Anybody have any experience of these ?

[philr]

I have seen this type of "supercharger" advertised in the US and now from Germany. Does anyone have any experience of them or thoughts on them ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=32094&item=7979436108&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

They seem to basically be an electric fan type of set up which fits into the air induction pipe and sucks air in at a faster rate. Supposedly giving cooler more compressed air. Great claims on power and MPG improvements which I'm sure need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Has any one tried these sorts of things though on a TVR ?
Are there any obvious down sides, apart from the initial cost ?
Presumably the ECU would not require any remapping.

Any thoughts ?

Phil

[bigdods]

Well never seen one before but I would have to be suspicious of anything that claims to have the kind of clout that they say, improve by 10+BHP but only consume 12W. I mean come on you can barely get a lightbulb to glow with 12W.

[v8nrg]

I’m not sure that a small plastic battery powered fan would do anything other than REDUCE AIR FLOW through the intake piping.

It may create a few microbars of pressure in the intake at tick over but anything above that RPM and it will just be restricting air flow.

[Nano2nd]

waste of money, steer well clear... unless you've got a saxo, then in the pub it'll be worth 300bhp!

[tonyvid]

Did V8Smith on the S forums try one of these a while ago?

[M@H]

tonyvid said:

Did V8Smith on the S forums try one of these a while ago?

Yep, it was crap apparently IIRC

[tahiti450]

Read the advert, what a load of total bo**ocks ! Not only that but they're illiterate as well. What the f**k is affective air flow (amongst other things) for god's sake (I think they must be the ones with the affective problems!).
Morons.

Pity the poor mugs who get SUCKED IN (fitting).


>> Edited by tahiti450 on Friday 10th June 12:37

[peterc]

If this worked they have just invented perpetual motion and the future of the universe is assured for everemore!

Basic physics should tell you that you cannot get something for nothing. The electrical power (from your engine & alternator) required to drive the fan HAS to be greater than any power increase the gadget might produce.

[tahiti450]

peterc said:

If this worked they have just invented perpetual motion and the future of the universe is assured for everemore! Basic physics should tell you that you cannot get something for nothing. The electrical power (from your engine & alternator) required to drive the fan HAS to be greater than any power increase the gadget might produce.

Whilst I totally agree with you in this case, dont forget proper superchargers and turbochargers ! They both absorb significant amounts of power but DO produce significant overall power gains. I guess its fundamentally about overcoming the physical restitctions of a practical induction system , which has to be of limited size and so creates big losses over the theoretical maximum cylinder charge (IMHO the perfect induction system would be: An inlet port the same size as the bore with no valve and no length, just sucking as much air in as physically possible).
Although I personally hate turbochargers, they do have the advantage over superchargers in that they utlise some of the energy in the exhaust gases that is otherwise lost (although of course also creating huge restricrtion in the exhaust and so spoil the sound), whereas superchargers take all of their power from the crank and so this represents an 100% loss (but have the benefit of instant response i.e: no-lag and an unsullied exhaust note).

>> Edited by tahiti450 on Friday 10th June 16:18

[bsdnazz]

tahiti450 said:

peterc said: If this worked they have just invented perpetual motion and the future of the universe is assured for everemore! Basic physics should tell you that you cannot get something for nothing. The electrical power (from your engine & alternator) required to drive the fan HAS to be greater than any power increase the gadget might produce. Whilst I totally agree with you in this case, dont forget proper superchargers and turbochargers ! They both absorb significant amounts of power but DO produce significant overall power gains. I guess its fundamentally about overcoming the physical restitctions of a practical induction system , >> Edited by tahiti450 on Friday 10th June 16:18

Indeed. It's called a throttle for a reason! Engines want to rev but by starving them of oxygen with a throttle we can slow them down. Open the throttle and things change. :-)

The big 'problem' with engines is getting enough oxygen into them to burn the fuel. If you can increase the amount of oxygen going in (super or turbo charger or even NOX) then you can also put in and burn more fuel providing more power.