Car engines

[godgsta]

Car buffs, can you tell me what's the difference between a super-charged and a turbo-charged engine?

[sft42]

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 tuborcharger, 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 between 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 it also tends to provide less boost until the engine is running at higher RPMs. Superchargers are easier to install but tend to be more expensive.

Hope this helps!

[SaxyDan]

Yes indeed, use nitrous oxide injection to free you from lag, then set the limiter to cut it when the turbine has spun up. Voila! No turbo lag!

[pha]

i'm confused by sft42's answer, he is getting far too technical! my understanding of how it works is this. An engine works by combustion of air and fuel in the combustion chamber. A turbocharger sucks the burnt exhaust gases out of the combustion chamber making the airflow far more efficient, A supercharger forces the air in for combustion. Thats my understanding of it, although it is nearly 10 years since I did my mechanics training (I am not a mechanic now, hence the patchy answer!)