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More power. We all want it and there is usually more than one way to get it. Serious solutions will involve a “power adder” in the form of a supercharger, turbocharger or nitrous-oxide injection system. These power adders can add anywhere from 30-to-300-percent more power. Since the previous section was dedicated to nitrous-oxide injection, we’ll focus on the forced-induction power adders: turbochargers and superchargers. Understanding the theory behind forced-induction and the differences between available forced-induction technologies should help you determine which forced-induction solution is best for you.



Nearly-all turbochargers used for automotive applications feature the same fixed-geometry turbine design. This design incorporates a nozzle in the turbine housing of a fixed size that helps to establish the velocity of the flow of exhaust to the turbine wheel. In effect, it works in a similar fashion to the pulleys that are of a fixed ratio on a supercharger to determine its compressor speeds.If there was even one replacement for displacement that V8 owners fear most it would be the turbocharger. Essentially two machines in one, a turbocharger is both a compressor and a turbine. Like a supercharger, a turbo has a compressor element. Rather than drive the compressor with a belt, a turbo drives the compressor with its second component the turbine. Diagram of a turbo making boostWhat’s a turbine? Long before steam engines, people harnessed Mother Nature’s energy resources to help do the work. By placing a paddle wheel in a flowing river, the wheel could be used to spin a shaft coupled to other mechanisms to mill grain. A turbine wheel works in the same way as a paddle wheel. In fact, think of a turbine as a paddle wheel for hot gasses instead of a flowing river. Instead of flowing water, a turbine uses the hot exhaust gasses that flow out of your engine on the exhaust stroke. The hot gasses are channeled through the turbine housing to speed up the flow, acting like a nozzle shooting the flow of gasses against blades of the turbine wheel. This causes the turbine wheel shaft to spin.



Almost always a positive addition to a forced-induction system, intercoolers add both power and reliability. How do they work? Intercoolers reject some of the heat built up by the pressure increase of the air. This provides the engine with a higher quality (higher density) charge of intake air. Since the air temperature is reduced, the boost pressure is also reduced when an intercooler is added to a non-intercooled system. Although intercoolers do impose a restriction to airflow affecting the quantity (volume) of the airflow into the engine, the increase in the quality (density) of the air more than makes up for this.