I was just thinking about this today while watching an 03 Cobra vid.

How come superchargers whine? And how come some have different sounding whines? Like, an 03 Cobra or a Lightning will have a high pitched whine, while some just sound like a whoosh of air?

How come they don't sound like turbos (and how come turbos don't sound like S/Cs)?

Thanks guys

 

superchargers whine because they're not as good as turbos and they know it...

j/k

they're gear driven, gears are noisy.

 

lol & bull chit. they whine because of "straight" cut gears.
do you have any idea what your diff would sound like if it had straight cut gears ? no = you would not be able to think over the noise. until it broke.

 

Yeah, if only turbos were as easy to install as superchargers.

 

until i see john force with a turbo set up the turbo will be runner up to the good old supercharger

 

I was joking... but FWIW, turbos are illegal in NHRA pro classes..

your guess is as good as mine as to why...


...Brady

 

because they realize just how much faster those cars would be with turbos over their blowers that require 1000hp just to drive

Mike383LT1: you're my hero

 

I'm not sure, probably something special made. For reference, the biggest turbo I see on Precision's website is a PT106 which is supposedly good for 2400+ horsepower. I guess you could maybe throw a few of these onto those monster engines that top fuel runs. I wonder if two of those turbos could make 50+ PSI of boost...

 

I'll throw my 2 cents in on this one...this is pretty cool stuff to think about. For reference what superchargers do top fuel run? 14-71,16-71,18-71 or something else. I don't think they are allowed screw blowers. Say if they run 18-71 those engine would make around 3000HP on alcohol, comparing to the outlaw promod classes in the south. I think a single 106 could almost make that on alcohol. And I have heard rumors for the past year a couple turbo companies have the parts to make 115mm.

What is going to be the limiting factor is the amount of boost you can push through 500ci. I don't know what really happens when you get above 40psi on a turbo. It might be the area of diminishing returns the more you up the boost on a turbo.

Does anyone know anything about those indy turbos and what makes them effiecient at really high boost? And how can the BIG turbos be made to do that?

 

Since not all the nitro a top fuel or funny car runs is burnt while the car is idling (or when the magneto fails to fire all the fuel in the cylinder, I don't believe you would want a turbo on the exhaust side having that unburnt fuel "explode" in the turbo housing. After all, that is where the flames come from.

Later ... Larry S.

 

Ya that makes alot of sense, I've heard much of the fuel is used for cooling and that the engines run really rich to have even more fuel to cool. IF this is true then I could see there being a problem with a turbo mounted right there, but couldn't they mount them farther back or do something to prevent an explostion. I've always heard they didn't allow them because they would make to much power, but this reason sounds better.

 

What difference does it make to the turbo if the fuel explodes in the cylinder or exhaust, the pressure will be the same.

 

That wasn't the point. In the SC applications, the unburnt fuel burning in the exhaust is exitting immediately into the atmosphere, where the pressure is simply absorbed by the hundreds of millions of cubic feet around it (the atmosphere).

That same burning fuel in a tight area (within the turbo and housing) would create so much pressure in that ~1/2 cubic foot of space that it would blow bits and pieces of the turbo all over the track.

As an analogy:

It's kinda like having a 5 gallon jug of fuel. Pour 2.5 gallons on the ground and light it. It flares up, and burns. no earthshattering explosion, just pretty flames. (supercharger)

Now throw a match in the 5 gallon can with the rest of the fuel. There's a 2" hole (nozzle) to relieve all the pressure of the burning fuel. Something tells me the can will do a little more than flare up. (turbo)

 

The noise from a supercharger comes from A.)the internal gears, B.)the vanes on the impeller. You'll always have A (unless you have a Powerdyne) and B increases with straight cut blades (early Vortechs).

 

Roadie- the turbo will see the same amount of pressure whether you burn the fuel in the cylinder or in the header. It doesn't make a difference. Your analogy doesn't represent this. You are still burning the same amount of fuel and the same amount of pressure.