Supercharger or Turbo?
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 772
From:
Supercharger or Turbo?
Which would you reccomend for a daily driver that is just going to be used for the occasional race probly not going to be taken to the track.
Which is easier to install?
What is the gas milleage like with both?
What sort of price would i be looking at for both?
Thanks
Which is easier to install?
What is the gas milleage like with both?
What sort of price would i be looking at for both?
Thanks
HCF Member
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 2,156
From: Arizona
RE: Supercharger or Turbo?
Which would I recommend... usually this will be a biased opinion. people who have turbo's will say turbo and people with superchargers will say supercharger. People with neither will just hop on the turbo bandwagon because they dont know any better. There were no superchargers on the newest fast and furious so people dont care for them. I have had both and can honestly say I like the feel of my supercharged car better. My turbo'd civic was indeed ALOT more powerful, but the low end grunt and pickup of my currently supercharger car is just plain fun to drive. It has pull like a beast and can break traction whenever I want it too... even in a high RPM 4th gear. There's no lag, no cool down to worry about afterwards, no oil lines that need to be run and later leak... just a mounted blower and some fuel control.
ease of installation will go to the supercharger definately.
Gas mileage will be pretty similar, neither has an advantage here.
Price wise... about $3000-$3500 will be your standard price for a basic setup installed, nothing fancy.
Turbos have the advantage of overall potential. The s/c is limited to the pulley size as a means for increasing boost where as a turbo has quite a few ways of making more power. Turbos are often intercooled and roots style blowers are rarely... due to the fact that it directly replaces the manifold. It can be done but its alot of custom work and most companies dont mass produce them. A supercharger offers overall reliability... its just so simple stupid that is hard to mess up. Turbos rely on too many factors for controlling boost and boost creep is a possibility. Also, oil lines have a tendancy to lean and/or break... a supercharger (roots) is simply the manifold and a fuel control system.
ease of installation will go to the supercharger definately.
Gas mileage will be pretty similar, neither has an advantage here.
Price wise... about $3000-$3500 will be your standard price for a basic setup installed, nothing fancy.
Turbos have the advantage of overall potential. The s/c is limited to the pulley size as a means for increasing boost where as a turbo has quite a few ways of making more power. Turbos are often intercooled and roots style blowers are rarely... due to the fact that it directly replaces the manifold. It can be done but its alot of custom work and most companies dont mass produce them. A supercharger offers overall reliability... its just so simple stupid that is hard to mess up. Turbos rely on too many factors for controlling boost and boost creep is a possibility. Also, oil lines have a tendancy to lean and/or break... a supercharger (roots) is simply the manifold and a fuel control system.
HCF Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 3,313
From:
RE: Supercharger or Turbo?
ORIGINAL: polo708
Which would I recommend... usually this will be a biased opinion. people who have turbo's will say turbo and people with superchargers will say supercharger. People with neither will just hop on the turbo bandwagon because they dont know any better. There were no superchargers on the newest fast and furious so people dont care for them. I have had both and can honestly say I like the feel of my supercharged car better. My turbo'd civic was indeed ALOT more powerful, but the low end grunt and pickup of my currently supercharger car is just plain fun to drive. It has pull like a beast and can break traction whenever I want it too... even in a high RPM 4th gear. There's no lag, no cool down to worry about afterwards, no oil lines that need to be run and later leak... just a mounted blower and some fuel control.
ease of installation will go to the supercharger definately.
Gas mileage will be pretty similar, neither has an advantage here.
Price wise... about $3000-$3500 will be your standard price for a basic setup installed, nothing fancy.
Turbos have the advantage of overall potential. The s/c is limited to the pulley size as a means for increasing boost where as a turbo has quite a few ways of making more power. Turbos are often intercooled and roots style blowers are rarely... due to the fact that it directly replaces the manifold. It can be done but its alot of custom work and most companies dont mass produce them. A supercharger offers overall reliability... its just so simple stupid that is hard to mess up. Turbos rely on too many factors for controlling boost and boost creep is a possibility. Also, oil lines have a tendancy to lean and/or break... a supercharger (roots) is simply the manifold and a fuel control system.
Which would I recommend... usually this will be a biased opinion. people who have turbo's will say turbo and people with superchargers will say supercharger. People with neither will just hop on the turbo bandwagon because they dont know any better. There were no superchargers on the newest fast and furious so people dont care for them. I have had both and can honestly say I like the feel of my supercharged car better. My turbo'd civic was indeed ALOT more powerful, but the low end grunt and pickup of my currently supercharger car is just plain fun to drive. It has pull like a beast and can break traction whenever I want it too... even in a high RPM 4th gear. There's no lag, no cool down to worry about afterwards, no oil lines that need to be run and later leak... just a mounted blower and some fuel control.
ease of installation will go to the supercharger definately.
Gas mileage will be pretty similar, neither has an advantage here.
Price wise... about $3000-$3500 will be your standard price for a basic setup installed, nothing fancy.
Turbos have the advantage of overall potential. The s/c is limited to the pulley size as a means for increasing boost where as a turbo has quite a few ways of making more power. Turbos are often intercooled and roots style blowers are rarely... due to the fact that it directly replaces the manifold. It can be done but its alot of custom work and most companies dont mass produce them. A supercharger offers overall reliability... its just so simple stupid that is hard to mess up. Turbos rely on too many factors for controlling boost and boost creep is a possibility. Also, oil lines have a tendancy to lean and/or break... a supercharger (roots) is simply the manifold and a fuel control system.
HCF Member
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 7,168
From: Jersey
RE: Supercharger or Turbo?
It really depends on what your goals are, and your budget. I got a turbo kit for 1300 bucks, but if I found a supercharger for a deal, i woulda got that instead. Ive never driven a supercharged car, so I cant really say. However, installing my turbo wasnt too hard, and my car is a lot faster than it was, and its a blast to drive. If youre looking to make insane power numbers, a turbo setup would be best for you, as you can build the engine and simply turn up the boost with a good tune, superchargers can only go so far. It really depends on what your goal for your power is.
HCF Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 11,248
From: Charleston
RE: Supercharger or Turbo?
ORIGINAL: polo708
Which would I recommend... usually this will be a biased opinion. people who have turbo's will say turbo and people with superchargers will say supercharger. People with neither will just hop on the turbo bandwagon because they dont know any better. There were no superchargers on the newest fast and furious so people dont care for them. I have had both and can honestly say I like the feel of my supercharged car better. My turbo'd civic was indeed ALOT more powerful, but the low end grunt and pickup of my currently supercharger car is just plain fun to drive. It has pull like a beast and can break traction whenever I want it too... even in a high RPM 4th gear. There's no lag, no cool down to worry about afterwards, no oil lines that need to be run and later leak... just a mounted blower and some fuel control.
ease of installation will go to the supercharger definately.
Gas mileage will be pretty similar, neither has an advantage here.
Price wise... about $3000-$3500 will be your standard price for a basic setup installed, nothing fancy.
Turbos have the advantage of overall potential. The s/c is limited to the pulley size as a means for increasing boost where as a turbo has quite a few ways of making more power. Turbos are often intercooled and roots style blowers are rarely... due to the fact that it directly replaces the manifold. It can be done but its alot of custom work and most companies dont mass produce them. A supercharger offers overall reliability... its just so simple stupid that is hard to mess up. Turbos rely on too many factors for controlling boost and boost creep is a possibility. Also, oil lines have a tendancy to lean and/or break... a supercharger (roots) is simply the manifold and a fuel control system.
Which would I recommend... usually this will be a biased opinion. people who have turbo's will say turbo and people with superchargers will say supercharger. People with neither will just hop on the turbo bandwagon because they dont know any better. There were no superchargers on the newest fast and furious so people dont care for them. I have had both and can honestly say I like the feel of my supercharged car better. My turbo'd civic was indeed ALOT more powerful, but the low end grunt and pickup of my currently supercharger car is just plain fun to drive. It has pull like a beast and can break traction whenever I want it too... even in a high RPM 4th gear. There's no lag, no cool down to worry about afterwards, no oil lines that need to be run and later leak... just a mounted blower and some fuel control.
ease of installation will go to the supercharger definately.
Gas mileage will be pretty similar, neither has an advantage here.
Price wise... about $3000-$3500 will be your standard price for a basic setup installed, nothing fancy.
Turbos have the advantage of overall potential. The s/c is limited to the pulley size as a means for increasing boost where as a turbo has quite a few ways of making more power. Turbos are often intercooled and roots style blowers are rarely... due to the fact that it directly replaces the manifold. It can be done but its alot of custom work and most companies dont mass produce them. A supercharger offers overall reliability... its just so simple stupid that is hard to mess up. Turbos rely on too many factors for controlling boost and boost creep is a possibility. Also, oil lines have a tendancy to lean and/or break... a supercharger (roots) is simply the manifold and a fuel control system.
like + infinity
HCF Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,821
From: Rochester, NY
RE: Supercharger or Turbo?
ORIGINAL: Remmy
like + infinity
ORIGINAL: polo708
Which would I recommend... usually this will be a biased opinion. people who have turbo's will say turbo and people with superchargers will say supercharger. People with neither will just hop on the turbo bandwagon because they dont know any better. There were no superchargers on the newest fast and furious so people dont care for them. I have had both and can honestly say I like the feel of my supercharged car better. My turbo'd civic was indeed ALOT more powerful, but the low end grunt and pickup of my currently supercharger car is just plain fun to drive. It has pull like a beast and can break traction whenever I want it too... even in a high RPM 4th gear. There's no lag, no cool down to worry about afterwards, no oil lines that need to be run and later leak... just a mounted blower and some fuel control.
ease of installation will go to the supercharger definately.
Gas mileage will be pretty similar, neither has an advantage here.
Price wise... about $3000-$3500 will be your standard price for a basic setup installed, nothing fancy.
Turbos have the advantage of overall potential. The s/c is limited to the pulley size as a means for increasing boost where as a turbo has quite a few ways of making more power. Turbos are often intercooled and roots style blowers are rarely... due to the fact that it directly replaces the manifold. It can be done but its alot of custom work and most companies dont mass produce them. A supercharger offers overall reliability... its just so simple stupid that is hard to mess up. Turbos rely on too many factors for controlling boost and boost creep is a possibility. Also, oil lines have a tendancy to lean and/or break... a supercharger (roots) is simply the manifold and a fuel control system.
Which would I recommend... usually this will be a biased opinion. people who have turbo's will say turbo and people with superchargers will say supercharger. People with neither will just hop on the turbo bandwagon because they dont know any better. There were no superchargers on the newest fast and furious so people dont care for them. I have had both and can honestly say I like the feel of my supercharged car better. My turbo'd civic was indeed ALOT more powerful, but the low end grunt and pickup of my currently supercharger car is just plain fun to drive. It has pull like a beast and can break traction whenever I want it too... even in a high RPM 4th gear. There's no lag, no cool down to worry about afterwards, no oil lines that need to be run and later leak... just a mounted blower and some fuel control.
ease of installation will go to the supercharger definately.
Gas mileage will be pretty similar, neither has an advantage here.
Price wise... about $3000-$3500 will be your standard price for a basic setup installed, nothing fancy.
Turbos have the advantage of overall potential. The s/c is limited to the pulley size as a means for increasing boost where as a turbo has quite a few ways of making more power. Turbos are often intercooled and roots style blowers are rarely... due to the fact that it directly replaces the manifold. It can be done but its alot of custom work and most companies dont mass produce them. A supercharger offers overall reliability... its just so simple stupid that is hard to mess up. Turbos rely on too many factors for controlling boost and boost creep is a possibility. Also, oil lines have a tendancy to lean and/or break... a supercharger (roots) is simply the manifold and a fuel control system.
like + infinity
If you have the money and don't want massive amounts of hp, go with the supercharger.
HCF Member
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 2,156
From: Arizona
RE: Supercharger or Turbo?
well, unless you want to start breaking into the internals then the turbo really doesnt have an advantage over the supercharger. They both will be limited by the strength of your motor. If you are the kinda guy who wants to buy stronger rods and such and are planning on putting 300+ horsepower to the wheels then defiantely go the turbo route because the roots style supercharger (which is what Jackson Racing uses) wont get you there. Now a centrifugal supercharger is a different story... you can get alot more boost out of it, but im pretty sure there are no centrifugal kits for Hondas.
And many people argue that the supercharger uses power to make power because it strains the pulley system... this is true, but a turbo system uses power also. A turbo is an obstruction in the exhaust system which interupts flow and an intercooler uses power to make power also so its kinda one for one again. Without an intercooler you might be running say 6 psi... if you add an intercooler to that setup the IC will be an obstruction and will probably only put out about 4 psi of boost causing you to increase boost to say 8 psi, just to get back up to the origional 6 psi you were at before adding an IC. So it all cost horsepower int he end.
Basically, its all in where you want your power to be seen in the powerband.
And many people argue that the supercharger uses power to make power because it strains the pulley system... this is true, but a turbo system uses power also. A turbo is an obstruction in the exhaust system which interupts flow and an intercooler uses power to make power also so its kinda one for one again. Without an intercooler you might be running say 6 psi... if you add an intercooler to that setup the IC will be an obstruction and will probably only put out about 4 psi of boost causing you to increase boost to say 8 psi, just to get back up to the origional 6 psi you were at before adding an IC. So it all cost horsepower int he end.
Basically, its all in where you want your power to be seen in the powerband.
HCF Member
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 7,702
From:
RE: Supercharger or Turbo?
ORIGINAL: polo708
Now a centrifugal supercharger is a different story... you can get alot more boost out of it, but im pretty sure there are no centrifugal kits for Hondas.
Now a centrifugal supercharger is a different story... you can get alot more boost out of it, but im pretty sure there are no centrifugal kits for Hondas.
http://www.superchargersonline.com/p...=superchargers
i think this thread should be put on the record of HCF history. this is the first SC/TC thread thats gone more than 5 posts that hasnt erupted into a violent and bloody flame war.