[discogodfather]

Just finished reading Corky Bell's Supercharging book, great read. I started thinking about technological innovations and what's next in the S/C world.

1) Roots S/Cs- Eaton can keep going nuts with manufacturing and CNC innovations but it still dosen't make a roots S/C's basic theory better- it's a heat pump at high RPM's. Basically, Eaton has made a science out of getting closer tolerances into the roots lobe design, yielding way higher efficiencies than your daddy's old B@M. It's enough to propel ZR1's, but thermodynamically it's not that great and I think Eaton is at the limit of manufacturing tricks.

2) Twin Screw - Awesome design, still requires the most $$$ to make because of the extremely high tolerances. Fantastic benefits like little to no lag, etc. Autorotor seems to have frozen the technology for about a decade now. I know Vortech and Saleen have new twin screw designs (not clear if this is licensed from Autorotor) but they all seem the same. Not much on the drawing board.

3) Centris - Here is the big paradox. Centrifical S/C's seem to have the least technological advancement, especially with American companies. In fact, for the last 30 years, there has been nothing new. Sorry, helical gears and internal lubrication dosen't seem that impressive to me. Welcome to 1890's technology. The kicker is a company like Rotrex has some amazing new stuff. How about variable ratio planatery gearbox centri's? That means ratios of 10:1- makes boost way faster and spins at 150k rpms (try 50k rpm for most domenstic centris).


So the question is, where is the future? I look to Rotrex for some really awesome concepts: How about progressive supercharging? Put two rotrex centir's inline with each other. One boosts from 1500rpm to 3500rpm, another takes over from 3500rpm up! They have been doing this successfully for years with turbochargers, why not S/C's?? This means no lag and smoother power.

Another super cool idea: put an electric motor on the rotrex unit. They have some sister company doing this right now- it's intended to spool up the centri in an off-boost condition to eliminate lag. Wow, that's awesome.

Come on American S/C companies, get off your ass and design something new. I love my Vortech V1 but it's a dinosaur. I want progessive gearing, electrical lag eliminators, etc. Copying an autorotor design does NOT count as new technology Vortech!

[mustanginky]

so i guess you wanna have $10k blowers around? i understand what you're saying but the prices would be astronomical.

[discogodfather]

15 years ago I looked at a Kenne Bell autorotor kit and it was around 9k for a old 5.0 project. Now it's around 5k. Fact is that new tech does cost crazy amounts but it does get cheaper and better over time.

All I am saying is that we as Americans have a duty to pioneer new tech and kick ass as we have always done, and it makes me sad all the new stuff is coming out of Denmark?? They are running around in clogs for God's sakes!

Look at how popular superchargers have become in the last 10 years. I remember a time when it was your daddy's B@M and nothing else. Then Eaton made some real strides and the aftermarket centri's have really become more popular. Vortech is running to catch up with Kenne Bell and Saleen in terms of twin screw, why not invest some money into new centri technology? Centris are the cheapest to make, have the widest practical applications, and we have the world's largest market for them right here.

I want to see a twin sequential centri supercharged Shelby with variable gearing and electrical booster! USA! USA!

[uedlose]

Have you looked into turbos?

[Jakashh]

Eaton also makes clothes washing machine timers.

[mickey62]

The small diesel engines running in Europe is where the next boost generation will come from.

[Trick Tuners]

Originally Posted by uedlose Have you looked into turbos?

+1 on that. You will never see tons of money going into new blower development because turbos are always better. Look how many oem's have turbos compared to blowers.