What is better... a supercharger or a turbocharger?

Answer 1

Simple question, but not so simple to answer.

If you are talking about upgrading your car, you may not have much of a choice. Many cars have only one type of kit available, usually because its more popular for that car. For example, there are many turbo kits for a Nissan z, and virtually no supercharger kits. Conversely, there are many supercharger kits for the Ford mustang and very few turbo kits.

Mechanically a supercharger is simpler. It uses energy from the drive belt to compress air into the engine intake. The faster the engine spins, the more pressure there is on the intake.

A turbocharger does the same thing, but instead of using a belt to connect to the engine, the turbo uses exhaust pressure to drive the compressor.

For raw performance, a supercharger is better. It can add more power than a turbo and the power is available through more of the rev range. Adding a supercharger will significantly decrease your fuel economy, however. In addition, a supercharger may wear out your engine faster.

A turbo, when driven normally, will not decrease fuel efficiency at all (and on highways can actually IMPROVE fuel efficiency). The disadvantage of a turbo is that you really only get a power boost in the high revs (4000 or more for most turbos). The bigger the turbo, the higher you have to rev for it to kick in.

Because of this, turbos are better suited to manual transmissions, so you can shift down and keep the engine in the "turbo sweet spot". Nothing is more frustrating than putting your foot down in an automatic turbo and waiting for the transmission to shift down so you can go.

The BOTTOM LINE is that turbos deliver better efficiency and plenty of power, but for raw performance, superchargers usually go farther, especially with automatic transmissions.