Living with More Boost

Whether you are running a factory turbocharged or supercharged car, or

one that has a basic bolt-on kit, if your power cravings have taken you to

the limits of your current setup, and you’re ready to take the plunge to a

bigger turbocharger or supercharger, then read on. You have spent some

time trying to run more boost on your current turbo or a smaller pulley on

your supercharger, and you have come to the conclusion that you need/want

more serious firepower to reach your goals.

Before you take that next step into big boost, it is important that you

appreciate the drivability tradeoffs that come with a much larger turbo/

blower:

-

 Most factory turbocharging and supercharging packages, and many after-

market kits, strive to be seamless. As you apply throttle, the engine begins

making power and the turbo or supercharger almost instantaneously

jumps into action, aiding in acceleration.

If your car is your daily driver, you’ll find yourself on boost when

accelerating more often than not. Boost is there, omnipresent, whether

just pulling away from a light in first gear and short shifting the car at

3,000 rpm, or using 3

⁄4 throttle overtaking another car on the freeway.

Carving along your favorite mountain road, you’ll be able to power out

of a turn using boost with relative ease. There is no planning or antici-

pating. Whether you elect to take a turn at 2,000 rpm in third gear, or

higher in the rev range dropping down into second, as the right foot

goes down, the boost comes on.

-

 Imagine an alternate reality in which your right foot goes down and

nothing happens. You short shift the car at 3,000 rpm around town,

and your boost gauge never comes up from vacuum. Your car, when

driven around conservatively, is much slower than it had been before.

The boost is gone. In its place, your car now drives like a normally

aspirated car with too low of a compression ratio and a huge exhaust

obstruction (the turbo).

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