997 TPC Racing Turbo Kit... Coming very soon! :p
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I would rather have a sharp stick in my eye.
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Yep, all true. the only thing I'll add, just to round out the comments is the tradeoff of rpm range and (varying amounts of) lag in producing the prodigious amounts of power from turbos. Not per se a bad thing, but turbos 'alter' the behavior of an NA engine while SC comes closer to simply multiplying the behavior of that engine.
I have a SC'd car, and the effects are completely remarkable but as c2junkie notes, it's fundamentally appealing to get nearly 'free' power from turbos in making use of otherwise wasted energy to gain more power from the motor. Depending on the design and the text you read, SC's can consume upwards of 1/3 of total engine power at operational speeds. In turn you get 'instant on' power at low and mid-range power bands.
All engineering tradeoffs, and drivers/owners have to choose how they'd like their ride to behave.
I for one like the idea of having a tame, economical ride at around-town speeds, and then have high boost at high rpm - the formula fulfilled by a turbo.
I have a SC'd car, and the effects are completely remarkable but as c2junkie notes, it's fundamentally appealing to get nearly 'free' power from turbos in making use of otherwise wasted energy to gain more power from the motor. Depending on the design and the text you read, SC's can consume upwards of 1/3 of total engine power at operational speeds. In turn you get 'instant on' power at low and mid-range power bands.
All engineering tradeoffs, and drivers/owners have to choose how they'd like their ride to behave.
I for one like the idea of having a tame, economical ride at around-town speeds, and then have high boost at high rpm - the formula fulfilled by a turbo.
Like it has already been said, it is about the efficiency of the method. A turbocharger utilizes energy that is still in the exhaust gas which was not converted into engine power with the piston. That is inherently more efficient than how a supercharger is driven from the crank, which is driven by the pistons. That gives you 2 points: at the same boost level a turbocharger will give you more power at the crank and the ultimate power level will be higher with a turbocharger while at the limits of the piston/head/crank/block/bearings/etc as long as the extra pressure on the exhaust side is not the weak point on the engine. If you need more information or convincing I would recommend studying any sophmore level college physics text covering thermodynamics and statistical mechanics.
Last edited by Verde; Jan 1, 2010 at 09:39 AM. Reason: typo
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