Thread: Turbo VS. Supercharging

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Hello, Im wondering which way is the better way. Turbo or Super charge...

What are the ups and downs to each method? What is needed on the engine itself to accomidate for each of these...? I would like to setup a gen I turbo SBC but i have no idea where to start...All i know is that i love the turbos on the duramax diesels.

Think of a turbo as a exhaust-driven fan and a supercharger as a belt-driven mini-blower. Turbos have less load on the motor to drive them but there are heat issues due to the fact that the air is driven from the Exhaust. Superchargers on the other hand have a greater load on the motor.

turbo's are driven by the exhaust gasses so there is a bit of lag between putting your foot down and the turbo kicking in. the bigger the turbo (needed for high rpm boost) the greater the lag, and as drg84 mentioned, they make the intake charge hotter so an intercooler is needed (unless your running methanol!)but on the plus side they take very little energy from the engine.

superchargers are directly crank driven (via a belt) so the boost is instant (or as good as). basically you can get much higher boost (and more uniform boost at that - unlike turbos) but the setup and cost of uprating the engine is much higher that with turbos. if you have the wallet and wat perfromance its the supercharger every time for me

as for setup, turbos are quite simple, you'll need and intercooler space infront of the radiator (or similar) and the a new turbo header exhaust thing. low compression superchargers generally just need lowering engine compression ratio plus all the hardware and addaptors to fit em to the top of your manifold

just my 10cents worth as a newbie
Lobster

I guess what I'm really asking as far as setting up...I mean like you can't run a high compression piston, what about cam? what about special precautions needed to ensure that the turbo won't tear the motor up? What about any rod requirements...? ect?

Originally posted by Hopper111
I guess what I'm really asking as far as setting up...I mean like you can't run a high compression piston, what about cam? what about special precautions needed to ensure that the turbo won't tear the motor up? What about any rod requirements...? ect?

BOTH ENGINES WILL REQUIRE A VERY STRONG BOTTOM END WITH REVERSE DOME PISTONS.THE CAM IS CUT ON A WIDER LOBE SEPERATION.

You always want to select the cam for the application. Lower compression will certinaly make tuning easier. Turbos AND 'chargers benefit from an intercooler. the air mass is heated by the act of compression, so an intercooler will always make more power. Of course, some types of superchargers don't allow for intercoolers, IE they bolt right to the intake manifold. Strong rods are a good idea, but you don't have to break the bank. Just make sure the bottom end is stout. A forged crank would be a good idea. Four-bolt mains would be great. FOR INSTANCE: many pontiac 301s were built for turbo. You can put a turbo on a non-turbo 301 but the bottom end is not as stout on the non-turbo blocks. On a turbo, you can adjust the waste gate and control the boost. I'm not sure if you can control the boost on a supercharger, other than by changing the pulleys.