Turbo or Supercharger???

[Jephro]

Opinion on Azenis:

I have had them on 4 cars, and have loved them on every one. Will I purchase them again? Not a chance.

Reason: Kuhmo XS.
Kuhmos are $3 cheaper per tire, and have been rated as the fastest street tire for autocrossing by multiple different sources.

[Jephro]

Some things to think about with the turbo vs. supercharger:

The arguement that superchargers "rob" hp is true... but you have to understand that BOTH systems rob power.

Supercharger: belt driven by the engine as its input energy, meaning it takes hp to run it in the first place, but it is constant and is always spooled. The larger the compressor, the more it is going to rob power from the engine but the higher the boost the compressor can run at higher rpms.

Turbocharger: Uses exhaust air as its input energy through the "hot side". The larger the "cold side" (compressor) the more energy is required on the "hot side" to create pressure. This means if you have a turbo that spools quickly, the compressor has to be small and will not have flow capabilities to "pull hard to redline" and it will feel like the car is falling flat on its face after 5-6k rpms. If you get a turbo that pulls all the way to redline, it requires a larger compressor which is going to need more energy [airflow, meaning rpms] on the hot side to power it... which is where the lag comes into play.

Deliverator: I do agree the WRX is a great example of quick spools, but it falls on its face at high rpms. I have owned an 02 WRX, 07 STI and 05 Legacy GT so I have experience with a variety of "smaller" turbo sizes.


Supercharger heaven:
http://www.systemstrategies.com/miata/Uber/
Cliff's notes: 200trq by 2500rpm, peak trq is 305 at around 5300, redlines at 7300 with 265trq giving 360whp at about 7000rpm.
I would challenge anyone to find me ANY turbo miata that makes even over 300whp that has trq over 200 before 4000rpm.

Granted this setup is about $10-15k under the hood alone, but that is what will end up in my miata.

[Deliverator]

Originally Posted by Jephro

Deliverator: I do agree the WRX is a great example of quick spools, but it falls on its face at high rpms. I have owned an 02 WRX, 07 STI and 05 Legacy GT so I have experience with a variety of "smaller" turbo sizes.

I agree- you can't have fast spool AND pull hard all the way to redline.

Hence the bit about 'properly sized'. IMO, if someone is concerned about lag, that means t25 or gt2560 on a 1.6 or 1.8l. You want to pull to redline get yourself a gt3071- but then you're going to not reach full boost until substantially later, so plan on keeping your engine rather higher in the rpm range to avoid lag.

[Baker]

I haven't had any experience with superchargers, but I have had a bad experience with turbo's, so I would say supercharger. Take into consideration that if you decide to turbo it, you will be spending some extra cash on tuning and such.

[korth]

they both for the most part require tunes unless you pick up a self tune stand alone computer best idea imo but expensive

[Paul B]

ys both do require tune. Both also run into some problems and bad experiences. Im set on the turbo and itll be here by the end of February. I love the ability to go from a few different tunes.

my plan is to tune it where Im going to want it all the time,and leave it. but also have a few tunes in a computer (like korths idea) so that i can tune it up or down if i feel like it. again, more expensive, but o well. I going to research netbooks that can run software so its cheaper and easier to handle.

[JCruiza120]

eeepc ftw.

[Dave P]

paul talk to me when it comes to computers lol

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by Dave P

paul talk to me when it comes to computers lol

Huh??

[Paul B]

U mean about buying a computer??