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A supercharger is a compressor. Hence, a supercharged engine has a
higher overall compression than a nonsupercharrged engine having the
same combustion chamber volume and piston displacement and will burn
more fuel. Unfortunately, the increase in power is not proportional
to the increase in fuel consumption. There are two general models of
superchargers, the Rootes type and the centrifugal type. The Rootes
"blower" has two rotors, while the centrifugal uses an impeller
rotating at high speed inside a housing.
Superchargers can be placed between the throttle body of the
carburetor or fuel injection system and the manifold; or at the air
inlet before the throttle body. Racing cars usually have it located
between the throttle body and the manifold. This design has the
advantage that the fuel can be supplied through the throttle body
without modification to any part of the system. If the supercharger
is placed in front of the throttle body, fuel must be supplied under
sufficient pressure to overcome the added air pressure created by the
supercharger. The advantage of a supercharger over a turbocharger is
that there is no lag time of boost; the moment the accelerator pedal
is depressed, the boost is increased.
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