE ONE WITH TURBO SMOKES THE SHIT OUT OF THE OTHER... SO THERE....... PROOF....

Man MrCLoWnY you crack me up!

hahahha yeah, man.. turbo is way more fun, tho I've never owned either, so Im just going by what ive ridden in

i would personally go with the supercharger mainly because it will help get you off the line better generating more low end torque which is a problem with import 4 bangers. Now the turbo and super will enhance two different parts of your performance a super will enhance the right two your low end and mid range power will get a signifigant boost which you need keep in mind these cars are geared to get all there power in the higher revs. Now a turbo is a very good upgrade as well by enhancing midrange to high end but like i stated earlier these engines don't have a whole lotta torque so i personally like to focus on the off the line aspect which sort of sux for imports

see ya,
dave

[nonovurbizniz]

off the line only matters in 1st. and I'd rather not worry about low end torque turning my smooth launch into a tire burning fest. Plus with the turbo if your looking to launch of the line spinning yer tires you just launch at 3500-4500 rpm. don't think torque or hp will be a problem for ya.

The only thing a turbo is good for is that little hiss with turbos you have to worry about massive lag where as a supercharger gives constant boost with little to no lag

see ya,
dave

[Addict]

Originally posted by 94civicex
The only thing a turbo is good for is that little hiss with turbos you have to worry about massive lag where as a supercharger gives constant boost with little to no lag

see ya,
dave

That's not at all true.

The "hiss" is the pressure release from the blow off valve. It depends on the size of the turbo as to how much lag you will have. Smaller turbos will have less lag, larger will have more. The bigger, the more power.

Superchargers do not give you constant power. They cut off. Consider it the reverse of turbo. Turbo has lag up to a point; supercharger will cut off at a given point.

My old 91 Talson TSI I think had a 14 psi turbo in it, it didn't lag much at all and it KICKED ASS after 2nd gear

Turbo....what the hell does a happy high reving engine care about low end torque?

think about that, you need the extra low end to run through the lower rpm's. In import four cylinders they fly through the high revs why would they need more help at high end when there high end is not the problem think before you speak you little whiny turbo lovin' losers

[Addict]

Originally posted by 94civicex
think about that, you need the extra low end to run through the lower rpm's. In import four cylinders they fly through the high revs why would they need more help at high end when there high end is not the problem think before you speak you little whiny turbo lovin' losers

What's with the name calling? You might do some more research before posting next time. It appears that since you have resorted to name calling, you've not got anything to back up your statement.

They each have their purpose. If you look at any 1/4 mile times or dynos, you'll see that its very easy for turbo'd car to beat out a supercharged one. Especially in imports where you have minimal displacement to work with. Superchargers may give you an edge off the line, but they do taper off. A greddy kit on an Si builds full boost at 4k. You still have another 4.2k to go before you need to shift.

I would say that the turbocharger is the best way to go, becuase it uses exhaust gases to power it , as opposed to a supercharger which uses pullies and will result in a parasitic power drain... Turbos can be modified to result in less lag and still impressive power gains...superchargers, IMO, should stay on cars that dont see high revs because thats where they shine...low end power... but if you own an import that revs higher than id say 8k rpms go with a a turbo because you will get awesome power from around 4k rpms (depending on the type of turbo you get) till redline. Keep in mind...maximum power output isnt always the most important aspect when buying a turbo. Spool time, your redline, turbo lag and other things come into play here, and most manfacturers will work with you to come up with the best turbo for your car. lemmie know if i am wrong about something...im sick and prescription drugs make me woozy

[nonovurbizniz]

can you buy a supercharger from a junkyard and slap it on any car with minimal modification????

NO

Do you care about low end torque when your car doesn't see below 4k in ANY OTHER GEAR THAN 1st.????

NO

Are Superchargers WAY more complicated less efficient and over-all useless at high rpm???

YES.

A supercharger and a turbocharger are pretty much identical. The Turbo uses the exhaust gasses to spin a compressor that forces air into the cylinders. The supercharger uses the crank (basically the mechanical turning of the engine) to spin the compressor. Both are just methods of forcing more air into the cylinders, so you can combust more fuel and get more power. Remember, it is the combusting fuel that gives you power. The turbo/super-charger just gives you the air to mix with that fuel.

Since a turbocharger uses the exhaust gases to spin the compressor, you have to wait for the exhaust air to get moving to a significant velocity before the compressor begins moving. This is what is refered to as "Turbo Lag." Smaller turbos "spool up" quicker, meaning it takes less exhaust velocity to spin the compressor. This reduces the turbo lag. Larger turbos require more exhaust velocity to get moving, therefore have a larger lag associated with them. However, they can also cram much more air into the chambers allowing you to add much more fuel. And more fuel combustion means more power.

A supercharger runs of the spinning of the engine. Because of this it takes very little engine "rpm" to get air forced into the cylinders. However, since you are adding a work device to the engine, you are also using some engine power. It is estimated that 20% of the added power a supercharger generates is spent just creating that power. Because of this, the supercharger will never be able to create the high-end power of a large turbocharger.

The nice thing about a turbo is that the energy required to run the compressor is coming directly from a stream that is being wasted. A normally aspirated (no turbo, no supercharger) just dumps that stream of exhaust out the back of the car. So, by using this energy to run a compressor, you get "free" work. Obviously, its not "free" as you introduce more back pressure in your exhaust system which means the engine now has to work a little harder to force the exhaust out. However, the back pressure introduced can be minimized and is significantly lower than the drain of a supercharger.

Both systems work incredibly well. A supercharger is much easier to install as all it really requires is a longer drive belt to reach the supercharger's drive shaft and the physical installation of the supercharger. A turbocharger has to re-route the exhaust to the turbo inlet which requires some significant piping. Plus the need for a waste-gate and blow off valve (I won't go into detail here.)

Both systems require proper fuel management as just adding more air to the chamber significantly leans the air/fuel ratio. More fuel will have to be added to each cylinder to compensate.

Whew. Sorry for the long post.

My opinion:
I prefer a turbo charger. There are more options on the market. They are more configurable once in place. Turbo lag can be minimized and there is more high-end gain.

Both types of systems really take the same amount of tuning and maintenance. Yes, a turbocharger is more difficult to install and costs more consequently. But, a turbo properly matched to your driving needs (drag, auto-x, rally, etc) can really be a lot of fun.

If you are looking for full out HP then go with a turbo. Turbochargers are able to produce a lot of HP in the long run compare to a s/c…so if your going to full on race your car, turbo is the way to go. Turbochargers are more costly and they do require a lot of tuning, which is a pain in the butt. A lot of the kits are not smog legal and some you actually have to custom make to fit your car. But bottom line is a turbo is great if your looking for a lot of HP and your going to full out race your car.

Now…

If you are looking for out of the box performance go with a supercharger. They are easy to install and the kits come very complete, since they are specifically designed for your car. S/C are not as efficient as a turbo, but the upside is they tend not to produce as much heat as a turbo does. Most people find that superchargers are the way to go because you can pretty much get almost the same performance as a turbo and they are not as complicated as far as tuning wise and to top it off most of them are Carb. Legal. Over all I will say the supercharger is more user friendly and more trouble free.

they had a really good article about all this. Mentioning most of the points in the premiere issue of NOPI Street magazine. Check it out.

There seems to be a couple misconceptions here

1. a supercharger makes far more heat than a turbo hands down.

2. a properly set up turbocharger system will give you better low end performance and you will take a supercharged car out of the hole.

I agree

[silver]

I have one question for everyone who knows all about superchargers...what kind of supercharger is everyone talking about? If you can't answer this question than you don't know enough about the topic.

I think we are talking about two types of superchargers since there are two types available for the Honda's

Centrifugal and Roots

There is no way a turbo will produce more power in the lower rpm ranges than with a roots style compressor like the Jackson Racing. The Roots style sees full boost almost instantly. And in regards to the turbo producing less heat...no way on that. Turbo’s run off of exhaust gases, which tent to heat up very high. Where as a supercharger is run off of the belts so no way a turbo will give out less heat.

I bet i can get you a turbo set up that will make 15 psi by 2K rpms. Hell a greddy kit can get you 10 psi by 2K if your tuning decent. Also all this boost will be with out the 250 degree intake charges that the jackson will put out. At 28 psi my intake temps are only about 120 degrees.

A Turbo is a more ideal device from an engineering stand point. This is due to the parasitic power loss from the supercharger drive belt. Where as a Turbo is driven off of exhaust gases. There for ther will be a short amount of time while the turbo spools up, this is "lag". Modern turbos spool up faster due to many technological advances, ball berring center sections, ceramics, etc....
Just a few thoughts on the subject