Why Superchargers Aren't As Good as Turbos

superchargers are really cool but they do kind of suck hear me out superchargers are a reliable way of adding more power so why the hell is no one using them turbochargers have a huge monopoly over the forced induction scene both with manufacturers and with the aftermarket but it still stands that if your car is going to come with some sort of spinny thing that creates more power it's more likely than not going to be a turbocharger not a supercharger so why is it that superchargers always get forgotten about and maybe hear me out on this one is because superchargers aren't very good a supercharger's function is similar to that viterbo its job is to suck in extra atmospheric air and force it into the engine bay the difference between these two is that turbos are powered by waste exhaust gases and superchargers utilize a crankshaft driven pulley more air means more fuel and that means more fast simple the logic is flawless the term supercharger is used for mechanical forced induction that isn't a turbocharger turbos actually used to be referred to as turbo superchargers but over time the two terms have been separated the earliest version of a supercharger showed up all the way back in the late 1840s a prototype was invented by a man from birmingham named g jones but unfortunately that's as much information as we could find what we do know is that this predates even the first ever two-stroke or four-stroke engines superchargers are old just over 10 years later in 1860 the roots brothers patented their air mover which was designed to pump air into industrial blast furnaces in mines by the late 1800s and early 1900s supercharger development was gathering speed with some big names getting involved rudolph diesel patented his own version for his new compression ignition engine and even louis renault had a go got live daimler got lee mr daimler was first to patent a supercharger on an internal combustion engine although he died in 1900 mercedes were the first to use his patented design on a car in the early 1920s they used the term compressor with a k because that's just better obviously daimler's version was a root style setup but what does that actually mean much like a turbo a supercharger has a few different variations you've probably heard of terms like centrifugal twin screw and roots so let's look into the differences the root supercharger is the star most commonly used in cars and it takes its name from the guys we mentioned earlier the roots brothers and yes it's the one that sounds like this atmospheric air is drawn into the supercharger which is fitted on the top of the engine inside the root supercharger casing you'll find a pair of identical impellers which are rotated by a crankshaft driven pulley the reason they make the iconic wine is because the impellers are essentially straight cut gears similar to the noise you'll get from some racing gearboxes [Music] also sometimes the impellers are twisted slightly which makes them unbelievably satisfying to watch in motion air is pushed down into the engine by the impellers all while making an absolutely epic noise the restart doesn't actually compress the air which makes it more of a belt-driven air pump than a compressor but its function is still to literally force air into the engine despite the lack of compressed air being on top of the engine means that things can still get really hot so before the air reaches the engine it will pass through an air to water intercooler to keep things cool the roots is what's known as a positive displacement supercharger it means that it supplies the same amount of air no matter where you are in the rev range that's right it means there's little to no lag all of the boost is available at super low revs unlike a turbo which needs a bit of time to wake up and join the party the other type of supercharger like this is known as a twin screw its workings are very similar to the routes where it has two impellers inside the casing the difference is that the twin screw supercharger actually compresses the air that it sucks in how does it do it i hear you ask it's time for talk about the birds and the bees the twin screw uses male and female impellers that interlock as they rotate with the compression happening as it passes through the female side and that kids is how boost is made oh god this is like one of those awkward classes you get in secondary school compressing the air means that there's a hell of a lot of heat to deal with so it needs to pass through an intercooler to bring intake temperatures down that all sounds great so why am i saying that superchargers suck well let me explain the downside of positive displacement superchargers is that they're not very efficient yes they give you more power and little to no lag but think about it they literally use engine power to create more engine power packaging them up can also be a problem too they need to be placed on top of the engine unlike a turbo which can be neatly tucked away somewhere else in the engine bay a bonnet bulge might look good on a dodge hellcat but i'm not sure it would look so good on my golf it is faster than the 408 piece today have that super owners yeah but they didn't give up on superchargers just yet there is a type of supercharger that solves those packaging issues and it sort of looks like a turbo this is the centrifugal supercharger it doesn't need to cling on top of the engine like a scared puppy instead it's a strong independent form of forced induction that can find its own place to live in the engine bay although it does still need to be relatively close because it's belt driven and stuff but another one for the turbos there the compressor side of it is almost identical to what you find on a turbocharger but where the latter uses exhaust gases to spin the impeller and create more power the former is belt driven by the crankshaft not only does it look like a turbo but it has the same issue lag the impeller takes a little bit of time to get spinning at full capacity so you're always waiting for the revs to climb before you get the power you asked for superchargers just aren't efficient yes they can add considerable power but they literally use engine power to work it's not hard to see why manufacturers often opt for turbochargers the gain to loss ratio with superchargers often isn't great utilizing waste energy from the exhaust makes far more sense than causing a parasitic loss on the engine american manufacturers like cadillac dodge and ford have stuck with the supercharger for their more extreme performance cars but it's difficult to think of any car makers outside of the us that still use them the mini cooper s used one for a few years until it switched to a turbo mercedes had its compressor on both regular cars and some amgs and jaguar land rover used superchargers on v6s and v8s for years but even they recently switched to turbos turbos are certainly no angels but modern technology means things like electric turbos are fast becoming more and more popular you should go check out that other video from an engineering point of view it's hard to fight the superchargers corner but despite all the downsides it's really hard not to love them even if they do suck their inefficiencies kind of make cast like the demon even more appealing dodge could have made it more efficient more economical and dare i even say faster with a turbo or two using a supercharger gives it that unique sound as well as the brutal lowdown grunt needed to make it an incredible quarter mile muncher if you like this video then you should watch this other video on why rotary engines kind of suck thank you so much for watching and i'll catch you in the next one

Channel: OVERDRIVE

Views: 497,934

Keywords: Driven Media, Driver61, Scott Mansell, Automotive, Cars, Car Media, Driven, Driving, Racing, Superchargers, Turbo, Turocharger, Supercharger, Hemi, Dodge Hemi, Forced Induction, Power, Internal Combustion Engines, Engineering, Centrifugal Supercharger, Roots Supercharger

Id: W59CC1jVnCI

Length: 6min 54sec (414 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 18 2022