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Which gives you more power? Which is just plain better?

 
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Supercharger doesnt have to spool up its always on. Better for daily driving but if your really gonna go into racing I would go with the turbo.

 
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A supercharger has not lag and is constent power. But it puts more stress on you motor due to it running off of a belt. Over time it will wear the motor out. A turbo doesn't put as much stress on the motor, but doesn't give you any power till full boost. An example like a T3/T4 turbo fully spools by 2700 rpms then you have massive power till redline. And you get more power out of a turbo. And there is more maintance to go with a turbo.

 
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oh ok thanx

 
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Although my expertise is in turbochargers, ive never heard of superchargers wearing out your motor due to the fact that they have belts. When you think about it alot of things run off belts, but do nothing to the life of the engine given they are all properly maintained.

A supercharger is a parasitic device, but the 1-2 horsepower you lose to turn the belt, is offset by the 50+ horsepower gain. Since its belt driven it has instant power which increases according to engine speed.

A turbocharger uses free energy, since heat is a form of energy (an anyone that has made the mistake of touching a car with hot headers knows just how hot it gets). Back in science class we learned that gas will expand to evenly fill any volume. So as exhaust gas leaves the downpipe and enters the larger volume turbine housing, it expands pushing the turbine. Which in turn, turns the compressor wheel which compresses incoming intake air.

Normally a turbocharger will make more high end power while a supercharger will make more power down low. But thats not always the case, because making big boost is normally associated with turbochargers. There was Civic Del Sol i read about that had built internals with a Vortech supercharger, it had a upgraded pulley which allowed it to run 14-15 psi the Del Sol was making 376 whp and 240 ft-lbs of torque and thats with belt slippage. They later fixed that and were making 413 whp!!!

Although I personally would go the route of a turbocharger, since i don't like putting things on my car that I don't fully understand how every part works. But i would seriously look at a big boost supercharger as an alternitive to the turbo.

 
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thanx alot...that explains alot...i appreciate all the info...but umm how much Horsepower does each of them give...i'm sure it depends on the brand name and all that mess but approx. how much hp does each give your engine? and so since the supercharger is better for lowend power...that means it gives better acceleration compared to the turbocharger right? and the tubocharger gives your more topspeed?

 
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Typically people buy superchargers with the intent of running low boost 7-10 psi and NOT having to replace engine internals, but there are few superchargers to choose from.

And the people buy turbos with the intent of running high boost but are willing to replace engine internals, there are MANY different sizes of turbos rangine from the little T3 which is about the 5-6 inches in diameter, to the T100 which is larger than most small mammals. And since a turbo kit consists of many pieces, you can mix and match parts to fit the turbocharger you have.

Superchargers and turbochargers while different in design, achieve the same goal which is to create boost.

So to answer your question, your average turbocharged honda, will beat your average supercharger honda, since the turbo setup handles more boost.

 
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I'm thinkin bout gettin the supercharger since it will be easier on my engine.. I mean i don't plan to race my civic i just want a little pep when i hit the accelerator...and i've heard that its not smart to run nitrous with a turbo but wut about with a supercharger? and also do u know of a good supercharger for 7th Generation Civics?

 
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turbo is better

 
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See the great thing about turbos is that there are many parts. See to make a turbo kit for our cars you would only need a custom exhaust manifold that fits up with out ports, and fits the turbo you want to run. And a custom downpipe that fits the turbo. All you need to do for the downpipe is get a piece of metal tubing that fits, and weld a flange onto it, making the manifold is a little harder but all it involves is making the piping connect to the flange of your choice.

In a supercharger there is only one main piece so this whole piece has to be made specifically for a certain application. Which means lots of precision engineering, not just cut,weld bolt like on a turbo

I think it will be a while before a supercharger will be released for our cars. Just recently was Jackson Racing supercharger released for the 97+ prelude.

 
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oh ok

 
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wrong, no supercharger will ever be made for our cars, there isn't enough space to fit a supercharger in our engine. so don't plan on one of those comming out anytime soon.

 
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oh ok lol...they got any turbo kits for our cars then?

 
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as of now there are no turbo KITS but as i mentioned eariler it isn't too hard to make your own. I think there are 2 or 3 kits in development and SHOULD be out by the end of the year.

 
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i know turbos sound cooler than superchargers lol

 
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super charger takes a lot more then 1-2 HP to drive.

Off the top of my head.

example top fuel drag car.

500 hp to drive supercharge
2500 hp gain from supercharger
2000 hp net gain.

with a civic.

10-20 hp to drive supercharger
40-60 hp gain
net gain of 30-40 hp.

All of these numbers are made up. so don't quote them or anything stupid.

later,

 
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i think you underestimate the power of a single horse power look at a lawn mower, snowblower etc.

Most have very little horsepower but have to turn things heavier or equal to that of the weight of the compressors on a supercharger.

10-20 hp loss is a little much

its more like 3-7 hp but i think even thats a little high

 
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so is it true that they won't make a supercharger for our cars?

 
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Probably not. There isn't much room in the engine bay. The companies right now say they have no plans for it. Maybe in a while down the road it could change, but probably not.