How to Modify / Tune your car - 2 - Superchargers! Turbo's
Have any way mentioned it as far as it goes in one of my previous articles, as well as using nitrous so will just move on to superchargers Supercharger's
Typically are driven off the crank and are compressors (Kompressor of the Merc era) that compress air straight into the intake manifold / plenum. They may or may not use intercoolers depending on the boost run. So what are the types of superchargers available:
Two of the most famous types of superchargers in the world are - Centrifugal - Good only for low RPM's but the newer ones are much better
- Root’s - Good for automotive use as they tend to last longer
- Vane - vanes tend to wear out quickly
So how do we get boost out of them? - Boost is based on the RPM the supercharger is running on
- The gearing / pulley sizes define the rpm and hence the boost
What are the effects of Supercharging on an engine mechanically - Puts greater stress on the engine
- Piston edges and valve seats tend to burn due to higher temps
- Requires a lot more fuel
- It is parasitic on the engine for the power required to turn
- Intake temps are lot higher so depending on ambient temperatures it is also reccomended to use an intercooler
So what mods are effective with supercharging - Better intakes and exhaust
- Good Headers
- Plugs in the right heat range 8 - 9
- Race Cams with a lot of overlap
- Porting and Polishing
- Fuel pump upgrade / Additional Fuel Pump
- Forged parts - Pistons, Con Rods, Crank
- Aftermarket ignition controller especially for distributorless cars
or a Good ECU - piggy back or stand alone - A good clutch and drive train to transfer the power
- good tyres to grip and not spin out
- A good tuner who knows what he/she is doing
When does one choose to go the supercharging way and not the turbo route? - Most effective on high torque engines
- Has the car set up for NA / Nitrous use and would like to take the next step
- Loves linear power delivery
- When the car sticks to one RPM range all the time
- Might not be the right choice for track conditions when one needs power at the drop of the hat
- Turbo's are a lot more complicated to set up and tune
- You get more than enough plug and play kits out there (mostly for American cars and typically for Jap cars too which are over 2.5 lts in displacement... remember the high initial torque requirements)
Next I think I will delve on the aspects of tuning ECU's particularly on the ones typically found here in India.
Last edited by Rehaan : 20th March 2009 at 12:51.
Reason: Nitrous link added.
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