Adding a supercharger - the advantages and disadvantages.

Adding a supercharger - the advantages and disadvantages.

"SuperCharge me."

Superchargers

These are driven by a belt from the engine effectively creating pull on the engine sapping up to 30% of the engines power.

For this reason superchargers are not as efficient as turbo chargers, which are driven from 'spare' energy taken from waste exhaust gases.

The big advantage for superchargers is that they produce additional power from much lower engine speeds and do not suffer from the inherent lag of turbos.

There are two main types of supercharger, a positive displacement supercharger, which gives a fairly constant level of boost making tuning a much simpler process, and dynamic compressors, which provide boost in proportion to the engines speed.

Any compression of air will raise the air temperature, so add an intercooler to keep the air charge cool.

It is better to fit a supercharger to a Naturally aspirated engine than going for a turbo because you will have much more control over the power and it will be delivered in a more consistent manner establishing a good base for ECU tuning to take full advantage of the power.

If adding forced induction to a standard naturally aspirated engine, a word of caution about engine knock. This is where pressure in the engine causes the air/fuel to prematurely ignite causing extensive engine damage. Just as with a turbo you would need to lower the compression ratio of the engine in relation to the amount of boost you are putting into the engine. Ideally you want to lower the compression of an engine to around 8:1 to allow a reasonable level of boost, although this varies from application to application.

Typically superchargers are more expensive to make than turbo chargers. As demand increases these costs will eventually come down to affordable levels and aftermarket kits will be available for most popular engines.

The other advantage of a supercharger is that the charge temperature is substantially lower than an equivalent turbo application and cooler air carries more oxygen which means more fuel can be burned therefore releasing more power.

Any form of compression of air creates a temperature rise so an intercooler is still a good idea on a supercharged engine. You will also need to uprate your fuelling.

Manufacturers are now producing dual forced induction systems. These give a good compromise between low down boost and top end power. Offerings such as Volkswagens 1.4 twincharger engine can produce a massive 168hp and 177 lb-ft torque, and still return fuel consumption around 40mpg. A smaller engine is also lighter and smaller so fairly small cars can be fitted with these engines and offer very good performance.

As modern engines are so well built there is a lot of scope for the addition of forced air induction without dramatically impairing reliability.

The supercharger is also an easier bolt on upgrade when compared with a turbo.

There are also some interesting projects around where superchargers are being added to turbo engined cars to provide the best of both worlds.

Auto Custom Engineering have just released a wide range of supercharger kits for German and popular cars. These are a bolt on upgrade running low boost and do not require major internal engine work.

Source from : www.torquecars.com

POWER VS ECONOMY

"Getting more power without hurting your pocket"

In today’s climate were fuel is expensive, the government are taxing us heavily and everyone is on about the theory of Global warming the motoring enthusiast who wants more power seems to be under attack.

Big engines are apparently killing the O-Zone layer (even though the whole has not changed in the last 20 years!)

So what do we do, give up our desires and resign to the electric car that barely makes 50 miles?

Or have to take a loan out to pay for the fuel tax on the car that will give us the power that we have always desired?

The answer NONE of the above, We are encouraged by the men in Downing Street and eco-friendly enthusiast to drive around in small engine cars, So lets do as they ask. But they have overlooked something, FORCED INDUCTION! They have failed to see that FI can produce as much power as the big straight sixes and V8’s with more benefits.

Auto Custom Engineering have produced ‘bolt-on’ turbo and supercharger kits for most German made cars

We have found the answer, Auto Custom Engineering have produced ‘bolt-on’ turbo and supercharger kits for most German made cars. They allow the car driver to still get nearly the same MPG as they expect from the small engine car.

But when they want more power, the kits will gain them 30-40% on there engine producing them a car that will still keep money in their pockets whilst fulfilling the power desires they want!

The kits come complete with everything needed for the fitting, including full fitting instructions so if you feel confident the home tuner can fit it, if not we will fit it in our workshop in Surrey. The kits run low boost so no need to up rate any of the engines internals.

All kits come complete with a secondary ECU so no need for the expensive remap, They all come with guarantees and warranties, The kits start from £2900 and they are available for BMW, AUDI, MERCEDES, SEAT, SKODA,

We have kits for most engines sizes; 1600 right up to the M3/X5’s and more.

We also offer the facility of building custom kits for most cars up to your specification power; these are built in our workshop and tested on the engine dyno.

Please contact Dan Wilkie on 01483219589 or please email us on: enquiry@autocustomengineering.com and be sure to mention TorqueCars.

Source from : www.torquecars.com