Superchargers: Everything You Need to Know | How They Work

As you might already know, internal combustion engines are massive air pumps. If you can pump more air in and out of the engine, you can effectively make more torque and more power. Getting more air into the engine can be done by improving the air flow of components like the intake manifold or cylinders, or you can simply just force more air into the engine with a compressor.

Depending on your application, each type of supercharger has it’s pros and cons. For the most part, Roots style supercharger aren’t used in modified street cars because of their massive size, weight, and inefficiency. Applications where you’ll typically see a Roots style supercharger are on drag cars.

Centrifugal superchargers are very popular for street applications and have the ability to easily make a massive amount of power, but for those who want tons of low-end power, a twin-screw is probably a better option.

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[TheAMGReviewers]

i just love the whine, the louder the better

[TampaDE]

Awesome explanation. Exactly what I was looking for. 👋

[michaelbieber]

Wow! Best explanation to date. Thanks a lot! NOW TO MAKE A CHOICE... not going to be easy.

[Nick--SRB]

Great video 👍🏼 I love Superchargers because of there instant power response.

[randyranderson]

***Random question***
On a turbocharged car could you also add a small centrifugal supercharger with the compressed air outlet going to the exhaust manifold just before the flange to mount the turbo? The purpose being to spool the turbo faster, guess it would also drop the temp in the exhaust side of the turbo. You also wouldn't get the interference of separate intake charges like in a twin-charged setup.

[zoemichelleb.harrington]

Can you talk about the 4g63 vs 4b11t engine thanks

[varadjoshi]

Sir, can help me by making video on problem solution for supercharger

[anthonyhunter]

Price comparisons would have been good video 🙂

[rattlehead]

How about both a turbo and a twin-screw supercharger at the same time? Are two intercoolers needed?

[porscheguy]

Centrifugal superchargers also can suffer from lag similar to turbo lag but not as bad. Where a roots or twin screw supercharger produces the same boost from idle to redline a centrifugal supercharger produces considerably less boost at low RPM’s and builds boost as the RPM increases peaking at redline. When intercooling a twin screw like a Whipple for example, usually uses a Air to Water intercooler that is directly between the supercharger and intake manifold or integrated somehow into the intake manifold and the pressurized air only has to flow a couple of inches from the supercharger into the cylinder creating a quicker response. A centrifugal supercharger like a Procharger generally uses an Air to Air intercooler which creates considerably more air volume in the system that has to be forced from the supercharger down to the intercooler usually mounted in front of the radiator and then back up and into the intake manifold. That added air volume and the distance it has to travel before getting into the cylinder creates lag and a slower response than a twin screw provides. Personally I’d choose a twin screw over a centrifugal supercharger because the twin screw produces the same boost from idle to redline and a centrifugal doesn’t. That means if two guys driving the same cars with everything the same except one was running a twin screw and the other a centrifugal and they both are cruising side by side doing 30 mph and hit the gas, the guy with the twin screw is going to leave the guy with the centrifugal in the dust because the twin screw is producing max boost at every speed while the centrifugal is making way less and doesn’t hit max boost until he redlines. They can produce the same max boost but the twin screw makes it all the time and not just at redline which is the best thing in my opinion.

[nickamarit]

What happens if you put an FMIC in between a positive displacement S/C and the engine? Mike Lake did it on his Supercharging a 4-cylinder M40B18 E36 video.

[porfiriocadenas]

So which one should I put on my 2018 Civic it's 2.0

[uighkgui]

Are there any twin screw superchargers for an old school chevy BBC?? I can only find roots chargers...

[sariahreigns]

i wonder if there will ever be a free spinning pulley on a procharger with a one way clutch. THe reason ive asked this is if a procharger is still limited by engine rpm and belt speed what if it used the belt to get spinning fast and then as more air came through the turbine could spin faster if theoreticlly the belt no longer held the turbine at a certain speed. if it slowed down the one way clutch would stop it from free spinning the wrong way on throttle cut and still spin at belt speed again.

[afrikagreen]

Thumbs up my friend, , , What type supercharger is it on a mercedes SLK230 kompressor?

[shaquilledassasingh]

Do I need to change my engine piston to supercharger my honda h23 engine

[zvonimirskvorc]

What about twin screw when in high rpms, I know that it makes a lot of low end power/torque but what about high end

[cameronharris-brown]

Dope video really looking into this topic and it answers like half if not more than all of my questions

[matthewmohri]

What do you think of Rotrex Super Chargers? I know they are not a commonly used type of variant Centrifugal S/C. I have noticed that they normally put more power down to the wheels than your regular Vortec Centrifugal S/C. Do you have any knowledge of Rotrex S/C's?

[davidwilfong]

OK any thing bolted to a motor will get hot a roots super charger are usually up out of the hood getting cold air