Electric Superchargers: Still a Scam
Benjamin | Jul 13, 2011 | Comments 37
Electric superchargers are one of the biggest scams ever perpetuated on drivers looking to increase their vehicle’s horsepower and fuel economy on the cheap. The builders of these inexpensive devices prey on the willingness of people to believe in seemingly reasonable claims couched in pseudo-scientific explanations, and they are marketed by companies no more reputable than the snake oil salesmen of the Old West.
One of the fundamental disconnects between an electric supercharger’s advertised benefits and its real world performance is that these products are not actually superchargers at all. Superchargers by definition cram more oxygen into a given volume of air by pressurizing it, a process that takes a considerable amount of energy to accomplish. This additional oxygen adds more power to an engine by allowing for more fuel to be combusted without increasing the motor’s displacement.
The Turbonator: It's a scam.
Most electric “superchargers” (like the Turbonator) are actually just electric fans which are placed in the air intake of an automobile with the goal of somehow achieving the same effect. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to create the level of pressurized air required to see any form of power or efficiency gain by using tiny fan blades to blow air towards the intake. In fact, placing any type of obstruction in your intake – fan or no fan – is a great way to choke your motor and deprive it of power due to the oxygen that is blocked by the electric “supercharger” itself.
Electric Supercharger: Also a scam.
Other electric superchargers like those offered by Thorton are even worse in terms of how they can harm your vehicle’s performance rather than enhance it. Resembling conventional centrifugal superchargers, but relying electric power instead of a belt being driven by the engine, these units claim to offer as much as 5 psi of boost. According to the laws of gas dynamics, in order to achieve this the electric supercharger would require close to 5000 watts of power – in other words, more than your automobile’s electrical system can provide. The size of these superchargers makes them even greater air blockers than Turbonator-style units.
Perhaps the most convincing argument against electric superchargers is that they are not standard equipment on every car and truck currently being sold in the United States. Think about it – if there was a cheap and easy way to improve horsepower by 30 percent or fuel economy by even a couple of miles per gallon, how much would that be worth to car companies struggling to meet federal efficiency regulations and compete with other automakers? The idea that this is somehow a “hidden” technology accessible only to a precious few who happen to have Internet access and the ability to type in the right Google keywords is a fallacy that doesn’t deserve the support of your hard-earned dollars.
Filed Under: TundraHeadquarters.com
What?!?!?!
I have a Thorton ESC and couldn’t be happier! The power increase is tremendous not to mention the amount of time I save every week. After seeing mine and what it can do two of my neighbors did this same upgrade.
Adding one of these to my lawn mower was the best garden tool mods I’ve ever done. Like I said I couldn’t be happier. Lol!
Dez – LOL
Okay, this doesn’t have anything to do with the electric supercharger, but I’ve been hearing a distinct rattle under my 07 Tundra. It sounds like its coming from the front end, but not quite sure where exactly. The only time I really hear it is if going over bumps or potholes on the road. I’ve done some research online and have heard different answers like a loose heat shield, or a engine mount. There’s also a slight creeking noise or a rubber rubbing noise coming from the steering column as well. There hasn’t been any effects in driving ability or handling in my truck, except me wanting to punch a hole through my windshield cause the noise is driving me crazy! Any thoughts or suggestions would be helpful!
It’s your frount struts, they are shot. Look for oil on the out side of them. The seals blown. They should be gas charged, they used to be anyway. When they go they take the rubber bushing with them.
I heard a horrible noise coming from my car and could not figure out what is was and took it to a mechanic, was I embarassed when he told me it was just a Nickleback CD my son left in the stereo.
LOL!
-Tim
Bobby – Rattles are notoriously difficult to locate. I’d start by asking an observant friend to ride in my truck, follow my truck, drive alongside my truck with his windows down, etc, to try and find it.
Thanks! I’ll give it a shot.
hey bro make sure u check ur steering, brake fluids and others that might have water built up in it, i have a 07 corolla s modded and i took it to Just Brakes and they pointed out that there was corossion, get it thoroughly checked out along with ur struts and shocks
Dez, thank you for posting the truth. Where do all these writers get their fake information to post out to the public to discourage them from the truth. They’re like the news media. Pointless article.
The turbonator DOES work-idiots!
andy – Did you see the part of Dez’s comments where he says “LOL”? That stands for “laugh out loud,” and unless I’ve completely misunderstood, Dez was being sarcastic.
However, if you’re so sure the turbonator works, why doesn’t any major auto manufacturer offer one as an option on a new vehicle?
Jason…. its pretty much a fact now that COLD AIR INTAKES, which is proven to increase gas milage and performance, WORKS!…… why isn’t the Auto gaints not using them??? Cuz then they’ll either have to go up on the cars price….. or take something away to make up for it…… most Giants know they put CHEAP shit on vehicles from stock lines to eliminate COSTS….
If a cold air intake , which does work by the way, is able to help out….. why wouldn’t a high power fan help the same way????
The only problem with cold air intakes….. is that u gotta be almost going highway speeds to even gain a benefit…. they idea of these fans…. is to give u HIGHWAY Speed air at low speeds….. like 30 – 40 mph should gain benefit from air being forced……… haven’t u seen a car on a dyno with a big ass fan in front of it????……
Once last thing…… just because they’re is good ideas for cars out…. doesn’t mean the Car Giants are going to use them…… they have been discovered a way for cars to run on water and other fualents……. do u see them today????……. its because they see car like those as a threat…… they don’t really want you to keep ur cars for years……. they want you to keep ur keep long enought for the next year model to come out and ur car breaks down impelling you go and buy a NEW CAR (which is where they make 98% of they money)………
If ne one is interested ina electric turbo….. ERam and Vortex Electric Superchargers are the closest to be the trueth……. if u bought a cold air intake ( which only does 2 – 3 PSI boost at high way speeds)…. it would not Hurt u to try one out…..
JayDee – Cold air intakes aren’t included in new cars because they offer an incremental improvement in performance at the expense of a significant increase in engine noise. Most consumers don’t want their vehicles to be any louder than an air conditioner, so automakers compromise performance a bit to reduce noise.
As for cars that run on water, I think you’ve been reading too many paranoid fantasies. It’s B.S. my friend, just like the electric supercharger.
These Electric S/C are bogus. You cannot see value from electronic enhancements as far as induction goes. This might be feasible on a full electric hybrid IF it had an electric engine, but alas full electric cars run on batteries…
Also, yes there are engines(that can drive a vehicle chassis) which can run on H20. They separate the Hydrogen and release Oxygen. A chemical mixture is used to start the catalyst. So in other words its a hydrogen based engine.
If you’d like to comment on something, use facts and actual logged truths. What are you, a republican?
Actually a major car company does use one BMW it spools up before the twin turbos kick on. But as a option for others no, prob don’t want to deal with manufacturing them and up keep.
to all-who can give me a 100% truth on this i drive to school 40 minutes away from home and gas is killing me i have a 4cyld ford escort automatic. I end up filling up every two-three days and goin to school so i cant have a job. So money is tight
jake – Don’t waste your money my friend. It’s called conservation of energy – ask someone at school about it.
ok if yall had read into any of these… they state that they are only activated under full throttle.. and only run for an average of 1 minute.. with a micro switch. so dont know how it can help with fuel mileage but can see it adding to performance. the one i have from supercharger tuning works awesome. and its and after market mod like nitrous. i dont see any dealerships making nitrous a standard feature do you.. but it adds real horse power
jason – Have you ever managed to dyno your vehicle with and without the electric supercharger?
I bought this and now have flames shooting out of my muffler. It is amazing!
@ Chris I’m thinking of purchasing one to try it out can u give me more details?
hi chris this is felton ,well i was reading what you want to know about the electic charger well i wrote a nother guy about it on down on the page look for my name felton .and you can see what i wrote ok
Flames shooting out your what?
Chris – Awesome! LOL – good one.
I may have misunderstood the sentence, but just in case I did read it correctly, ANYONE who believes that an electric s/c is as effective as the SMALLEST nitrous system, obviously has never seen the effects of nitrous to make quick HP.
Just saying bmw is creating a dual stage turbo using an electric turbo for quicker low end boost providing about 5 psi till the main turbo spools up then i believe the electric turbo shuts off. So electric turbos cant be all that fake but they need really high rpms and seperate intake tube as to not restrict airflow when not in use through the filter
Austin – If BMW brings an electric turbo to market, I suspect it will work perfectly. However, I also suspect it will cost a few hundred dollars more than the electric turbos on eBay… 🙂
i have tried both of these products out of curiosty on my modded 07 corolla s, i took it to a dyno and lost like 13hp i took it off and gained back my power, F*** that product, id rather put in a intercooled turbo
hey mark you had a question about the electic supercharger that you have well i wrote back to you about it on a few letter on this site look for my name felton
what a scam people. essentially your motor IS an air pump. It moves a substantial amount of air to run especially at higher rpm. A little electric fan is Not going to keep up with the volumetric airflow needed. It WILL obstruct flow and lessen performance. If Volume of airflow from electric fan motor would work, youd need a 2 guage wire, extra battery, and extra alternator to keep up with the massive 10 hp electric motor and high velocity cage style fan. Then still would probably only get about 3 o4 lbs boost.
The only way an electric turbo would work would be to run it off batteries. This is how the BMW design works – it runs off batteries in low RPM modes and then charges the batteries at higher RPMs. This makes perfect sense because a normal Turbo works by using exhaust to turn the turbo, and at low RPMs your engine is not creating enough exhaust.
to mark !!-have you ever notice that the 260z and the 280z cars have electic supercharges on them yes thy do and thy are pertty fast and you can get them at most junkyards i will tell you why your car shut down and you lose power cause of your air flowsenor have to be up grade as well on most cars its like putting a super chip with it to carry that flow that you need cause when you up grade you need more flow same as you buy a reel super charger it come with more then just the charger it comes with the chip and senor,so now you know why your car drop a flew hp ok,with that charger you have go to gfchip.com and get you a chipto go with that supercharger you have and you will see it works cauae i have a electic 280z charger on my chey
well to all who want the electic supercharge as you know nissan and datsun cars frist came out with the electic supercharges and thy worked quite well in the 80s up thy was on the 260z,280.and 300z and thy was call tubo but thy wasnt tubos thy was electic supercharges but thy was with pastic housing just like the one on the top of the page.i had mys years ago i got 3 of them from a junkyard and i put one on my chevy and i had it on the car for many years .my car have 425hp with out it and i will tell you with it it makes only 65more hp added to that makes a big diffronts .well if thy wasnt that good nissan and datsun wouldnt had it on thy cars that was call a tubo and thy was fast .now it need to be set when the car open up and it kicks in with the passing gear to work well as of racing,or burn outs or passing also it needs chip,good gas,and better plugs you can get the chip its a white box bolts to your cab from gfchips.com and its $69.95 for all cars
Felton quit smoking crack and learn how to speak and spell English! These things are crap!
I recently saw a TV show where they put 4 large new gas leaf blowers on a car for supercharging and drag raced it for fun. It made very little difference.
Audi just announce tgat they are putting it in their cars