Aftermarket Supercharger vs. Turbocharger

You know that some cars come equipped with superchargers and even more today with turbochargers. You also hear that people have added aftermarket superchargers or turbochargers to their Accord? Do you know the difference between turbochargers and a superchargers ?

One definition of  superchargers is "any piece of equipment that compresses the air being delivered to an engine, allowing the combustion chamber to be overfilled without enlarging the pace. By this definition a turbocharger could be classified as a supercharger as it does the same thing.

However there are some major differences between a supercharger and a turbocharger. A supercharger is typically mechanically powered by the engine, usually from a drive belt, but sometimes with a chain or gear. On the other hand a turbocharger uses exhaust gases to power the turbine which compresses the incoming air.

Compared side by side, the supercharger has several advantages over the turbocharger. Since the supercharger power comes directly from the engine itself, there is no delay before the supercharger starts compressing the incoming air and you receive the resultant supercharger power increase. A turbocharger must wait for the exhaust gases to build up before there is enough to power the compressor. Therefore a turbocharger will have a built in delay. A newer turbocharger may have shortened, but not yet eliminated this delay.

Second a supercharger has less of the heat-related problems of a turbocharger. This allows the supercharger to run at a greater efficiency level than the turbocharger. The right supercharger on the right car may actually result in an increase in gas mileage, while typically a turbocharger may not.

Turbochargers are sometimes considered more efficient because they are using the "wasted" energy in the exhaust stream for their power source. Offsetting this is the fact that a turbocharger causes an increase of back pressure in the exhaust system and gives less boost until the engine is running at higher RPM.

When considering if you want a supercharger or a turbocharger, you will find that a supercharger is easier to install, however it is more expensive.