Supercharger / Turbocharger

[Morphisor]

This is something that has bothered me for a bit, and was present at the least in GT5 as well.

The game only lets you install either a turbo or a supercharger, and on the vast majority of cars it's already decided for you which one it's going to be. This seems arbitrary to me. Also, you can only do one, and not the other.

However, here comes the interesting part. In the description of the Lancia Delta S4 Rally Car, it clearly states that it has both a turbo AND a supercharger! So, what gives?

 

[TeriyakiS]

Superchargers and turbo do the same thing, compress the air for intake to the engine. The difference is a supercharger is driven by the engine itself whereas a turbo is driven by a turbine (hence the name) which gathers it's energy from the escaping exhaust gases.

Superchargers are better at lower rpms there is no "turbo-lag" but they do not have the power output to match turbo's as you are using some of the power output from the engine to drive them.

I guess the reason to only allow you to install one is a balancing issue and also that the engine would not be able to handle both as the compression would be too high and it would damage the components.

I believe cars that have both fitted such as the delta s4 use the supercharger until the turbo is up and running and then switch over to turbo to eliminate the lag. They don't utilise both at the same time.

Where it is only available for you to install one particular type I believe this is to do with the existing setup of the engine. If it is already a turbo you can only upgrade turbo, if it is already supercharged you can only upgrade the supercharger.

 

[ClydeYellow]

Because the Triflux engine used by Lancia in the Group B Deltas is complicated and requires a custom head and a lot of space around the engine.

A car with a turbocharger AND a supercharger is a possibility, but it's not an easily accessible one.