Supercharger or Turbocharger
 

I am just curious what is the difference between the two, and if one is better tahn the other?

Oh no! Here we go......

Hey, great question! But, you will get 50/50 split. The important thing is to consider your own personal situation and your goals for the car.

Here are my thoughts:

Bith turbos and superchargers force air into the car. Forcing air means you can add more fuel and thus you get more power. How they do it, is slightly different.

SC's: They are essentially an air pump that is driven off of the engine. As a result, some power is given up because you have to turn the SC. I believe they call this static loss. Kind of like running your air conditioning. An additional load is placed on the motor. One benefit is that SC's do not have lag. The power comes on faster w/o much of a delay.

Turbos: They are just like SC's, but are powered from the car's own exhaust. As a result, they must take some time to build up and you experience a delay. Turbos are probably more fuel efficient because they are easier to drive around w/o building any boost. But, get on the pedal and the gas gets sucked down.

Recently, turbos have gotten much better in regards to lag and are probably less expensive to buy and install.

The ultimate setup IMO is to have twin turbos.

I also think that turbos are more fun to drive. the lag makes the car feel faster. Turbos might be slightly easier to get traction on launch if there is some lag.

If I were to add a blower, I would probably get a turbo. I have only owned one car with a blower and it was a turbo. i am by no means an expert.

Not to hijack Blakes post, but just a comment on the two. As far as I know, could a be few that don't, all turbos require engine oil as a lubricant. Engine oil, reguardless of what brand or weight, is not capable of disappating all the heat that a turbo generates. It will oxidize rather quickly. Some superchargers also use engine oil but not all. A few of them have a sealed lubricant system with a special lubricant for the extreme temperatures and friction that do not require any engine oil for lubrication. The company I work for makes a supercharger lubricant for www.rotrex.eu.com. I have spoke to our head chemist about the issues of using engine oil as a lube in blower applications and I tend to agree with him on this subject that its not a proper lubricant. Im sure many would argue with me on this one but thats ok. Just wanted to share my opinion.

After reading some of the latest articles about blowers, There are up's and downs. it really depends on the type blower you have or want. Roots, screw, or centrifical. The new vortec (centrifical) type blowers look like the best bang for the buck and seem to be more easily installed and easier on your motor as a whole. But on the other hand kenne Belle makes the twin screw type blower easy to bolt on with a few neccessary tuning adjustments to avoid detonation. Ford has done a lot with the SVT program to make sure that the dohc cobra motors are ready and willing to run that blower on top of your engine without major risks involved with any kind of forced induction. But!! Blowers can blow up and turbo's can too.. it's all in getting the right amount of air fuel mixture and knowing when to ease up.. IMHO. Blower all the way. BTW you can get a factory Cobra crate motor directly from Ford. Not sure how light your wallet will be after that!! Lol. Mine aint big enough:crybaby2:
Also you have to consider heat dissapation. Friction causes heat, and an intercooler will be almost a neccessity. there are lots of aftermarket stuff for that too..

I seen a artical in a mag a few months ago(I think is was MM&FF) but in the artical they tested all the different blowers. They had them all(roots, screw, and centrifical types) and a Hp twin turbo kit. The turbo's put out over a 100 more HP at the same psi then the best supercharger(kenne belle Boostzilla 2.2l) So I'd go with a turbo, if you have the money. That's (besides the lag) is the bad thing, they cost more, and the install is REALLY complicated and long(like 20 hours) It's all about how much you want spend. I myself am about to get a stage 2 intercooled procharger. Which is self contained(no tapping of the oil pan) and also intercooled.

Alright thanks for the input. Do you all suggest me tryin gto get one for my car? I have a 99 v6, i would love to have a gt but insurance will be high, since im under 21. I know i could wait to buy a gt later on when im older, but I want my car to be nice and fast now, and itll be nice blowing people away with a v6.

If you have a 3.8, I think you can slap on the blower from the T-Bird S/C.