It will depend, I think last time I saw one it was about £1.5k inc vat but + the rest of the stuff you need to fit it and fitting probably a total installed cost £4-6k depending on the car, the size of intercooler probably the biggest variation is going to come down to the cost of mapping the setup.
Cool, just had a look at that, didn't realise they made a Golf G60. Thought it was just the Corrado (and the Polo) that got that treatment.
Yea, been looking at the XJR Superchargers with a view to purchasing one actually. I know I *really* shouldn't, but they seem to appeal. Someone talk me out of it please :(
There were a few golfs that got the G60 including the Rallye (if only I had £11k to spend on a 15 year old LHD only hatch) and the mucho rare motorsport edition that got an extra 8 valves.
formatting link
I remember the fun that was had on a VW forum when someone posted a photo of one to the barryboys site as there were only 2 people on the site who knew what it was and they got a roasting from the rest for suggesting that it was standard.
That's valid for a turbo as well as for a supercharger. Both have to be fed. The supercharger is fed by the crank, the turbo by the exhaust. You might think the exhaust is for free but for the exhaust to be there you need fuel, hence power.
The supercharger- and the Rotrex-unit especially- is very efficient if used where it is designed for and that's compressing to an overpressure of about 0.5 bar.
The main advantages of a supercharger are however elsewhere: the ease of installation and even more importantely the abscence of a very hot item in the confinements of the engine bay.
I like a supercharged engine more than a turbo: it feels just as a bigger engine, instant response, no lag. A turbo feels quicker and the kick in the back is more pronounced, but a supercharger is quicker. There are no turbo's used in drag racing.
You could get a decent Rallye for £5k, I'm tempted to get one as a project soon and convert it to a RHD 1.8T with Haldex. That ones only 11k due to the low mileage. The ultimate production Mk2 was the Golf Limited with the 16V G60, I almost bought one a few years ago but couldn't get a reasonable insurance quote as most insurance companies didn't recognise it.
That also applies to modern turbocharged engines. My Corrado with a 235bhp
1.8T has virtually no lag, it will pull strongly from under 2000rpm in 5th gear of you want it to. Turbo lag is virtually non existent.
Only if you're going for a big turbo and as you say it probably only "feels quicker"
That's utter rubbish, there are lots of very fast drag cars that use turbo's. I'll give you all the "top fuel" cars use superchargers (AFAIK) but to say all drag cars do is not true.
That's because the turbo is very small. As what the difference is between "virtually no lag" and "no lag at all", I'll leave that to you.
If however you would drag-race a 235 HP-turbo-Corrado against a 235HP- compressor-Corrado, the turbo would loose. Not once but always.
On a circuit the 235 HP turbo-Corrado would be humiliated by its 235HP- compressor cousin.
Bottomline with a turbo remains a very hot item under the bonnet, with a lot more technical hassle than a supercharger. A turbo comes with the obliged oilfeed for cooling and lubrication. I don't like red glowing things with oil circulating through. Compressor-fires are a lot less common than turbo-fires.
This can be overcome by a constructor but rarely by a DIY-er unless heavy bills if things are not done right.
Errr ... no.
From concept is the supercharger mechanicly linked with the crankshaft, so the extra power is there on the complete RMP range. An engine with no jump in the powergraph feels smooth.
Turbos only work from at a certain RPM and that's where the kick in the back comes from.
The turbo feels quicker (but isn't) compared to the equivalent compressor, but the turbo has a bigger scope for extra power than the compressor. There is some compensation as turbo-tuning in most cases is turning a bolt, while with a compressor it means changing the transmission ratio between crank pulley and compressor pulley.
The bigger turbo one goes the smaller the powerband becomes, the more lag there is but the more power is available.
2000 cc and 540 HP at the crank are possible with a certain 15 year old engine...
A drag car is a purpose built car with as only consideration to cover
1/4 mile as swift as possible. In those categories where forced induction is allowed but the type of forced induction is free, there are no turbos.
You may find that utter rubbish but it happens to be so.
It's not because at Santa Pod a turbo-charged car turns up, that it's a drag car.
Don't know if they're generally available, but NASA have developed 'foil-air' bearings and demonstrated a turbocharger, co-developed with Caterpillar.
Apparently already in use by the US military.
I think they're being marketed as 'Aerochargers' - which are certainly turbos without an oil-feed, but they're very cagey over their decriptions of the lubrication system used.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.