Superchargers...which one is best???

[kirkyg]

I wanted to find out from those who own dodge trucks and have messed with some of the different brand superchargers just which one is giving the best system/performance. I'm seriously considering whipple or powerdyne. Whipple claims that their psi boost starts up at very low rpm's and is fully active in the 2000-3000 rpm range. They also say that your gas mileage supposedly is better at low rpm's. That makes no logical sense. You start off with close to max boost very fast reponse yet at those low rpm's you get better gas mileage???

This opposed to the centrifugal style supercharger like powerdyne which shows a more parabolic curve in relation to rpms and power. Starting out with very little psi boost early in the rpm band but pushing more and more as the rpm's rise. This would seem like a good system to me and would logically make gas mileage better at low rpm's maybe better than stock (depending on alot of other factors) but worse at high rpm range.

I'm just a bit confused and before i get into purchasing a supercharger for my 98' dodge ram 318 v8 truck, i want the full picture and not a marketting picture. Thanks for any help!

kirkyg

[BillyBob]

kirkyg,

Check out Ram Truck talk..........lots of this type of info.......

[AZMOPAR]

The problem with putting a blower on an engine is you get addicted to the rush when the boost comes up. That makes it hard to maintain fuel mileage cause there's always an excuse to wood it.
In any case the whipple (like a 6-71) produces boost almost instantly (at WOT) so the power is there right now. The disadvantage is that the low end torque produced can blow your tires off. At other than WOT - the Whipple does not produce boost (or very little) so there should be no effect on fuel mileage if you have a light right foot.
The powerdyne (like a turbo) has to spool up to produce boost, and (like the Whipple) you have to be at WOT to do so. So the powerdyne can suffer from "turbo lag" so to speak - you gotta wait till it gets there. Some people may not like the wait.
The bottom line is: "blowers" do not produce boost at part throttle, so they would have little effect on fuel mileage.

[This message has been edited by AZMOPAR (edited August 24, 2000).]