kaikai114

been pondering all this time.... what exactly is the difference between Naturally Aspirated and Turbo Charged or Supercharged? What other types of engines are out there? What are the plus and minuses of each engine type? thanks...

Kevin

id888

Wow. You're really asking this question. There have to be some FAQs out there on forced induction. Maybe at Edmunds.com or... hmm... searching... searching...aha!

Enjoy

Fooman

Both supercharge and turbocharge is "forced induction" meaning they use an external "system" to provide the extra power. They basically compress the air and force feed it back to the cylinders. Naturally aspirated (NA) is exchanging your internal parts, like cranks, pulleys, camshafts, etc. All of it is internal and there is no forced induction. Usually, you need to spend more money if you are going to go NA and trying to achieve 1/4 mile times as that of turbo and SC cars.

How Stuff Works

jcg878

That is a great site. This is my favorite graphic on it where they describe horsepower...

STC

iTrader: (1)

wow.......

jlukja

Hey, where did they attach that rope?

jcg878

yeah, i know. What kind of power are we talking about?

rb1

For the most part, engine power is determined by how fast it can burn fuel, which is directly a function of how much air the engine can "inhale." (e.g. how much oxygen is available to burn the fuel)

To a very large degree, this is a function of displacement (e.g. for any otherwise identical engine design, more displacement = more air inhaled = more power. )

A "normally aspirated" (NA) engine breathes air at normal atmospheric pressure. Turbocharged and supercharged engines breathe "compressed" air provided by the turbocharger or supercharger respectively. A turbocharger is driven by the exhaust gas pressure, so it requires no engine power to drive the turbine (e.g. it is "free" in some respects) but has more complicated plumbing and control requirements. A supercharger is much simpler, being a belt driven compressor, but this also requires a small amount of engine power to drive the compressor.

The amount of added power really depends on how much "boost" is provided. In stock form, typically you will see anywhere from 50% to 80% more power from the same engine in turbocharged form than in NA form. In racing environments, you can double or triple the power output of an engine. Since a small turbocharger (typically what is used in non-high power applications) can easily meet the programmed boost requirements at modest RPM, turbocharged engines often have dramatically better low-end torque than their NA counterparts, especially under static loads (pulling up hill at a steady speed, for example).

Of course, now you are demanding more output from the same engine block, so the cooling system must be able to handle the extra heat and the other engine internals need to be designed for the overall higher stress levels.

The short answer is that an engine with forced induction behaves like a rather larger engine. How large depends on how much boost.

ClutchPerformer

Only if it's lucky!

Otherwise, a great explanation. Now, where did I leave that FAQ.....?

Tengu

HAHHAHAHAHAH, you made me laugh in the library...couldn't help myself...i hope no horses were hurt during this experiment

NJtsx

well naturally aspirated basically means that the engine has a
small compartment where they hide a special part that only few cars have....a little oriental dude pedaling away giving the car some Natural power

sorry dude had to make some stupid pointless joke

kiteboy

Is that one-o-them super powerful German horsies?

jcg878

I don't know, but in the model if you give him a laxative horsepower declines to zero

smap

ahahahhahaha
just had to laugh !!

kaikai114

ahhhhhh, got it, it's all clear now... thanks a lot guys.

Kevin

gfxdave99

If that was Mr Ed, would he say.. GET THIS (drive by)WIRE OUT OF MY ASS!