Turbo or Supercharger?
#45
This subject seems to come up a lot. IHC needs to just have a trigger that automatically posts his facts whenever it comes up.
If you can tell me where to do internals for 2K, I'd be all over that! Rod's and piston's come in well above that. Then there's rings, bearings, gaskets, head studs, machining and labor if you can't do it yourself.
And we all know that the 5AT is bad over a given hp/tq.
If you can tell me where to do internals for 2K, I'd be all over that! Rod's and piston's come in well above that. Then there's rings, bearings, gaskets, head studs, machining and labor if you can't do it yourself.
And we all know that the 5AT is bad over a given hp/tq.
#47
What's there to weep about? Although I agree with what he said doesn't mean that's the end all be all... At the end of the day, it's all about time, money, & patience.
Be it turbo or s/c - without those three goals, a project will never get off the ground.
Be it turbo or s/c - without those three goals, a project will never get off the ground.
The following users liked this post:
EvilVirus (08-07-2013)
#48
but the turbo will always be more efficient than the supercharger.
what are you making again, 370? with the supercharger can you push past 370?
where as KNTL above you is past 400. with the turbo he can easily up the boost and hit 500.
but you'll rebut with "but those arent my goals"
also, how do you handle the heat?
my friend is supercharged and running nitrous. he tells me that he needs to find a solution soon
Last edited by justnspace; 08-07-2013 at 04:44 PM.
#49
I hope I don't come across the wrong way, my views can always be challenged.
I was in the middle of the huge change when Garrett introduced the new turbine and compressor wheels. Up until that point a supercharger would produce more torque sooner than a typical turbo setup which gave them at least some performance advantage. I was racing in the mid to late '90s where turbos were considered a gimmick or a bandaid. They were typically thought of as low torque, top end only cars.
Back before electronic boost controllers I ran a vacuum line into the cabin with the other end teed into the waste gate line. I would open the vacuum line in the cabin, producing a vacuum leak and effectively blocking the signal to the wastegate. It made it spool up a little sooner and a lot quicker. The line had to be plugged off as soon as boost came on or you would end up with over 30psi quickly. Now all of this is done electronically.
When I wanted to make 500whp I got a turbo that was sized accordingly. At that time the other high powered cars might put 30' on me before my turbo spooled. I ended up going with a 35hp and later a 50hp shot of nitrous to get the car off the line and to make the turbo spool much quicker. It was connected to a Hobbs switch that shut the nitrous off at a certain psi and it was all turbo once it was at full boost. Looking at the complexity of my setup you could argue a supercharger might have been the better choice despite some of its disadvantages.
Nowadays, assuming the turbo is properly sized you're going to have full boost below 2,000rpm with excellent transient response. You're going to make big torque numbers at a low rpm and good hp out to redline. The one performance advantage the supercharger once had is now gone. It's going to take a while for the old way of thinking and myths to go away but in time they will.
There's nothing wrong with choosing a supercharger but turbo technology has made huge gains over the past 10 years while supercharger technology hasn't made any huge improvements. If you want 300hp and are on a budget, or you just dont want to do the turbo install, the supercharger is fine, it has its place. The main thing to realize is for the guys pushing lots of hp on the stock internals, the turbo is a good option since its easier on the fragile internals at a given hp. For the built engines, you're not going to want a supercharger capable of producing upwards of 600hp but you can run a turbo with that kind of airflow with little to no decrease in drivability.
My main point is superchargers are easier to install and with less "stuff" to install. You can pass emissions with a supercharger. The turbo is better in every way from a performance aspect but you have to move the cats to post turbo which is a no no if you want to pass emissions, at least visually. The question is does the better performance of the turbo outweigh the ease of install and lower cost of the supercharger.
I was in the middle of the huge change when Garrett introduced the new turbine and compressor wheels. Up until that point a supercharger would produce more torque sooner than a typical turbo setup which gave them at least some performance advantage. I was racing in the mid to late '90s where turbos were considered a gimmick or a bandaid. They were typically thought of as low torque, top end only cars.
Back before electronic boost controllers I ran a vacuum line into the cabin with the other end teed into the waste gate line. I would open the vacuum line in the cabin, producing a vacuum leak and effectively blocking the signal to the wastegate. It made it spool up a little sooner and a lot quicker. The line had to be plugged off as soon as boost came on or you would end up with over 30psi quickly. Now all of this is done electronically.
When I wanted to make 500whp I got a turbo that was sized accordingly. At that time the other high powered cars might put 30' on me before my turbo spooled. I ended up going with a 35hp and later a 50hp shot of nitrous to get the car off the line and to make the turbo spool much quicker. It was connected to a Hobbs switch that shut the nitrous off at a certain psi and it was all turbo once it was at full boost. Looking at the complexity of my setup you could argue a supercharger might have been the better choice despite some of its disadvantages.
Nowadays, assuming the turbo is properly sized you're going to have full boost below 2,000rpm with excellent transient response. You're going to make big torque numbers at a low rpm and good hp out to redline. The one performance advantage the supercharger once had is now gone. It's going to take a while for the old way of thinking and myths to go away but in time they will.
There's nothing wrong with choosing a supercharger but turbo technology has made huge gains over the past 10 years while supercharger technology hasn't made any huge improvements. If you want 300hp and are on a budget, or you just dont want to do the turbo install, the supercharger is fine, it has its place. The main thing to realize is for the guys pushing lots of hp on the stock internals, the turbo is a good option since its easier on the fragile internals at a given hp. For the built engines, you're not going to want a supercharger capable of producing upwards of 600hp but you can run a turbo with that kind of airflow with little to no decrease in drivability.
My main point is superchargers are easier to install and with less "stuff" to install. You can pass emissions with a supercharger. The turbo is better in every way from a performance aspect but you have to move the cats to post turbo which is a no no if you want to pass emissions, at least visually. The question is does the better performance of the turbo outweigh the ease of install and lower cost of the supercharger.
#50
oh, i agree with you on the goals and money part.
but the turbo will always be more efficient than the supercharger.
what are you making again, 370? with the supercharger can you push past 370?
where as KNTL above you is past 400. with the turbo he can easily up the boost and hit 500.
but you'll rebut with "but those arent my goals"
also, how do you handle the heat?
my friend is supercharged and running nitrous. he tells me that he needs to find a solution soon
but the turbo will always be more efficient than the supercharger.
what are you making again, 370? with the supercharger can you push past 370?
where as KNTL above you is past 400. with the turbo he can easily up the boost and hit 500.
but you'll rebut with "but those arent my goals"
also, how do you handle the heat?
my friend is supercharged and running nitrous. he tells me that he needs to find a solution soon
As far as power, +/- 370 maybe?
Regarding my heat solution, I have a front mount intercooler as well as Libert's former stage 2 meth kit running 50/50 blend. I haven't run into any heat issues since the install, but then again, I've become a tamed driver after noticing this shit burns fuel like a mofo...
I only get on it when entering hwy ramps, passing exotics, and frightening my pug when he's in the passenger seat with the Mrs.
Hope to begin another project with a proper drivetrain by the end of year; the CL is a daily....
AP1 drivers beware!
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
joflewbyu2
5G TLX (2015-2020)
139
10-08-2015 12:16 PM
Joe Avesyan
3G TL Performance Parts & Modifications
9
09-29-2015 04:57 PM
81brettkeith
3G TL (2004-2008)
34
09-15-2015 07:04 PM