Customer Reviews

Supercharged! Design, Testing and Installation of Supercharger Systems

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book gives a fair amount of coverage on the intended topic. It also has got lots of contents/parts which are common in Maximum Boost, both by the same author. Very suitable for someone trying to understand what is forced induction but not a good reference for experienced tuners. The contents do not cover carburator type forcefed engines in detail and do not encourage them as well. Fuel injected engines are more favoured here. The contents are also made up of a fair bit of the author's opinion rather than pure engineering facts. Got to be really careful in understanding and excepting certain facts which do not have engineering bearing at all. Considering the selection of books you have on this topic ie. Pat Ganahl, this one is a bit better. Lets see if someone can write a better one in time to come. Having read & own supercharged, maximum boost, street supercharging and A series tuning, only the last one covers a certain setup in great detail of what an experienced tuner should do. The worst is probably street supercharging which shows some pics and lots of words but no calculations to guide. Also, probably depends on the reader's area of interest as forcefeeding can be done for both FI and carby engines.

This book reads like a textbook, beginning with theory and lots of math problems in support of the theory, and winding up with loads of practical application. In the end, the author describes in detail the planning and building (from scratch) an intercooled SC setup for a BMW engine.

With great deference given to EFI and computerized engine management, this should be considered THE textbook for the enthusiast who wants to self-build a supercharger setup.

A few caveats for the casual reader: Firstly, do the math; go through this book as if it were indeed a school textbook, and educate yourself on all of the theoretical aspects regarding superchargers in general, specific types of compressors, ignition knock, and intercooling. Secondly, the author is endeared to aftercooling (aka "intercooling"), and greatly eschews simpler methods such as water injection; not helpful if you're working with a draw-through carbed system for which intercooling is unwise. Thirdly, this book is nearly useless if you're working with a carbureted system, except for the excellent theory (especially where ignition knock is concerned).

In my own case, I'm ultimately interested in supercharging a Jeep 4.6L stroker engine with EFI. However, I'm presently building a turbocharged system to work with a carburetor on the original AMC 258 in my 1982 Wagoneer. The information in this book led me to purchase MacInnes' book on turbocharging, because I need "outdated" information to deal with an older system.

If you had to choose just one book on supercharging to make an educated decision it would be this one. It starts out with basic engine thermodynamics and moves on to every aspect up to installation. All inclusive and very informative. The layout of the the books information reminds me of an older book "The Design and Tuning of Competition Engines" which most hardcore motor heads agree is a great book. From theory to application this book is written in plain language so you do not need an engineering degree to understand it, but it does delve very deeply in every chapter. It gives you the foresight and knowledge that will help you make informed desicions on what to buy and how to set up you supercharger. With so many books on the subject that are more photos than infomation I lucked out by stumbling on this one. I highly recommend it.

This is the first time I'm going to tune an engine.....I'm 39 and have a background in thermodynamics, electrical and mechanical design from operating nuclear power plants. Granted, I don't have an engineering degree, but have made all the calculations to properly size a supercharger for my Audi A8 4.2 liter motor.

Call ATI to get a compressor map for their compressors.....and they don't have them. After reading this book, you can say "skip" to that company and move onto the next. No need to waste time on guessing.

I found this book to be very, very interesting and reading it the second time over I really understood everything in it. That's when I did the calcs.

I recommend this book, and I know I'm going to intercool my 450 HP machine!

This book was perfect when I wanted a basic introduction to the theory and practice of supercharging. It does re-use alot of material from his Turbocharging book but that is good because that book was fantastic as well.

However, looking at a couple of the reviews here I can see 2 instances when this book might not be helpful.

1) You have a carbeurated enginge and already know how to do sizing and understand other theoretical issues. This book won't help you.

2) You already know the basics of supercharging including thermodynamic calculations, sizing and power calculation. I doubt many people looking for this sort of book already know this and even if you do this book will probably help you shore-up your knowledge and patch holes.

If you aren't in one of these categories and have the slightest interest in forced induction you should buy this book.

This book gives you all the information you need to make an educated decision about buying or building your own supercharger setup for your engine. Like "Maximum Boost", Corky Bell's book on turbocharging, this book gives you a good overview of the concepts and all of the math you need to understand the forces interacting inside your engine and how forced induction affects the behavior of those forces. Don't buy an aftermarket supercharger setup without reading this book! There are a lot of them out there which do not adequately handle some of the issues involved. If you are building your own setup, I think you would be hard-pressed to find another book which gives you such complete insight into how to accomplish it.

Though this book is an excellent reference it is also very readable, with a light style that helps overcome some of the number slogging in the early chapters. Unlike the earlier reviewer I do not find the overlap of material from "Maximum Boost" to be a detriment. They are, in fact, both books covering forced induction and therefore cover much common material. Though I own both books, I appreciate that the author did not require anyone to buy both just to understand the concepts involved.

Didn't know alot going in, and now I can look at a system and tell whether it's designed well, or a nightmare. Helped me decide between supercharging and turbos.

This book is really supercharged for those who are developing their own stuff. Filled with reasonably easy understood formulas to calculate the specifications and engine requirements, this book makes things a lot easier instead of relying on guessworks. Great Book!

I am going to be putting a turbo charger, or a supercharger on my car very soon. I already have a great deal of experience with both forms of forced induction, but I wanted a good reference book to help with some of the smaller details. Details such as SC choice, pros and cons of different types, and what to look for in a complete kit. Supercharged is exactly the book I wanted and expected it to be. It is perfect for someone with a reasonable amount of automotive knowledge, but wants to learn what it takes to put an SC on a vehicle. I would have given this book a 5 star rating, except I also own "Maximum Boost", and there is a bit of copy&paste from it into this book. If you are planning to install an aftermarket supercharger in your car, then this book is for you.

This is an excellent book for people with or withoout experience on superchargers,for me this is one of the best books that i have,it comes with formulas to calculate,air/fuel,diagrams of installations,types of superchargers,intercooling design and types,reviews of many SCs,This is a must have to tune with an SC!!