Electric Superchargers, Please don't shoot me for asking... Options

[Zizman]

Alright, let's set the scene. I'm a 19yr old college student, so money is tight. I have a 2005 Lancer OZ, with the 4G94 and an A/T. I can't really afford to put a turbo in, so I'm lookin' to stay N/A. I want a little more low end power: just enough that the riced out Honda Civics won't beat me off the line, and enough to keep up with my friend's Sentra SE-R.

My plan, once I have the cash, is SRI, Exhaust, and Header.

Simple? Absolutely. UNTIL...

I was talking with a family friend, who is a car guy. He's been working on cars most of his life, and his brother is currently preparing to supercharge a Dodge Dart with a 440 dropped in. Said family friend mentioned "Electric Superchargers" to me the other day. This got me curious, and I did some research. The one e-s/c I've seen POSITIVE statements about is the eRAM. Apparently, the rest are s***; simply bilge fans modified to fit into a car.

So, my question (sorry it took so long to get to) is whether or not anyone on this board has tried/heard word of/etc. these supposed electric superchargers working. The theory back and forth is that they can't work because they don't really create boost, but they do work because they spin fast enough (in the case of the eRAM) to create around 1.5-2 PSI at WOT, and function as a 3" straight pipe the rest of the time.

Again, please don't shoot me for bringing up what seems to be a topic of great flame-wars on some other car-related boards. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[jimmy09]

i dont think anyone has tried it, all i have heard about them is that they are worthless. and definitely not worth that much money

[rpeclipse]

I haven't tried them, but, I heard that they are not as good as they sound, you are talking about the ones that you bolt in your air intake pipe, right? if I were you I will just keep saving for a short ram air intake, header or exahust system, now if you want you can go ahead and try them and then post your results, you are gonna be the guinea pig, lol

One more thing, the website that you link says "up to 15hp", so, that means that you can gain from 0.1 to 15hp, not that you will gain 15hp

[Zizman]

I haven't tried them, but, I heard that they are not as good as they sound, you are talking about the ones that you bolt in your air intake pipe, right? if I were you I will just keep saving for a short ram air intake, header or exahust system, now if you want you can go ahead and try them and then post your results, you are gonna be the guinea pig, lol

One more thing, the website that you link says "up to 15hp", so, that means that you can gain from 0.1 to 15hp, not that you will gain 15hp

Well, I was gonna do it in addition to all those other mods. I have no problem being a guinea pig, I was just curious if anyone else had tried them.

Also, according to them, the gains I can expect on my '05 Lancer are around 5-6HP...the most any car they've tried it on has "gained" is 15HP.

[wickedz]

they say you can get some power off it. Just surf youtube.com and see other cars with them installed and running/dyno videos lol

I think its funny and people are idiots for buying them

[bobthecow]

You will gain .000001 hp to the wheels.

Not worth any money unless it is free.

[Zizman]

they say you can get some power off it. Just surf youtube.com and see other cars with them installed and running/dyno videos lol

I think its funny and people are idiots for buying them

You will gain .000001 hp to the wheels.

Not worth any money unless it is free.

That's the type of answers I keep hearing. I'm looking for the hard proof, y'know? I'm not sure that I'll even bother with it: I may end up with just enough additional HP from SRI/Cat-Back/Header to solve my issues with acceleration...but I like to know all of my options.

[SC-CUSTOMS]

Just go to CVS and buy a hairdryer. You'll save a lot of money and gain just as much HP.

[pwee05]

basically no one has proof because everyone bashes them so then no one wants to try them.

SC has a good point but some others actually do flow some air. this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXZtGK_bKNk blows some air but probably about the same as your car draws in during idle. Therefore it would actually restrict airflow.

this one is just plain stupid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5999nm4ANk...feature=related it even sounds like a hair dryer.

This is the vid you want to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NncTM9DEf8Y...feature=related

and then, go figure, you have a honda guy actually hooking up the guts from a shop vac up to his engine with a boost gauge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nBowIlXef0...feature=related yay, it made boost while the engine was off. I'm willing to bet that would drop to 2 psi as soon as the engine was started and then back to vacuum when the gas pedal was depressed.


bottom line here is, yea, these things can push some air. What you have to remember though is, can it build pressure? Any fan can blow air, but boost is only created when you push more air than the engine can take in at a given point in time. If the engine sucks in more air than your fan blows you go back to vacuum and restriction.

there was only 1 electric supercharger I ever saw in a vid that actually made me think it might work. When the dude holding it turned it on and then let it go the damn thing flew to the ceiling. Now that one pushed some air. All these others that just make noise aren't going to help. So basically, if you have one of those sitting on the floor, you turn it on and it doesn't slide across the floor....its just a fan. If you have one on the floor and when you turn it on it shoots across the floor and wants to take off.....that one might work

[Tearheads]

There a few electric booster that works out there! but you wont notice much difference, getting a CAI ( Cold Air Intake) gives you the most bang for your bucks. Save you money for ICE CREAM! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/banana.gif)

[SRSONE]

cant eat ice cream..... lactose intolerant

[Lewiman06]

there are a few companies that make electronic superchargers that DO provide HP.
when i had my 3000GT i was looking at them. i think it was "ripp performance" or something like that.
you have to add extra batteries to you can and they are a PITA to install. but you DO get HP out of them.

bottom line, if your not paying well over 100 dollars for any forced induction part, its not the part you want.

[Slacker]

lets see weight of battery a few pounds and your getting about 5 hp. wow not bad actually cause if you switch out your intake your getting only a fews and it probably adds a little weight. oh yea and im sure adding an exhaust giving you those few hp and little weight is another good idea.

no matter what people will say things about anything. unless you find actuall proof on what its done or what its been false about dont go off hear say or word of mouth. if your really daring and bored and wanna give it a whirl then try it and then tell us how good or bad it was.

[Zizman]

As the one who started this topic, and seeing as I have learned a bit more about the way cars function since doing so, I propose this topic be close because the fact is that electric superchargers aren't worth the money. Mods, feel free to do so at your discretion.