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Every person in the world sees hundreds of cars each day. Every once and a while, someone sees a car that makes their head turn and their mouth drop open. But does what’s underneath the hood of those cars match the beauty of the outside of it? Speed is just as important as looks, and a good method of adding speed to an automobile is by using forced induction to pull more out of your engine and make your car faster. Turbochargers and superchargers are the two best ways to get more from your car. The main question is which one to use. Throughout the following pages, the better choice will be explained with many details. Turbochargers are better because they turn wasted energy from the exhaust stream into power and adds a more increase in power, they are less expensive, there is no strain put on the engine, you have unlimited boost with the right set up, and because more performance car analysts and car manufacturers choose to turbo charge rather that supercharge. Turbochargers are better than superchargers because they utilize the cars wasted energy and force more out of an engines unused power. A turbocharger’s power source is a cars exhaust. “In theory a turbo is more efficient because it is using wasted energy in the exhaust stream for its power source”. (Nice) That is how a turbocharger is powered. It takes the available power from the exhaust stream and runs it through a turbine, which in turn spins a compressor. (Nice) In turn, the turbocharger performs something a supercharger can never perform. When the exhaust starts to spin the compressor, or air pump, it spins at a speed that cannot be matched. It spins at 150,000 rotations per minute and that’s about 30 times faster than most car engines can go. (Nice) A supercharger is completely different in the way it is powered compared to the turbocharger. “A supercharger compresses the air/fuel mixture of an engine by forcing air into the engine under pressure. In short, supercharging makes a V-6 perform like a V-8”. (Vortechmarine.com) Due to the fact that it is utilizing mainly the fuel injection system, a supercharger cannot always perform up to the standards of a turbo, which is why turbos are the best choice to make street cars, Nascars, Diesel trucks, and other types of automobiles faster and more efficient. A turbocharger adds more of an increase in power in most cases. A basic supercharger generally adds between thirty and thirty-five percent more horsepower than a cars stock engine. “In most cases, a turbocharger will increase the engines horsepower output by fifty percent.” (Nice) The level of increase in turbos and superchargers can be changed however. This increase is measured in pounds per square inch, or PSI’s. When measured in PSI, a turbo putting out a rate of fifty percent more horsepower will be boosting the engine by six to eight PSI. So, obviously there is a huge gap between a turbochargers output and that of a normal supercharger. The boost on a turbocharger can usually be turned to around twenty to twenty-two PSI, however. The normal supercharger cannot match this feat. Right off the top, turbochargers are better than superchargers because they utilize wasted energy and also have a larger power increase. Turbochargers are less expensive than a supercharger. Depending on the make and country of origin on the car, a supercharger can cost well near ten thousand dollars.
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