How Superchargers vs. Turbos Work

Get to know the differences between superchargers and turbos.

CREDITS
Jacob O'Neal - modeling, animation, texturing, vfx, music
Wesley O'Neal - research

MUSIC
I composed the background music specifically for this video. Hear "Boosted" on my Soundcloud:

PATREON
Help us keep making videos:

PRIVATE WORK
Need 3D illustration and animation? Let's chat:

WEBSITE
See more explanations of how things work:

SOFTWARE USED
We use Blender 3D to create these models. It's free and open source, and the community is amazing:

00:00 Intro
00:36 How Superchargers work
01:30 Supercharger types
02:30 How Turbochargers work
03:57 Turbo types
04:41 General comparisons
04:58 Boost
05:32 Efficiency
06:03 Conclusions

[Life_]

I'm speechless at how well made this video is. Easy to understand and aesthetically pleasing!

[Rechtschraihbung]

I actually didn't know how a supercharger worked. Thanks for the video!

[AronDubstepMusic]

To make it clear for everyone, the super charger is the thing that goes while the turbo goes STUUTUTUTU STUUUTUTU

[Leptons_]

Man, this video together with your car engine one and the transmission one are like the holy trinity of videos to get a solid visual understanding of how cars/engines work.

Actually, as your library of videos is growing, it might be a good idea to create some playlists on your channel, grouping together videos about similar/related topics or categories of the video subject.

For example,
• a *_How Cars Work_* playlist for the holy trinity I mentioned above.
• *_How Aircraft Work_* - Jet engine, P51, jet airliner, airliner cockpit.
*_How Specialised Vehicles Work_* - F1, nascar, fire engine
• Maybe a big one for all of your vehicle related videos?
• Can probably group the solar & water treatment stuff together.
• And maybe group the sewing machine, watch, & speaker videos.

Anyway, you get the idea.
Sorry for the super long comment. Incredible work as always Jake (and Wesley?), keep it up and thanks for the great content!

[bigchungus]

I learned more in this 7 min video than I did in a 2 and a half hour lecture. No bs, straight to the point.

[Wisald]

It's worth noting that designs that use both supercharger and turbocharger in the same engine exist, they are called twinchargers but they are rarely used because they are very complex.

[capn_shawn]

Car #1: 496 HP blown V8 stock.
Car #2: 442 HP twin turbo V8 stock.
Same manufacturer.
I owned both at the same time for 7 years and must say that the Supercharger experience is superior in every way except fuel economy and emissions… which is why you can’t buy them now.
The wide “area under the curve” means that at every RPM, the SC can make 100-250 more HP instantly, the exact second you floor it. No boost lag, no drop in power between shifts.
I don’t care about drag strips, but that instant 250 HP advantage makes a world of difference when you need it.

[ibrahimrabbani]

I actually already know how these things work, but I stay for the animation, it's simply too good

[jermainejohnson]

This is so well done that it temps me to install a turbo charger to my own engine

[ThisHandleFeatureIsStupid]

I'm a mechanic who spent years working in a performance shop, and so I'm already quite familiar with how both of these systems work.
But I clicked anyway because I enjoy observing your work. Animagraffs = the best visual education tool I've ever seen.

[justgivemethetruth]

How on Earth can you produce so many amazing animations, along with the research and explanations for it all. Fantastic.

[BtcSimmer]

Pausing at about 3:41 and watching arrows explains a turbo in a such a simple way Thanks for the video!!!

[Scythewing]

Great video as always.

Small correction from a centrifugal compressor engineer - compression in a centrifugal compressor does not occur due to the changing cross section in the spiral casing (3:25). Rather, compression is caused by the impeller "slinging" the air to the outside of the spiral casing. This rapid increase in kinetic energy is then converted to an increase in pressure as the air slows down through the gradual increase in area of the spiral casing (or diffuser).

Keep up the great work!

[OctaneInTheVeins]

Good content! Excellent animations with plenty of interesting information and professional sounding voiceovers! The subtle background soundtrack adds depth. You’re never going to run out of subject material. Look forward to the next one 👍🏻!

[RunEmDownTony]

I know most folks will say they will go with a turbo because they want max power. But me myself I'd go roots type or twin screw supercharger because I don't want or need max power I'm not out here trying to race. I just prefer the feeling of instant power and same boost across all rpm.

[ez]

dude two explanations at 6 minutes. And it makes sense?! “s p e e c h l e s s “

[wfhideas]

There were not such videos around when I was a student of mechanical engineering. Great animation.

[Twyler]

That was an incredibly well done and well made a video, to be honest I never really understood exactly how a supercharger worked. I don’t know that you could have made it any clearer, thank you for your work!

[maximme]

please do a video on
how military drone works.

Thanks

[medea]

_Absolute gold!_ 👍 I'm a highly visual, analytical & mechanically-minded person who grew up on blueprints & cutaway diagrams, so these 'animagraffs' tickle every neuron in my brain... just awesome! Communicating technical info in a readily digestible format is challenging at the best of times, but the time & effort invested into these videos must be huge... please know that it doesn't go unnoticed. Bravo Jake & Wesley 👏