Thread: Boost Options
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Old Fri, March 11th, 2011, 12:36 AM
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I have a few concerns with centrifugal superchargers(ProCharger or PC). First off they are RPM dependent....so max boost is achieved at max RPM. Does not sound too bad until you think about how it will affect drive-ability.

Imagine you are pulling a trailer around town and reach a hill, as you ease into the throttle your turbo will react to the higher EGT's and boost will climb, and you have the power to climb the hill. Now take a truck that is supercharged (centrifugal) - pulling the same hill - as you ease into it, boost does not change....until you push down so hard it downshifts and your engine is revved high enough to make some boost.

Does not make sense to be driving around all day in low gear just so you have a bit of power, does it?

Another company is producing kits that add a supercharger as a primary stage in a compounded setup. The problem I have with this is low RPM boost is still up to the turbo to produce.....not the instant boost some are claiming from them. The logical cure for this would be to use the supercharger as the secondary stage in compounds, and try to massage the ratios to have boost pick up off idle, then have he turbo take over when its ready - but apparently the ProCharger cannot handle the heat of being force-fed by a turbo.

Another problem I see is the inability to turn the PC off.....its always on - always robbing HP's even when you dont need it.

I believe the ultimate setup would be to have a Whipple or TwinScrew style charger as the secondary and have it fed by a large turbo(s), like the BlowerMax.

The Whipple chargers are great because of there ability to boost hard down low, and bypass when not needed. Combine that with the top end potential of a big turbo and you will have a pretty fun setup.

But in all reality, a set of properly matched turbos can do the same task.
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