Supercharger vs Turbocharger Comparison
 

I have been doing research into adding FI to my car, and have been looking into the supercharger route. It wasn't until earlier today when I was told by my friend (a mechanic) that based on the tune I could get boost from a turbocharger at around 3,000 RPM. I dont redline the car, but I'm wondering from a maintenance standpoint, which is easier to maintain and which will give me more pleasurable driving experience for its cost (initial and long run). A lot of these threads come down to "do this over that" or "don't do that" bashing of other members comments, but I am looking for well rounded answers about experiences dealing with both. As for what I'm looking at doing.

I'm looking to make a car that is still DD, but I can bring to the track at least once or twice a month and have some fun in it. I want something that is reliable but that is FI. I have looked into upgrading parts of the engine in order to allow it to take the extra workload of the FI system I want to add.

I have done research on both, but as it seems that most people get power at different points of the RPM spectrum (SC at the lower end, TC at the higher end), I was wondering if it was possible to get it to work with boost being produced at lower RPMs with a turbo.

Thanks again.

:flame:

There's always a big debate when it comes to supercharging vs turbocharging. With turbos certain options will spool up quicker than others giving you more power in the midrange, but for the most part they all tend to spool fully at 3000RPM at least. The turbos that spool up the quickest are generally smaller in size and smaller in turbine but because they are small their efficiency levels aren't going to allow you to run big boost numbers (aka high power).

Superchargers you don't really have as many options with. Superchargers you can't really go to one company and say I want this size and I want it to spool at this RPM etc... Vortech for example has one, and only one blower to use on this car, it's the V3Si which I use on my own personal vehicle. It's very quiet, it's very smooth, very daily driven friendly with very minimal maintenance needed.

Vortech makes a great supercharger, Full Blown makes a great turbo kit. I think you should also take into consideration pricing though as well. Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions on particular systems though, but I think generally based on your statement of wanting a low investment, superchargers in the short and long term will end up costing less money than a turbo will.

We seem somewhat similar in what we're looking for : reliability and midrange power. Thus I'm looking at the edelbrock supercharger.

Side question : why don't your bring your car to redline? As long as your car is fully warmed up it's totally fine.

Get the AVO kit and be done with it...for the 8,349,237th time on this subject.

Well it's sure a dilemma. As said before superchargers your kind of stuck on only a few sizes and boost.
Where as turbo you can aways go bigger and more boost.

But if all you want is daily driving with fun at the track, I would recommend keeping it stock and focus on suspension wide light weight wheels with super sticky tires and lots of track day events.

If you really want FI at low rpm's then supercharge is the way to go. Really all these kits either turbo or supercharge are great kits, you really can't go wrong either way it just comes down to how much you want to spend.

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Remember there are two types of superchargers PD and centrifugal. Centrifugal are essentially all lag the fun part of the power band is 5-7.5k, you need to be in the lowest possible gear to get the most out. The PD comes in sooner under 3-4K but lacks top end hp and total output. A properly size turbo like the GTX28 or AVO's 18g will spool in 2.5-4k range giving more area under the curve. You know there is a reason why OEM's use turbos much much more than superchargers. No OEM except maybe one exotic uses a centrifugal so take that into thought. A few use PD's but are V6 and V8's.

I sincerely missed forced induction from my last two Subies. It has taken me nearly three years of watching, reading, researching and waiting. I have ordered the Edelbrock system as it offers reasonable bang for the buck (imho) plenty of overhead, and for now CARB certification as I don't know where I will be living when I return to the US. Look seriously at your needs and then the pros and cons of what systems meet your needs. Your desires are going to drive your purchase, keep that in mind as you put your hard earned cash behind it. An informed purchase will normally be your best purchase.

I DD my turbo set up, your just going to need to have more frequent service intervals. People advise against having FI on a DD, if you do things correctly with which ever FI system you go for, aka reputable installer and supporting mods depending on power goals, you will minimise potential down time( you can never rule it out though)

I never understood guys who advised against FI on a DD. I'm the same way, I have no problems on my Vortech system, and I've had plenty with the same Vortech system on multiple different platforms not have issues, even with BMW's I never have issues with supercharging and those things are not as reliable as these cars are of course.

You mean Koenigsegg, who used twin Rotrex superchargers? :lol:

Christian von Koenigsegg is known for being a mavrick and being rather uncompromising... his 3d printed turbos are ridiculous.

I'm not advising against it, it seems the popular opinion when the topic arrises.

Yep lol. That's the one.

From an engineering standpoint turbos have more pros than cons, period. Its obvious by today's car manufacturers.

There probably is one but I can't think of one OEM supercharged 4 cylinder...?