What is the difference between a supercharger and a turbocharger?
/ vehiclevirgins
Vehicle Virgins explains the difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger.
I get this question all the time so I thought I’d explain what a supercharger and a turbocharger are.
First off lets go over the concept of forced induction. Both superchargers and turbochargers are forced induction systems. Simply put they compress the air flowing into the cylinders. Since its compressed you can fit more air and thus more fuel into the cylinders resulting in more power during combustion.
The same engine will have more power with forced induction than without. The difference lies in how the systems operate.
An example of a turbo’d car we’ve reviewed is the VW GTI.
A turbocharger uses your cars' exhaust stream. As exhaust gases flow, they spin a turbine which causes the compressor to force air into the engine.
The Ford GT we reviewed uses a supercharger. A supercharger uses a belt attached to the engine to run the air compressor. As the engine spins, it spins the supercharger, which forces air into the engine.
Which one is better? It’s hard to say. Turbo cars have greater fuel efficiency as they recycle exhaust gas. Hense why many fuel efficient cars now days have turbo 4 cylinders. The supercharger however is always spinning so it doesnt suffer from lag like turbos can.
In the end it seems to be personal preference of the manufacturer.