DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TURBO CHARGER AND A SUPER CHARGER

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TURBO CHARGER AND A
SUPER CHARGER
Both turbochargers and superchargers are called
forced induction systems. They compress the air
flowing into the engine. The advantage of
compressing the air is that it lets the engine stuff
more air into a cylinder. More air means that more
fuel can be stuffed in, too, so you get more power
from each explosion in each cylinder. A turbo/
supercharged engine produces more power overall
than the same engine without the charging.
The typical boost provided by either a turbocharger or
a supercharger is 6 to 8 pounds per square inch (psi).
Since normal atmospheric pressure is 14.7 psi at sea
level, you can see that you are getting about 50-
percent more air into the engine. Therefore, you
would expect to get 50-percent more power. It's not
perfectly efficient, though, so you might get a 30-
percent to 40-percent improvement instead.
The key difference between a turbocharger and a
supercharger is its power supply. Something has to
supply the power to run the air compressor. In a
supercharger, there is a belt that connects directly to
the engine. It gets its power the same way that the
water pump or alternator does. A turbocharger, on the
other hand, gets its power from the exhaust stream.
The exhaust runs through a turbine, which in turn
spins the compressor.