I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I tried searching and couldn't find the thread so sorry for the repost. My big question is whats the difference between Turbo v. Supercharging?

 

a turbo is a compressor driven off exhaust gas and a supercharger is driven off a belt.

I suggest reading "Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell for more answers..it's a GREAT read.

 

Ha ha...this is true.

 

You can also look at:
Supercharged! Design, Testing and Installation of Supercharger Systems, by Corky Bell

Forced Induction Performance Tuning: A Practical Guide to Supercharging and Turbocharging, by A. Graham Bell

Both available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

 

"A. Graham Bell"....holy crap I knew he was into telegraphs,m but turbochargers also!??! sweet!

 

Apparently, he was a true Renaissance Man-like you Rod.

 

Haha, I think it's probably a different guy. There wasn't too much interest in the practical tuning of a performance oriented FI system back in his day. Hell, there weren't even that many internal combustion engine back in his day!

 

internal combustion was when your donkey or horse got gas

 

That's when you called your local Amish mechanic!!

Back on topic... For someone who knows very little about the actual mechanics of a car/engine - but wants to learn - would reading some/all of the books listed make 'sense'? Would it help increase my understanding of turbo vs. s/c, as well as the way a car works in general?? I tend to be a very visual, hands-on learner, so I'm not sure how much I'd get out of books like this. Are there any other recommendations?

 

the books explain in depth how a piston engine works, the componants of the FI system, how they all work together, how they make power and how to tune them for safe performance.

NOthing beats actually getting your hands dirty but without SOME knowledge going into it you'll just end up being confused and bruised.

 

very very true, even while learning expect to get cut,brusied,and hurt but its still fun

 

a little off topic by MyZmZm your sponsored by protege garage!!???? your sooo lucky. i love that site

 

I'd love to be able to do that - would be nice to take a basic, in-depth mechanics course, but I'm not going to spend $3000+ to do so - the only problem is finding someone around here to 'take me under their wing' so that I can learn. Are there any good books that you'd recommend to give a good, basic understanding?

Yeah, I lucked out with that...

 

im taking a class at a local community college and im still in high school(its a cool program i go for 4 classes at school and then go to college for an auto tech class for three days out of the week) i just pay like $175 a semester