Aren turbos free power?
Short answer — no. All forms of forced induction extract air from the atmosphere and force it into your engine at a greater rate than it normally uses. This act of compression requires a certain amount of power to accomplish, regardless of the type of device doing the pumping work. Therefore, any inefficiencies cause this pumping loss to become greater and eat up more horsepower. Where turbos have an advantage over a supercharger is in their ability to reclaim some of the thermal energy that is otherwise wasted exiting the exhaust and then use it to compress the air. This is not totally free power, though, as turbos can generate significant backpressure and irregular pulses in the exhaust, reducing engine efficiency and therefore costing horsepower. Luckily for us the Rotrex is the most efficient centrifugal supercharger available. Boasting a 96% efficiency rating for the gearbox along with its very high (150,000rpm) impeller speeds, the overall compressor efficiency matches that of mo
