The age old question, to supercharge or turbo charge
I'm finding the usual consensus ends up as follow;
if you start with large displacement, and need low end power, than supercharging will be best (usually trucks, or big engined cars)
if you start with small displacement, and want more usable power, than turbo charging will be best (almost always small engined cars)
I have seen trucks with superchargers, and I have seen them with turbo charger systems so obviously there is some use cases to follow here looking at the history of the subject.
Based on feedback in the forums, superchargers are favoured by 90% of members for our trucks because "if you bought a truck, you need the low end power for pulling" and obviously the ease of install, maintenance and reliability of a supercharger system vs. a turbo charger system should make it the obvious choice for a truck.
Well, I am in the 10% that just cant get over the fact that I need to give up horsepower to generate horsepower and its this inefficiency that is just sticking out in my mind and wont go away... I dont like taking the easy road out, and I think this Ecotec3 platform can benefit more from a turbo charged system and gain that efficiency that is lost from supercharging.
Negatives for a turbo charger system are usually the following;
-LAG! always turbo lag in the lower rpms where you need it, no power until higher in the rpm band
-reliability, separate oil lines needing to be fed to the turbo's, complicated boost systems and piping needed, intercooler, etc
-cost, turbo charger systems are usually custom for every type of truck, unlike superchargers that are fit to engine types
-did i miss any?
Turbo charging has gotten bigger in the last decade with most manufactures in North America now offering at least one of two turbo charged vehicles in their vehicle line ups all in the name off efficiency! With the popularity of these systems though, the industry has seen major break throughs in design, with the oil-less turbos, and the hybrid (e-turbo) systems which have an electric motor to supplement the low exhaust flow during low rpms which virtually erases turbo lag.
Which system do you think would better suit this engine and drive train package and why? also, are there any other negatives for turbo charging that do not fit under the categories of reliability or cost?
I'm finding the usual consensus ends up as follow;
if you start with large displacement, and need low end power, than supercharging will be best (usually trucks, or big engined cars)
if you start with small displacement, and want more usable power, than turbo charging will be best (almost always small engined cars)
I have seen trucks with superchargers, and I have seen them with turbo charger systems so obviously there is some use cases to follow here looking at the history of the subject.
Based on feedback in the forums, superchargers are favoured by 90% of members for our trucks because "if you bought a truck, you need the low end power for pulling" and obviously the ease of install, maintenance and reliability of a supercharger system vs. a turbo charger system should make it the obvious choice for a truck.
Well, I am in the 10% that just cant get over the fact that I need to give up horsepower to generate horsepower and its this inefficiency that is just sticking out in my mind and wont go away... I dont like taking the easy road out, and I think this Ecotec3 platform can benefit more from a turbo charged system and gain that efficiency that is lost from supercharging.
Negatives for a turbo charger system are usually the following;
-LAG! always turbo lag in the lower rpms where you need it, no power until higher in the rpm band
-reliability, separate oil lines needing to be fed to the turbo's, complicated boost systems and piping needed, intercooler, etc
-cost, turbo charger systems are usually custom for every type of truck, unlike superchargers that are fit to engine types
-did i miss any?
Turbo charging has gotten bigger in the last decade with most manufactures in North America now offering at least one of two turbo charged vehicles in their vehicle line ups all in the name off efficiency! With the popularity of these systems though, the industry has seen major break throughs in design, with the oil-less turbos, and the hybrid (e-turbo) systems which have an electric motor to supplement the low exhaust flow during low rpms which virtually erases turbo lag.
Which system do you think would better suit this engine and drive train package and why? also, are there any other negatives for turbo charging that do not fit under the categories of reliability or cost?
