What is the difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger?

Turbocharging is driven by exhaust gas and is cheaper, while supercharging is driven by the engine and is more expensive. The specific differences between the two are as follows:

First, the principle of action is different:

Supercharging is to provide high-pressure air at the intake end of the engine, allowing the air to actively enter the cylinder, so supercharging can allow the cylinder to enter more mixture and increase engine power.

1. Turbocharging is the use of engine exhaust energy to pressurize the air. The supercharger is installed on the exhaust manifold. The exhaust gas from the engine drives the turbine to rotate, and the turbine drives the coaxial compressor impeller, which pressurizes the air and delivers it to the engine intake to achieve supercharging.

The turbocharger is driven by exhaust gas, and the amount of exhaust gas at low engine speed is not enough to drive the supercharger to achieve sufficient boost pressure, so the turbocharged engine has a supercharging effect only after reaching a certain speed. Moreover, there is a delay from stepping on the accelerator to increasing the exhaust gas volume, so turbocharged engines all have turbo lag.

2. The supercharger is driven by the engine, connected to the engine through a belt, and drives the internal screw air compressor to provide intake boost to the engine. Since the supercharger is directly connected to the engine, there is almost no delay in supercharging, and the supercharging can be provided as soon as the engine starts, so the engine power output is very smooth, and some luxury cars can use supercharging to achieve better driving quality.

Second, the price is different:

1. The price of the turbocharger is cheaper, but the working temperature of the turbo is high, which requires higher heat dissipation of the engine.

2. Superchargers are more expensive. Moreover, the higher the speed of the supercharger, the greater the moment of inertia, and the more power the engine consumes. Therefore, the maximum power of the supercharged engine will be limited in the high speed range because the supercharger consumes a lot of engine power.

Summary: Supercharging is more like icing on the cake, suitable for use in situations that require high driving quality. The turbocharger is more like a stimulant, to get the desired power at the lowest possible cost.

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