Turbo vs. blower debate w/in

[imported_admin]

Hey all, I crushed my finger on the garage door this afternoon so I can't type much but in the interest of offended people, this is the official turbo vs. blower debate/argument thread. As long as there is no name calling, debating what is the optimal power adder is a very good thing for the performance-minded community.

And Steve... you mentioned in the other thread that ATI might be reading this. I sure as hell hope they're not. If they are, I want them to stop now and start answering the damn phone. I'm SICK AND TIRED of sitting on hold for 45 minutes on a NON-TOLL-FREE LONG DISTANCE CALL every time I call their tech people! :mad: :mad: [img]graemlins/thumbsdown.gif[/img]

[Arctc Wolf]

Haha! I guess they're engineers first, customer service second.

As usual, Turbo's are king of efficiency if they're set up right. roots blowers are so outa style cuz they heat up air too much. whipplecharger-style blowers are cool cuz of their root's-like attachment, but their twin-screw design kicks *** . centrifugal SC's are efficient, but still need a belt to turn them, drawing power from the hp they're making.

each one has their place. rotts blowers are good for low-boost, higher compression apps where a little more predictable low-end power is needed, centrifugal's are good for more top-end punch and reliable and easy to track boost increases. turbo's are for adjustability and high end power.

but now, turbo manufacturers such as Garrett are coming out w/ new technology and designs to make these even better. ceramic wheels to reduce weight and spool up quicker(but have a max boost capacity of around 17 psi because of wheel breakage), wheel design, ball-bearing center sections, housing aerodynamics, and housing materials. This allows the turbo's to make boost very quickly, and allows for even more efficient systems.

As long as a turbo system is designed and matched properly to the right engine, they will make a lot of power quickly, and efficiently.

[malloynx#2]

well i love my turbo supra. i know **** about neither.. but i have a turbo so i'm going to back it up//TURBO'S!!!

[FirebirdGT]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Arctc Wolf:
roots blowers are so outa style cuz they heat up air too much. <hr></blockquote>

I'm a SC man, and there is nothing like a Roots blower!

http://www.magnacharger.com/

I think it's time to explore a new path!

[mattsv6]

well i am an efficiency man so i will have to go with turbo's. btw, can anyone find some compressor maps for c-blowers? [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[Arctc Wolf]

not many sc companies like to publish their maps cuz they don't like ppl copying them, besides, if they were smart, they'd copy the turbo compressor maps.

[Night Rider]

Neither, i like large displacement. :D

But if i had to choose, than roots rulz! [img]graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[Swift_3800_F-Body]

Im a little mixed between turbos and superchargers. People if you could, try to persuade me to either buy a supercharger or turbo [img]smile.gif[/img] cause i dont think i will be able to persuade myself

[Harry94]

I can't decide. Turbos are efficient, but I love the sound of a blower. A turbo makes more power, but a blower is insta-power. I think I need another camaro so I could make one of each. Wish there were blowers like the one in Mad Max. It would be cool to turn it off and on, kinda like nos.

[Tiago]

is there an easy way to copy and paste that entire other post and put it here? lol [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Dominic]

Roots blowers are difficult and costly to intercool, so for the L36 I'm not keen to using one. The linear powerband of most of them isn't good for highend power, and the lowend models always seem to suffer from bearing problems. I hate the eaton organic smelling supercharger oil if that counts :D

Centrifugal supers are the easiest to install and simplest to maintain. They might cost a little more up front but its nice knowing if something goes wrong its just a few bolts away from coming off the car. Once off the car, you can drive it n/a until the problem is fixed. I like that idea from a maintenance POV. The fact that boost doesn't come on full strength until the upper RPMs doesn't lend itself to anything more than peak power numbers, but it does keep you from losing traction out of the hole like you might with a turbo [img]graemlins/evilgrin.gif[/img] which might be a bad thing or good thing depending on your POV [img]smile.gif[/img]

Turbos have been around for a very long time and are still a wise option to go with if you know how to maintain one. The better units are reliable, the cruddier units will give you a headache. Their benefits include things such as computer controlled boost pressures based on RPM or gear choice, absolute customization of the compressor to the engine size and RPM range, and lack of power suckage off the main drive. They do create a great deal of backpressure during the lag phase, but this can be remedied in a number of ways which I won't get into. Turbos will not create boost hardly at all below 3,000RPM if they're designed for full RPM operation, but once at 3K and above they should be able to maintain a flat boost amount all the way to redline (bleeding off all extra boost of course).

I really don't see a problem going with a turbo or a centrifugal super, especially since both are easily intercooled. Both are snailshell style inertia compressors and both work very well and are reliable. I personally feel the centrifugal super is less of a headache for most people, and I will probably go this route myself... but as always I'm never certain [img]smile.gif[/img]

Cool debate guys. :cool:

[ June 07, 2003: Message edited by: Dominic ]

[ June 07, 2003: Message edited by: Dominic ]</p>

[Mister_Johnny99]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr> I'm a SC man, and there is nothing like a Roots blower!

http://www.magnacharger.com/

I think it's time to explore a new path!
<hr></blockquote>
Any chance of seeing a MagnaCharger on an F-body?

[Dominic]

Theyre developing one for the LS1 Fbody, like the one on the vettes, but they've been having problems with the firewall getting in the way.

[FirebirdGT]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Mister_Johnny99:

Any chance of seeing a MagnaCharger on an F-body?<hr></blockquote>

Possible. :D

[mattsv6]

does anyone no how batman or bill decided what blower to run? what trim is that? there has to be some kind of a compressor map for the blower if we can have a good debate here. this way it will be proven and more realistic.