Most auto enthusiasts, who are crazy about setting a supercharger or turbocharger in their car seldom, spend time to know really how does a supercharger work. Rather than digging out the inner secrets of a supercharger, they may be interested to replace the one fitted in the car long ago with a better and a reasonably priced one . Before getting to know exactly how a supercharger does work, let us examine why superchargers are in great demand and what are their benefits.
We know people like speed and perhaps the dream of a racer is to own the fastest car in the world. Although, cars with more horsepower are available in the market, higher prices of these vehicles deter many enthusiasts, who look for alternatives. Supercharges come in handy for those people to fulfill their cherished desire of having a car with extra horse power.
Generally speaking, a supercharger is considered an air compressor used for forced induction of an internal combustion engine. The greater mass flow-rate provides more oxygen that is required for combustion than would be available in a naturally-aspirated engine. The forced combustion allows more fuel to be provided and more work to be done per cycle, thus increases the power output of the engine.
There are different ways for powering a supercharger mechanically; by a belt, or a chain connected to the engine's crankshaft. Another way is through an exhaust gas turbine, known as turbo charger. And this happened to be the main difference between a supercharger and turbo charger. That is, a superchargers
Refer to pumps driven directly by the engine, while turbochargers are driven by the pressure of the exhaust gases.
The basic knowledge about how a supercharger works will always benefit if you own a car fitted with supercharged engine or intends to buy one in the future.