Which is better, supercharging or turbocharging?
 

hey all I have a 1999 blazer and have been looking at vortec superchargers for my 4.3. I was just curious what is better for these engines. Supercharge or turbocharge? i was told supercharging is overall better but want to know why.

all knowledge is welcome!

turbo gonna be cheaper plus the horsepower per dollar rating would be higher then a supercharger. your block would be able to handle the extra power in a turbo, not sure on a supercharger though. gl whatever you do. supercharges the way to go if you got a crap load of money

Its a big debate and there is no 100% clear cut better choice. It varies from build to build. Some cal for SC others Turbo. Personally, I'd go with the 4.3l kit offered in a thread on this section. 300+ HP for I think like 3Gs. Check it out, could be wrong on the prices and HP, but I know its atleast 300 RWHP.

COMPARE: how much do they usually run for and how are they each to tune after install and maintain down the road ??

The general rule of thumb is that supercharged is instant power because it's belt driven but drops off at higher RPM. Turbos need to spool so you won't have the instant power like a blower unless you sit there and spool before you take off. Turbos also have better top end (high speed) and are exhaust driven.

There are "bolt-on" kits for superchargers. To my knowledge there isn't anything similar for turbos. 02 Vortech put together a rear mount turbo and is running 11psi. Check his posts, he's got some cool vids. UR50SLO also did a Syclone/Typhoon set up on his 2nd Gen Jimmy.

Either one is going to require attention to fueling (lines, injectors, pump), cooling (intercooler), and tuning (preferably once with every drastic change of season). Exhaust really should be a requirement but I'm not sure if those who have made the jump have gone with headers/full exhaust or not.

If I were 2wd and *HAD* to go forced induction, I would choose turbo. Since I'm 4wd I would prefer supercharged.

I know on other platforms, forced induction actually improves gas mileage, but only if you keep your foot out of it-which is most likely the opposite of what will happen.

Also, with turbo you can always go to a bigger one. If you go with a traditional blower on our trucks you can always get a smaller pulley. The Wynjammer kit is cog driven, so I don't know how you get more psi out of it.

thanks for the help, ive been doing a little research and am thinking that a supercharger is best for me. i am going to keep researching and see what happens

First to consider: cost
Second : Ease of installation (ie diy)
Third: Power

Superchargers are belt driven as stated and will produce power but they are semi parasitic because of this... Also the power is much more of a "flat" table

Turbo's tend to be more efficient but they do have a lag, and this lag is due to the spool up which is from the need for the exhaust to flow through. They work with the power loss in the exhaust.

Many people tend to use superchargers on big block/v8 engines whereas I have seen turbo's on smaller engines like 4cylinders and inline 6's like the supra's. The power is a LOT but requires hanging in the top end of the torque/power curve.

I personally would debate about the weight to power ratio, do you want a heavy big block that will throw down some more torque?(supercharging) or a Tiny stroking motor that screams with HP?(turbo)

I have also seen an example where both were used in conjunction to get crazy numbers!

i thought for both a supercharger and a turbo the engine should be rebuilt for all of the extra power?

Really depends on the age\condition of the engine. Also the amount of boost they plan on running.

My opinion. If this is for street driving\occasional off-road use then I`d go with the supercharger.
Not knowing the mileage, overall condition of your engine I would definitely stay with the 6 lb. boost that it comes with.

I think that DD's can withstand turbo usage, but the less than 7 psi is a good range on a stock engine, most people do rebuild engines to take anything more, and I think that I have seen people run 25+ psi on engines