Why didn't VW make any more supercharged cars?

[Alexander 0]

It's been bothering me.

 

The supercharger seems like such a cool idea (no lag etc), yet there are very few supercharged cars about - a few TVRs?? Is a turbo really that much better?

 

I'm sure there are probably sound economy/financial reasons - does anyone know them?

[ben16v 0]

the old mini was supercharged now a turbo, a lot of mercs are, mustang can be s`charged

 

no idea why turb is more popular

[coolrado 0]

they do the new golf with a 1.4 compound charged engine (turbo and supercharger) although most of the reviewers found it unrefined and jerky as it switches between the two and they haven't sold many.

It's probably down to cost cutting which seems to be responsible for a lot of design decisions on cars nowadays, and modern turbo and especially variable vane turbo's don't really suffer any noticeable lag.

[Andy665 0]

Probably more to do with efficiency than anything else. A turbocharger utilises waste products (exhaust gases) to power it and therefore increase engine power whereas a supercharger actually draws engine power, i believe Jaguar have stated that the charger on the XKR models actually consumes in the region of 90PS.

 

Volkswagen have in fact sold a lot of the twincharge engine, just not in the UK where its probably down to poor marketing than anything else. I have seen customers look shocked when the price of a twincharged Golf is declared, they think its an awful lot of money for a "mere" 1.4 litre engined car. If people looked at the power output rather than the engine capacity then there would be far less of an issue

[Neil VR6 0]

As far as I

[dr_mat 0]

I think that as technology has moved on they are now in a position where the ECU has a LOT more control over a turbo charger than it ever would over a supercharger, so it makes sense to stick with it. It's actually easier to hook into the engine, too, as it only needs to be placed in the inlet/exhaust ducting, rather than needing a belt drive from the crank.

I can see it has many advantages in this context that superchargers don't.

Look at the breadth of the torque curves they can generate on a 1.8T/2.0T engine - there's no way they'd get that out of a supercharger!

[skinnyman9000 0]

Isn't the McLaren SLR supercharged?

 

I'm sure Clarkson gave some crazy figure for the amount of power it actual saps from the engine

[Guest]

Quite simply Supercharging is more expensive and can be less reliable than bolting a turbo on! Turbos are fine to a point but to get massive increases you need to add a bigger/better turbo and related chipping and mapping for fuel

 

My father in law just sold his V8 XJR Jaguar (and bought an Edition 30 GTI :wave: ) and i can honestly say the big supercharged Jag is a refined beast, but an absolute animal when you open the taps! his was still governed to 155 but it could hit that without even trying, despite any power used from the charger it anhialated my uncles carrera 4 in straight lines at least :tongue:

 

Just as a point of interest the Superchargers on the G60 date back to a design made in 1901 :eek: and share quite a few engineering simmilarities to the ones used on Mechesmit fighter planes during Ze Vor, the Bahn Brenner ones are virtually identical to the ones used on the old old Bentleys raced at Brooklands, which if you ever see one are mounted on the front bumper!

 

Its still mainly only German cars that use the supercharger method as its still produces an efficiant car with decent power in a smooth and constant way

 

:D

[Yandards 0]

Turbos do place a drain on the engines power output its just that modern turbo system mean this is less of an issue than it once was.

 

Superchargers will always improve engine effieciency as long as the car is moving along at a resonable speed. You also have to consider that things like aircon and a larger alt will also sap output from the engine too.

[boost monkey 0]

Isn't the McLaren SLR supercharged?

 

I'm sure Clarkson gave some crazy figure for the amount of power it actual saps from the engine

 

120hp.

[boost monkey 0]

I also think that VW didn't _need_ to make any more supercharged motors to achieve the performance with efficiency goals that they set out to get with the G60.

 

Have you seen the demos of the FSI (Fuel Stratification Injection) systems? They are fascinating and seem to be the next-generation in variable inlet technology. These also give very good economical returns on part throttle but also a decent chunk of performance at WOT.

 

This is purely from what i've read, so feel free to correct, I'm not going to be owning a next-gen car anytime soon! :lol:

[skinnyman9000 0]

Im surprised we haven't seen more FSI powered dubs about to be honest. Surely the transplant cant cost much more than a 1.8T swap, and as said they have very good economy for a 2.0L turbo lump

[Storm Monkey 0]

Im surprised we haven't seen more FSI powered dubs about to be honest. Surely the transplant cant cost much more than a 1.8T swap, and as said they have very good economy for a 2.0L turbo lump

 

Give it time....... The 1.8T is a well supported engine, e.g. loads of tuning stuff available, and being older, is a damn site cheaper. Found several 1.8T engined passats, around the 100k mark, for under £1000, so not a hugh expense. The 2.0 TFSI will become more popular as numbers in the market increase, and more people write off doner cars.

 

Phil

[boost monkey 0]

Im surprised we haven't seen more FSI powered dubs about to be honest. Surely the transplant cant cost much more than a 1.8T swap, and as said they have very good economy for a 2.0L turbo lump

 

there are a few about, there's a 400hp TSFI Rallye that I've seen at the NR meets last summertime, sounds monstrous!

 

I hear the new generation ECU / wiring is an absolute MOFO which is what puts most people off I think. Completely different to our Mk2-esque layouts.

[skinnyman9000 0]

Im surprised we haven't seen more FSI powered dubs about to be honest. Surely the transplant cant cost much more than a 1.8T swap, and as said they have very good economy for a 2.0L turbo lump

 

there are a few about, there's a 400hp TSFI Rallye that I've seen at the NR meets last summertime, sounds monstrous!

 

I hear the new generation ECU / wiring is an absolute MOFO which is what puts most people off I think. Completely different to our Mk2-esque layouts.

 

 

Blue? That the one that was in Golf+ last year?

[boost monkey 0]

Im surprised we haven't seen more FSI powered dubs about to be honest. Surely the transplant cant cost much more than a 1.8T swap, and as said they have very good economy for a 2.0L turbo lump

 

there are a few about, there's a 400hp TSFI Rallye that I've seen at the NR meets last summertime, sounds monstrous!

 

I hear the new generation ECU / wiring is an absolute MOFO which is what puts most people off I think. Completely different to our Mk2-esque layouts.

 

 

Blue? That the one that was in Golf+ last year?

 

Now you mention it, could well be! was really nice, can't remember who owns it though.