tbourner Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Not on the supra obviously, but on a general car: http://www.akamoto.co.uk/E-RAM-electric-supercharger.asp Basically it's a hairdryer!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 I saw these a couple of years ago. Never seen one used though. I don't know if there are any real world figures to show its improvement, but I'd imagine they'd be slim.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbourner Posted April 25, 2005 Author Share Posted April 25, 2005 Apparently 5 bhp ish on a ZR160. They reckon it gives 1 PSI increase, suppose that must do something but then there's additional draw on the battery (any loss??), and would it only work with the correct air flow sensors etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 There are serious electric superchargers out there. Not sure how similar they are to these ones, though. They can actually give surprising benefits, but its mainly for low-down torque rather than top-end power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 I have looked at these units in all seriousness... The biggest problem I found with them was the amount of current they need,and since they are electric they put a load on the alternator... which then pulls power out of the engine... The other option would be to have a battery bank which you isolate from the engine, but then you are stuck with the weight of the battery pack... The one option I considered using this for was to pre-spool a large turbo and then just put it in an offline state once the turbo was going.... could get away with a smaller battery pack and a little bit of electric gubbins... I might still consider this option to remove the lag from my single configuration when it is up and running... I know there are options which run on the new 48v system which has been proposed for cars, but then this would involve putting in a split voltage system into the car.. There are a few suppliers for these units... the one I've been speaking to is http://www.boosthead.com Gav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 As far as the eram units go... I wouldn't recommend them as they go inline with your air flow and as such would start giving you serious flow restrictions at boost.... Whereas the thomas knight units, you can simply put on a y piece on your boost hose.... not 100% sure how you would configure the engine management, but if you have gone single, you will already have a standalone ecu..... and hopefully you have got a line you can use to throw the isolater at low revs to the spare battery pack... As you can tell I've spent WAY too much time putting my engineering head on looking at ways to use this technology... Gav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted April 26, 2005 Share Posted April 26, 2005 Anyone who is interested in a serious product for electric supercharging should read this and this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted April 26, 2005 Share Posted April 26, 2005 Just make sure that whatever 'cfm' figures they quote are relevant to the loads you'll be using. Otherwise you risk ending up like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Not on the supra obviously, but on a general car: http://www.akamoto.co.uk/E-RAM-electric-supercharger.asp Basically it's a hairdryer!!! Yes, it would do something. Cost HP. Putting a restriction in the intake is never a good idea, performance wise Perhaps fitted witha "Fuel Catalyst" and a fuel line magnet you could achieve more BHP and more economy.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbourner Posted April 28, 2005 Author Share Posted April 28, 2005 Anyone who is interested in a serious product for electric supercharging should read this and this. That white paper shows using an electric charger, to pre-spool a turbo. Wouldn't it be just as easy to use the electric motor to spin the turbine spindle? Rather than to spin a fan which produces air flow which spins the impeller? An idea for single users? Electric motor to pre-spin the turbo spindle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 I know Ford has experimented with 'electrically assisted' turbochargers, they have special windings around the 'middle' of the turbo and help it spool faster under specific conditions. The current consumption is very high obviously, but short-lived, so they get away with just an uprated alternator and battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 That white paper shows using an electric charger, to pre-spool a turbo. Wouldn't it be just as easy to use the electric motor to spin the turbine spindle? Rather than to spin a fan which produces air flow which spins the impeller? I think the VTES was concieved as a modular "bolt-on" system that could be used by OEMs for either NA or turbo engines. I think the engineering of integrating the electrics into a turbocharger package would make it (a) harder to retrofit onto an existing engine design and (b) harder to bypass. The VTES lives in the airbox and at part loads the airflow simply goes around it, hence no throttling issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooper-supra Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 mmm not to sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 What you have to bear in mind is that 99% of engineering R&D is going into making engines smaller and more economical, but with similar output to the larger engines they will replace. There is also a lot more research going into the low/medium speed / low/medium load area than WOT performance. That's what the VTES does. Using it to pre-spool a turbo was news to me but it seems logical. That little 12V motor must have a good bit of grunt behind it. The problem with the more ricey equivalents is that they pretend to be flat out performance mods. Even if a tuner got hold of a pukka VTES type system, they wouldn't sell any by saying they helped you on part-throttle performance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonM Posted April 29, 2005 Share Posted April 29, 2005 I've tried it & It doesn't work!!! I bought a fan like the one in the pic (used for model aircraft engines) for about £25 and fitted it to my mates mazda 3 Made no differance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted April 30, 2005 Share Posted April 30, 2005 I've tried it & It doesn't work!!! I bought a fan like the one in the pic (used for model aircraft engines) for about £25 and fitted it to my mates mazda 3 Made no differance! Now we know http://www.max-boost.co.uk/max-boost/Gifs/lol.gif Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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