Turbochargers versus Superchargers: What's the Difference?

      

    Whether you have heard the sigh of a turbocharger or the whine of a supercharger, you've loved it. But what is the difference between these two power-boosting devices? Let's get into it.

    Turbos and superchargers both create more power and increase mileage by cramming more air into the engine block. For a fire (or an explosion) to form, three components must be present: fuel, heat, and oxygen. The extra air from the turbos and superchargers means that the car's computer can add more fuel to the mixture, the compression can condense it further, and the spark can create a more powerful explosion, pushing the piston down faster, thus creating more power. Both cool air using intercoolers. The cooler the air, the more condensed it is, which allows even more air to be squeezed into the combustion chamber. The way the air is pulled in on these two devices, though, is different.

    Turbos use the exhaust gases coming from the engine to turn a fan. This fan then in turn uses another fan to pull in and compress more air. This air then moves through another pipe and into the combustion chamber through the intake valve. This means that turbos don't give a consistent power delivery. The turbo only kicks in at higher RPMs, when the airflow from the engine is faster, allowing the turbo to spin faster. This results in a period of time where the extra power isn't being delivered due to low RPMs. This is called turbo lag. This basically means that there is a little delay between putting your foot down and getting the extra torque. The advantage of turbochargers is that the engine doesn't lose horsepower powering the turbo and instead only gets horsepower added. You might think that putting a bigger turbo on a car will leaf to more power, but the time the turbos take to spool up gets longer, resulting in more turbo lag. Fitting two smaller turbos will lead to the same power as a big turbo, but with less turbo lag. This is called a twin turbo set-up. Exhaust gasses going to the turbo can sometimes be sucked backwards due to the vacuum in the engine's combustion chambers. This, needless to say, is bad for the turbos. Twin-scroll turbochargers solve this problem by using two pipes to direct air into the turbo unlike the one used by normal turbos. The extra pipe allows the gasses from the engine to move continuously to the turbo. This leads to less turbo lag and more efficiency.

    Superchargers use a belt that connects the crankshaft of the engine to a fan on the supercharger. The power from the engine rotates the fan, pulling in more air. This air is then compressed in a chamber and fed back into the engine. This method deletes some horsepower form the engine, but adds more horsepower than the car lost back. There are different types of superchargers. Some, like centrifugal superchargers have the same drawbacks as turbos. Others, like the twin-screw supercharger (different from the twin-scroll turbocharger) allows for a consistent power delivery, thus cancelling out turbo lag.

    The issue of which method is better has captivated the automotive world for years. Nevertheless, we can all agree that both are great ways of boosting power. It just comes down to you personal preference and what you want out of a power-boosting device.

Thanks to Google for the images.

Thanks to Donut Media for information.