Stang_GT_91

whats the difference between a turbo charger and supercharger. i kinda know a lil' about both but i need to ge correct. and which would be better for my 5.0.

MattCA

from the little bit i know supercharger. one, turbo is meant for like jap cars and stuff. and it lags. you will only get the boost at high rpms while a supercharger offers boost throughout all rpms.

NegadivOne

turbos run off of exhaust and superchargers run from a belt.

grabbem88

turbo's don't lag., maybe back in the day but today's tech. fixed that horror story,and i know a few tb cars that will snap your neck.

StrokemyNotch

Superchargers usually are belt driven and force air into the cumbustion chambers,
Turbochargers uses exhaust gases to force air, this is a very basic description.


Turbos are usually on Jap cars cause they are I-4 cylinder cars so you only have one exhaust manifold where you can put a turbo where as on a V8, you have 2 heads which will need 2 exhaust manifolds where you can place the turbos, so on a V8 you need to have twin turbos,

So the supercharger is more popular on V8s or V6s cause you only need one charger to force air into the engine, instead of twin turbos. so its cheaper to supercharge then turbo charge cuase you need as much equipment.

This is my basic understand of the whole supercharger vs. turbo charger setup and i m sure other people will be able to elaborate or correct me in more detail.

95whitecobra

They are both forced air induction systems. One has a belt driven impeller (S/C) the other has an exhaust driven. S/c has always been popular with the american muscle and drag strip scene i.e. the Roots blower. Turbos on the other hand got their start in the european and japanese markets. Turbos are an economical way to increase the horspower of a smaller displacemenr motor. It's called "free horsepower" because it a by product of the exhaust. It obvious works on larger motors as well. The reason behind their use from a political stand point is the cost of gasoline in Europe and Japan compared to the US. These places needed smaller engine cars but wanted the power of a V8. In other forms of racing other than drag racing turbos were very popular. In fact at one time Indy Cars and Formula 1 cars were all turbocahrged. I believe they are now N/A. For endurancing racing Turbos are better because the power is always there i.e. there is no belt to break like your hear about on top fuel cars "There goes the blower belt" For consumer use turbos are very popular on thos big 18 wheeler (turbo diesel). IMO I like s/c better because it more traditional for Mustangs and drag racing. Leave the turbos for the import crowd.

black89gt

hey StrokemyNotch v8's dont have to be twin turbo, they can be single. there's plenty of sngle turbo kits out there for foxes and cameros and corvettes.

StrokemyNotch

Hey, well i learned something new.
Wonder how they work off just one turbo.

I gotta google this

Tims 88GT

yeah today a turbo is the only way to go if you want to spend the money, anyone who complanes about turbo lag has not ridden or driven in a newer turbo car, when set up right like grabbem88 said they will snap your neck, its a lot more fun to drive a turbo car then a supercharged car. and people that say turbos are for jap cars only no thats not how it goes turbos are for anyone that wants to makes crazy hp. you gotta love how a turbo sounds