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Superchargers vs. Turbochargers —
Both supercharging and turbocharging use a compressor to force more air
into the combustion chambers of an engine, hence the term "forced
induction". The main difference between them is:
A turbocharger is driven by exhaust gasses and has to "spool up"
before delivering its boost. It's lubrication system is dependent upon
engine oil pressure and cooling is often augmented with a water cooled
bearing.
A supercharger is belt driven off of the crankshaft and begins to
deliver boost as soon as you accelerate, depending upon the design of
the supercharger's electronic controller programming. Its boost is
delivered in direct proportion to engine speed, and its lubrication system
is self-contained. It is not in contact with heated exhaust gasses so it
doesn't need to be piped into the vehicle's cooling system.
Non-factory turbocharger systems often suffer from "turbo-lag".
With a supercharger — there is no lag!
All Superchargers are Not the Same —
There are three major types of automotive superchargers: Roots type,
Centrifugal type, and Lysholm Twin-screw type. These are all evaluated and
rated according to their adiabatic and volumetric efficiencies.
Roots type blowers use interlocking identical lobes that pushes
air into the intake manifold where it is compressed, or "boosted". Once
positive manifold pressure is achieved, it can cause some blow-back into
the compressor.
Centrifugal type blowers are virtually belt driven
turbochargers. They need time to spool up and deliver their boost higher
in the engine rev range.
Screw type blowers compress air in the blower housing itself, as
well as in the intake manifold. They use male / female screw shafts that
never touch but have extremely tight tolerances, minimizing or eliminating
any blow-back into the supercharger housing after boost is achieved. Screw
type blowers have greater adiabatic and volumetric efficiency over the
entire operating rev range than do Roots or Centrifugal blowers.
Why did PT-Tuning Select the
Whipple System for their Supercharger
Offering?
- It's actually available for sale now.
- It's 50 state smog legal for both NLEV
and ULEV engines.
- It uses the Lysholm screw-type blower.
- It requires a minimal amount of
component displacement during installation.
- It is front mounted for better cooling.
- Once installed, it looks OEM.
ABOUT BTG™ Products:
BTG™ products are made for PT-Tuning (Bauhaus Corp.)
by industry leaders in each category. All BTG™ systems are designed and
engineered to an extremely high level of performance and quality. We price
our BTG™ products as competitively as possible, but sometimes the best
just costs a little more!
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