Supercharger vs. Turbocharger

323

Modifier
5,252
3,684
Chicago
Vehicle Model
Civic Si
Body Style
Sedan
I plan on buying a kit someday, so I wanted to get a thread going comparing the pros and cons of a SC vs. a TC. I've read up on each one and know how they work. Just wondering now, which do you think is better, not in general, but specifically for the k24?
 
Ive done the turbo thing before so this time around im going SC on k24 ... Less maintenance on it . TC alot can go wrong and way more custom work
 
I agree there is less to go wrong and yes less power but at least its a constant boost accross the entire rpm band with turbo you gotta wait till about 3500 rpm for it to really kick in so ill be happy with a 300-325 hp si it would be fun to drive .

Dont even have to change the cltch out the stock one will hold around that hp over 350 hp then you gotta change it out

But going s/c all you do is change fuel pump to 255 change out injectors but most likley s/c kits will have the option to already come with the kit an exhaust it about 3inch maybe chnage the map sensor depending on what boost you want and hondata pro and your on your way to a nice fast-er ride lol
 
I will be Super Charging my car still have quite a while till warranty is done.. Reasoning for me... I like the power band... I don't need 400+hp don't plan on dragging the car.. I use for a daily driver too and from my reading and previous 8th gen forums S/C "seems" more reliable.
 
The SC is more dd friendly. Lol.

But going s/c all you do is change fuel pump to 255 change out injectors but most likley s/c kits will have the option to already come with the kit an exhaust it about 3inch maybe chnage the map sensor depending on what boost you want and hondata pro and your on your way to a nice fast-er ride lol

You'll also need to change the spark plugs, but that's not too costly. This goes for both sc and tc.
 
dailey driver which is true because when i had my da turboed it was dailey driver and it required alot more maintenance
 
If I were going to go turbo, I'd go with the EFR. Currently, it appears that Full Race is the only company offering an EFR kit. Full Race, as much as I believe their products to be top quality, is priced pretty far beyond what I would consider to be reasonable and the turbo kit is incomplete (injectors, fuel pump, tuning, etc.). The CT Engineering kit is a turn-key kit as far as I know and much cheaper than what you'd end up spending on the Full Race EFR kit, which I estimate would be greater than $7k and that price is assuming you install it yourself.

Being that the price of the 8th gen CT Engineering supercharger kit is $4200, I think it's safe to assume the kit for the 9th gen will be the same, if not very close.

In conclusion, I'd say if you have the extra money, the FR EFR kit is preferable. However, its steep price level may put it just out of reach of most budget-minded Civic owners. The CT Engineering supercharger kit is much cheaper and straightforward, however will not yield the same performance results as the EFR in power, fuel economy, or engine longevity.
 
You left out the KraftWerks SC. Lol. There are so many 8thgens that yield over 400whp with these kits. It's insane.
 
You left out the KraftWerks SC. Lol. There are so many 8thgens that yield over 400whp with these kits. It's insane.
So true. Just look at the ride of the month submissions over there. Everyone is supercharged or turbo'd
 
I didn't think they'd released a kit for the 9th gen yet. Either way, I was just comparing the two things I would buy personally.
 
if you want power turbos are usually the way to go. its less stress on an I4 and has alot of potential for alot of power. However "set it and forget it" goes to the SC. less to maintain instant power. gobs of low end torque. its almost perfect for just a quick daily driver. I too want to add forced induction and i plan on SC. most likely CT Engineering i love the simplicity of it. and will add all of the power i need. im not looking to build a race car. just something that surprises people lol... just my .02
 
if you want power turbos are usually the way to go. its less stress on an I4 and has alot of potential for alot of power. However "set it and forget it" goes to the SC. less to maintain instant power. gobs of low end torque. its almost perfect for just a quick daily driver. I too want to add forced induction and i plan on SC. most likely CT Engineering i love the simplicity of it. and will add all of the power i need. im not looking to build a race car. just something that surprises people lol... just my .02

Saw in another thread some Honda dealerships will install ct sc with warranty. I have not called around DC Metro, but worth looking into.
 
I'm having this same debate with myself. After the supercharger is ported and aftercooled I feel like I could have just gotten a turbo. Is the reliability hindered at all when you add porting and aftercooling on a supercharger? (Considering the air is being cooled I would think it would be more reliable but maybe I'm missing something.) Perhaps Six_speed_demon can chime in on how the 8th gen held up maintenance wise with the venom cooler and aftercooler(?)

Point being - it's a Daily Driver, I want to put some kind of Forced Induction on it -- preferably one that will cause the least maintenance which from my hours upon hours of reading seems to favor the supercharger? Although a few said with a proper turbo install/kit you should have the same amount of problems any supercharger would. Hence my predicament. (Pretend money is not an issue for the initial buy since it will end up being about the same anyways-- only keeping it up and running as my only car and daily driver is a concern at this point.)

Another thing to consider is maybe I should take a 30 minute trip down to AJP and see what they have going for 9ths...
 
I'm having this same debate with myself. After the supercharger is ported and aftercooled I feel like I could have just gotten a turbo. Is the reliability hindered at all when you add porting and aftercooling on a supercharger? (Considering the air is being cooled I would think it would be more reliable but maybe I'm missing something.) Perhaps Six_speed_demon can chime in on how the 8th gen held up maintenance wise with the venom cooler and aftercooler(?)

Point being - it's a Daily Driver, I want to put some kind of Forced Induction on it -- preferably one that will cause the least maintenance which from my hours upon hours of reading seems to favor the supercharger? Although a few said with a proper turbo install/kit you should have the same amount of problems any supercharger would. Hence my predicament. (Pretend money is not an issue for the initial buy since it will end up being about the same anyways-- only keeping it up and running as my only car and daily driver is a concern at this point.)

Another thing to consider is maybe I should take a 30 minute trip down to AJP and see what they have going for 9ths...
If money is no object and you aren't just getting a stage 1 supercharger kit with a warranty, I can't think of any reason you shouldn't be getting the EFR kit from Full Race. From all the reading I've done and all the experience I have, I could venture a guess that around 300whp on the K24Z7 would give you very long-lasting reliability on the stock long block assembly. The only reason I, personally, would go with a supercharger over the EFR is because of cost. There are no other advantages to the supercharger, any supercharger, over the EFR series turbo.
 
The cost factor is going to be the biggest hurdle. You'll probably be looking at 3k+ difference to start out.
 
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