Major performance enhancements can be achieved by adding a turbo charger or super charger to an engine. In this blog, we explain the technology while looking at the advantages and disadvantages of each.
In order to understand turbo chargers and super chargers, one must first realize that an engine operates on the ability to pass air through itself while igniting fuel. This process normally involves drawing air into the engine due to an expanding cylinder size as a piston moves downwards. The exception is the Mazda rotary engine which expands the chamber by a rotating process of an offset cam lobe type of geometry. This discussion will focus on piston based turbo/superchargers. In either case, the expanding size causes a suction that draws in air. Fuel is mixed into the air via a carburetor or by fuel injection. Turbo chargers and super chargers are devices that pump additional air into the chamber by forcing the air into the engine in addition to the vacuum that sucks in air. By forcing air, better engine efficiency is achieved.
