Yamaha Motor’s engineer, Hiroyuki Hasegawa, first commercialized turbocharger kit for consumer-level passenger cars. Since then, many car owners have departed from their naturally-aspirated engines and satisfy their urge for additional powers. Twin turbo is one of the more efficient enhancements we can put into a car. A properly installed turbocharger kit on a healthy engine could add up to 100HP and a significant improvement in torque, if we don’t mind spending more on fuel costs. In essence, turbocharger kit works by increasing the air suction power and more fuel will also be injected into the chamber.
Supercharger is usually connected with the engine through a belt, while turbocharger is integrated with the exhaust system. There are significant differences between both systems when we turn the car on. Supercharger works immediately, while turbocharger works a bit a later when the volume of exhaust gas reaches certain level. Meaning, with turbocharger, our car already runs at high speed or high rpm before the additional horsepower is released. Due to much improved gas mileage, turbocharger is a more preferred option, but it depends on our preferences.
Turbocharger needs sometime before it fires up, but it can potentially provide us with additional power than supercharger. In addition, turbochargers work better for road racing and at higher RPMs. Unfortunately; turbocharger also costs more, because it has more expensive parts. In addition, intercooling is essential if we are using turbocharger in our car. Supercharger is more affordable because it has fewer parts and intercooling is optional. Supercharger also works well at lower torque, but it may perform poorly at very high RPM. For this reason, supercharger is preferable when we need instant acceleration, especially during drag racing.
Living with supercharger and turbocharger can be a lot of fun. However, there are a few things that we should consider. One important fact is that bigger doesn’t mean better. Some bigger turbocharger models can be quite impressive, but they can be less efficient and require higher exhaust level. The amount of power boost should be within the limit of our kit’s PSI level and we may ruin the system if we are overdoing it. The engine is designed to work at sea level atmospheric pressure, so too much pressure can cause unnecessary stress. That’s the reason why some engines for rally cars are completely useless after completing a race.
When using supercharger and turbocharger, we should make sure that gaskets, rings and seals are working properly. We need high quality gasoline to prevent pre-detonation or pinging. To further protect our engine, we may need high-grade coolant. Before letting our car runs using both systems, we should let it run idle for at least 15 minutes. The heat will make oil gets thinner and the flow will become smoother. Then, we should drive the car slowly for about five minutes before we start to apply higher RPMs. For drag racing purposes, we should also consider time gap before the supercharger responds after we push the accelerator and it is known as the “turbo lag”.
