Supercharged vs. Turbo

[Tim Ebling <tim@surreal.com>]

Ok I know this is a debate that rages EVERYWHERE, but I thought it'd be
relevant to bring it up now with the talk about 16V turbos.

At the Oktobugfest show yesterday (Puyallup, WA), I was fortunate enough to
pick up Greg Raven's "Watercooled Performance Handbook", which someone
mentioned was out of print.  What a great book!  This guy seems to really
know engines, not just from a practical standpoint, but from a theoretical
and scientific standpoint as well.  Bottom line is, I was impressed with his
knowledge.

Anyway, a chapter in the book is devoted to turbos and superchargers for VW
engines up to 1989.  After reading this chapter, it was quite clear that he
favored the supercharger to the turbo.  In fact, he states "Superchargers
are inherently better then a turbo for a street-driven gasoline engine" (p.
108).  The main advantage he pointed out for the supercharger was its
ability to provide equal boost throughout the RPM range, as opposed to the
turbo which has to rely on a wastegate system to provide this equalization
(and hence is not as efficient).  There's also the issue of turbo lag
(spin-up time), which is nonexistent for the charger.  In fact, the only
advantage he cites for the turbo is its ability to perform at high
altitudes.

Anyway, I realize this is one man's opinion (albeit an educated one it
seems), and I'm sure there are plenty of turbo evangelists out there (on
this list I'd imagine), but it does make me think.

So let the debate begin!  What do the folks with turbos or are doing turbo
conversions think?  Is it simply a matter of the parts for chargers not
being available?  I'm also concerned about the longevity factor of a turbo.
Superchargers seem to be more reliable, which is why VW chose to put a
G-lader on the Corrado instead of a turbo (which they did experiment
with)...

- -tim

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