Turbocharger vs Supercharger: What's the Difference?

A turbocharger and a supercharger both boost engine power by compressing air, but they work differently. A supercharger is connected directly to the engine's crankshaft, providing immediate power at the cost of some engine horsepower. In contrast, a turbocharger uses exhaust gases to spin a turbine that powers the compressor, making it more efficient but causing a delay known as turbo lag. Superchargers are ideal for those who want instant power, while turbochargers are better for efficiency, though they come with a slight delay in power delivery.

[WarrenAlog]

You’re not “losing horsepower” with a supercharger, you’re gaining horsepower, and a ton of torque. Whatever Hp the supercharger takes away it gives back 10fold.

[hunterlewis]

Turbo lag is a thing of the past now with anti-turbo lag being around

[hamiltonstrickland]

So true. Every turbocharger I have ever driven means you have to keep your car in tip top shape! No lie!

[garethjohnstone]

No one thinks they're the same thing. Anyone who does, probably changes their car every 3 years when the lease is up.

[bimmermac]

It doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning is winning.
-Dom Toretto.

[sylence]

You can actually have a supercharged turbo car having the best of both worlds - twin charged

[jessedebter]

Every Gear ⚙️ Head knows the difference and also knows if you have Turbo Lag, then you’ve oversized the compressor wheel and housing attempting to make more power. You can either size the compressors correctly, go with a VGT, or go with my personal favorite and build you a Compound turbo set up. Small turbo to build boost from Dig, and larger turbo to take over when the smaller one exceeds its compressor map. You can also stick with the Big Turbo that has lag, tune the ECU with
Anti-lag tuning or just Spray 150hp shot off the line to compensate.
Either way, turbos or superchargers are great and always better than Naturally Aspirated engines. Most of the time, it comes down to Personal preference
And/Or Budget. The more money you throw in it, the more HP it’s gonna have, although that doesn’t always mean Faster.

[Flxwless_Official]

And a mix of both which is drives instant power without eliminating any engine power is the pro charger which utilizes a built drive system but uses a turbine to spin and blow air through the intake.

[LesterFong-jrqr]

Fun fact:Superchargers actually also have different types the one explained in the video was a type that uses a belt to spin the turbine and the second type he didn’t mention was the centrifugal type supercharger that uses the centrifugal force to increase the MAP(manifold air pressure)

[eoghanhennessy]

You only get turbo lag if the turbo is to big

[محمدجباری-ثر]

Using both is a very good idea. It's called twin charger 😮! Like zenvo st1😮! Or lancia delta S4😮!

[vintageexcellence]

Just look at Porsche’s success with Turbos - they didn’t invent them but they perfected the design for street cars and invented the waste gate 😊

[arianduran]

Super charger🚫
Turbo 🚫
ProCharger ✅ yes a hybrid of both 😉

[destroyerx]

In the end the turbo is the most successful at producing more power and using airflow hence why the turbo is better than the supercharger!

[randytaylor]

A turbo is the SAME as a supercharger: Both increase power by pumping more air into the engine (increasing volumetric efficiency to greater than 100%).
In fact the correct name for a "turbo" is actually turbo-supercharger.

[jamarwhite-kehg]

funny. the Cadillac CTS turbo we have accelerates instantly with zero lag.

[JH-zogk]

A correctly sized, designed, and built turbo system will have more or less zero lag.

[Redbird]

In a top fuel drag it takes roughly 1, 000 of the 10, 000 horsepower to spin the blower

[Eraser]

I have something to ask, what would happen if we put both chargers in a w16 engine and a devel sixteen body??

[pbnjgamin]

Supercharger is also less fuel effecient than turbo