SUPERCHARGERS AND TURBOCHARGERS WHİCH IS BETTER?

Superchargers and turbochargers were invented for the same purpose. Producing more power in cars. Both of them manage to produce a huge amount of boost but in different ways. Now let’s see how they work.

TURBOCHARGERS:

 After combustion happens, some unwanted gases occur. We call these gases exhaust. In a naturally aspirated motor, those gases go directly to the exhaust manifold to leave the car from the exhaust pipes. But on a turbocharged unit, exhaust gases are used to provide enough power to the turbo’s compressor. Those exhaust gases spool up the exhaust turbine which powers the intake compressor that pulls in more air to your engine in order to produce more power. After this pressurized air is produced by turbo, it goes to the intercooler system to make pressurized air cooler. Then it goes to the engine.

SUPERCHARGERS:

A supercharger is powered by the engine itself. So basically, supercharger takes power from your engine to produce power for your engine. This sounds a little bit confusing, right? What I mean is, that your supercharger is connected to your crankshaft by a V belt. So, when you go harder on the throttle; your crank spins faster and your supercharger’s turbine starts to pull more power into your engine. There are some different types of superchargers, but today I am going to be talking about only centrifugal superchargers in order to be less confusing.

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Turbo:

Turbos are really efficient systems. They produce power by using useless exhaust gases.

 Turbos provide a huge amount of boost, so you can produce the same amount of horsepower and torque by a smaller unit. For example, a traditional old tech 2-liter n/a engine can produce approximately 150 hp and 200-newton meters of torque. (Of course not all 2-liter n/a engines have the same values, just an example that you can see on a normal daily driver.) But a 1.5-liter turbocharged unit can also produce the same amount of power and even more. And this provides you with greater fuel efficiency because you can produce the same amount of power in a smaller unit.

Disadvantages: There is something called turbo lag on turbocharged cars. Turbos’ boost comes on a certain rpm range, so you need to wait till this rpm range comes and your turbo spools up exhaust gases, pulls the air needed, and sends it to the intercooler. On this progress, you have to wait for your turbo to engage, and when it engages; it will come with an instant boost which means you don’t get a linear gas pedal reaction. Even if you don’t change your foot position, it will provide you with more boost. (more than you asked for.)

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Supercharger:

A supercharger also gives more power to your engine, but unlike turbo systems; there is no lag. Because your supercharger uses your engine’s power, the amount of boost your supercharger produces depends on how much you step on the gas pedal. So there is no wait. You can also modify superchargers and they can provide you a wide linear boost, unlike a turbo. (This is true for twin screw and root style of superchargers, not for centrifugal ones. Centrifugal ones are more likely to be top-end when you modify them.) So because of linear pedal reactions on supercharged cars (you take the exact amount of power you asked for), it offers you a more fun driving experience.

Disadvantages: As I mentioned before, you take the power of your engine to produce more power from your supercharger. In this way, turbos sound more logical and efficient.

In conclusion, turbochargers are really effective and logical systems. But superchargers are also really beneficial on other points like throttle response etc.

Source: Engineering Explained Youtube Channel