Skip to main content
Gerry | Vanagon
Checking account...
← vanagon.com home · Continue the discussion in the forum
Subject:Re: yet another engine choice - VW "twincharger"
From:Sudhir Desai
Date:Wed, 28 Sep 2005 11:16:45 -0400

> >Supercharging requires horsepower to function (but can be balanced out
> > with the incresae of horses when it's doing it's thing), turbocharging
> > is a freebee.

Neither are freebies, and both reduce the life of any engine slightly
when applied correctly.
The spoolup time for the turbo(commonly misconstrued by everyone as
turbo lag), is just the engine spinning up the turbo, and at higher
rpm's, the spoolup time is negligable.  It is comparable to a n/a car
when you mash the pedal to the floor at high rpm, and the engine has
that slight lag before accelerating.

I can go both ways on this issue, but consider this.  Both
supercharging and turbocharging have been used to great effectiveness
in racecars.

TURBO-SUPERCHARGER:  Commercial trucks have done this... A
supercharger that spools a turbo.  Also, I believe Renault or Citroen
monkey`d with a turbosupercharger system in the 70's or 80's.

Sudhir