Re: Superchargers

[Psycho Bob <honge@creighton.edu>]

> How about a supercharger rather than a turbo charger.  Would that be 
> simpler? And are there electric superchargers, that is, one that runs 
> off the battery rather than  directly from the engine?  Perhaps a bit 
> like the radiator fan when it's on high.

Well, it's possible. Sometime ago someone posted that some dude in Europe 
has put supercharger in the A8. The bottom line is -- are you willing to 
pay for it?

For one thing, since Audis has applied turbos to many models, getting 
the Audi to turbo is a lot easier than do it from scratch for 
supercharging (for a third-party mfr). Another, is that supercharge and 
turbo have different power delivery region. And personally I like turbo 
better because I surf the highway -- I'll be darned if I'm going to keep 
the engine back at 1200rpm to feel the supercharging. (:

As for electronic-motor supercharing, you have to do some researching to 
look for an efficient motor. To force feed an engine, you need a 
compressor that has enough meat to build the pressure. And I don't think 
most fan motor will have enough power to do so. I suppose it's possible 
to use them for "burst" applications -- like stop-light drag. But for 
continual use, you'll need beefy motor to keep the force-feeding -- and 
that means bigger battery for power reserve, etc. to power the motor. 
Both compressor and turbo will zap several hp from the engine to do the 
work.

Of course, it's possible to both super- and turbo-charge a single engine. 
It does wonders as both compliments each others' power-delivery 
characteristics.

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