Whats yals thoughts on which one is better for out good ole dodge truck and why?

 

I prefer a supercharger. A turbo uses your exhaust to spool up, so there is always going to be some turbo lag. A belt driven supercharger does take away a little bit of hp to drive the pulley (like 15-20hp), but the amount of power you get in return more then makes up for it. I have done some pretty extensive research on this topic because I have (and still am) seriously considered going that route. I have product literature from most of the better brands, and have spoken with techs at Vortech, ATI, and Paxton. The main problem with it is that it's very expensive for a good setup on these trucks. See this post for more:

https://dodgeforum.com/m_311769/tm.htm

 

Honestly...neither, unless you like filling your tank with premium gas (which is required for turbo/supercharger setups). Diesel would be the better option if making power is your goal.

As far as which is better between the two, I would go with the turobcharger. It's more efficient than the supercharger. It uses energy that is otherwise wasted (exhaust gasses). It creates more peak horsepower than a supercharger. It's also somewhat easier on the motor as far as wear and tear. The fact that the power comes in gradually rather than all at once helps the motor. The thing about turbos, is you have to let the vehicle idle before you shut it down after longer trips. If you don't, you'll boil the coolant and oil (if you have a turbo that both run through). The charge of air that the turbo sends to the motor will also be cooler than a charge from the supercharger if it's run through an intercooler, which is real easy to do. You can intercool a supercharger, but depending on what type of supercharger you have, it's not quite as easy to do. It often involves water to air setups, and then you have to deal with the potential of leaking pumps. It's just not fun.

I don't really see turbo lag as an issue, as these trucks (wether it's a 318, 360, or 488) have plenty of grunt down low. It's the top-end that's lacking, and the top-end is where the turbo shines. Supercharger is more for low-end grunt...and tends to stall out in the higher RPMs. I've seen a lot of that with the grand prixs. If you run a supercharged car against a cammed N/A car, the supercharged car will kill the N/A car off the line, but the cammed car will actually pull harder down the stretch in the higher RPMs. I've also seen turbocharged grand prixs blow the doors off of supercharged ones.

 

How many turbo's do you see at top fuel running 5's?

 

I agree that diesels are the better way to go for power, but I assumed that he means without having to buy a new truck. You can buy a hell of alot of premium gas for the price it would take to buy a good diesel pickup though.


I guess that is why I like the supercharger better then a turbo on gas feed Dodge Rams. These trucks are so heavy. For off-roading, mud, hauling, and towing, you want as much low end as you can get. I doubt you will see many rock crawlers and off-road rigs that would want to run a turbo. Imagine climbing a steep trail or going over rocks trying to get up enough rpms for the turbo to be effective. With a supercharger, the power is right there when they need it.


Intercooling a supercharger on a Ram is not really that difficult, but it is also not necessary. With only 6-8lbs of boost (about the most any of the kits for a Ram do), heat is not as big of an issue as it is on the diesels turbos that are around 20-25lbs boost. That's not to say that an intercooler won't help, just not as critical (6-8 lbs can be run safely and effectively without an intercooler). With a turbo, you pretty much have to have an intercooler.



For top end speed, a turbo is probably better for the reasons you stated.

 

get the turbo only because i want to be the first one with a supercharger

 

How many top fuel dragsters do you see with exhaust systems? The only exhaust "piping" they have is to direct the flames and hot gasses away from the car. [8D] Also, when your goal is the quickest acceleration, you don't want to chance the lag.

Silver_Dodge...you make some good points. I guess it would be good to know what his goal was. Off-roading or going fast.

 

A turbo is going to be alot better. As for low end powerloss/lag, I doubt it will be anything you will really notice(unless you plan on going with a huge T4 or something). It is going to be more efficent, better gas mileage, and more power. Mixed with methonal/water injection it will be great for a daily driven truck.

 

i dunno much..... id bet if you put BOTH systems on your truck....itll go REALLY fast!!!!! so whos first to do it huh?

 

Already seen it done on a late 90s Grand Prix. It ran a 11.16 @ 128.27mph before they kicked him out of the track for not having a roll cage. That was on pump gas & street tires with a race weight of 3700 lbs. He had a horrid time launching the car though. He also had some wicked boost control issues. It's an extremely difficult setup to tune. [>:]