I've been reading a variety of threads regarding superchargers and turbochargers available for the 3.8 engine. I have some general questions that I can't seem to find the answers, and I'm not looking to start any flame wars. I'll try to keep it brief, so here goes:

1. I've seen some posts that say turbos are less maintenance than supers. In my simple head, I thought you just bolted either one on and you're done. What maintenance is involved for either turbo or super?

2. I've seen some posts that supers require oil. Is this different than the oil in the engine? Do turbos require oil?

3. Someone mentioned "rubber band effect" in regard to 4 wheeling with forced induction. What is that and is that specific to supers or turbos or both?

4. In regard to axle gearing, I've seen some people keep stock gearing, others have 5.13 or 5.38, and some vendor websites say not to regear because it would spin the super or turbo unnecessarily high. If I went with FI, I don't think I want to regear (I have 4.10s now) since I think my crawl ratio may be too low already for the kind of wheeling I do. Is there a rule of thumb on gearing with supers or turbos?

5. In regard to heat, I've seen various posts discussing heat related performance, but I haven't seen anything specific to the JK. Has anyone had personal experience with excessive heat produced in a JK from either a super or turbo?

6. I've seen a VIAIR on board air system with tanks that mount in between the radiator and engine. Would this interfere with having a super or turbo installed?

Thank you, in advance, for any helpful responses. I appreciate it.

 

I have a supercharged JK. I can only answer the question based off of my system and my limited knowledge.


#1 Maintenance required. I am not reading the information that came with the supercharger but from memory I believe you have to change the oil every 8,500-10,000 miles. Thr Ripp SC has a built in drain tube which makes this process easy. There is also the serpintine belt but those have to be replaced on all vehicles at some point.

#2 Superchargers requiring oil. Yes my supercharger requires oil. It is not like engine oil. If I was going to compare I would say it is more the consistancy of brake oil. It is a specific oil you can purchase from the supllier of your supercharger. The Ripp kit comes with two additional bottles and it does not even take one bottle to do an oil change.

#3 Rubberband Affect/Surgunbg. I call this a soft spot. My own term. The only spot I feel that I push on the gas pedal and it takes a second for a response is around 1500-1700rpm. The nice thing about a JK is when you touch the pedal to accelerate they almost immediately jump to 2000rpm. You get past that spot quickly. This could just be my tune is not dead on. The tune is everything. I have only noticed a surge while my cruize control was on and I was going up a very steep hill. Only time.

#4 Regearing. Ripp has posted several video where they Dyno JK's. Many of them are running 5.13's. That is what I run. It does not present any problems. I had 4.10s too and drove everywhere with my overdrive off. Changing the gears made a nice difference at take off and low speeds. I would do it.

#5 Heat. I would say heat had to have been an issue or they would not have made a kit with an intercooler. I have the kit with an intercooler and we have had 100 degree temeratures ths summer. No issues period.

#6 I don't know anything about this setup.

 

Good questions.

1. Turbochargers require no maintenance after they are installed.

2. Turbochargers use the engine oil for lubrication.

3.? Don't know the answer to this one

4. Turbochargers reliably make more more HP and Torque therefore do not need regearing. They actually work best with 3:73 or 4:10 ratios. This keeps more exhaust load on the turbo and provides excellent driving due to less shifting and engine rpm will be lower at highway speeds providing increased fuel economy.

5. We have not had any issues with under hood temperatures. We do sell products like turbo covers to retain heat in the turbocharger and lower temperature thermostats to lower overall engine temperature. We have the largest Intercooler on the market. This aids in cooling the air coming into the engine. The cooler the air the more power the vehicle will make.

 

SergeantChuck and Prodigy, thank you for you responses, very helpful.

SergeantChuck, in regard to the rubberband or soft spot effect, have you noticed that being an issue for you when offroad? I have noticed that when onroad, the JK gets to 2k rpms very quickly and have read that this is a result of the torque converter or something. So, I can see how any super or turbo probably wouldn't be an issue onroad as you would quickly get past that rpm spot that you described. But, offroad, is that still the case? To be honest, I haven't wheeled my JK yet. I've only had it for 3 weeks. So, I'm not really sure how it behaves offroad. I have a 2007 Rubicon Unlimited by the way.

Prodigy, in regard to turbo's using the engine oil, how does that work on installation? Is there a line that taps into the oil pan or something? What part of the turbo needs the oil?

Again, thank you for the responses, I appreciate it.

 

To be honest I only notice it at initial startup. I have never had a problem while off-road.

 

knightrohulk: I've been reading a variety of threads regarding superchargers and turbochargers available for the 3.8 engine. I have some general questions that I can't seem to find the answers, and I'm not looking to start any flame wars. I'll try to keep it brief, so here goes:

1. I've seen some posts that say turbos are less maintenance than supers. In my simple head, I thought you just bolted either one on and you're done. What maintenance is involved for either turbo or super?

The maintenance to our system mainly involves oil and the serpentine belt. That would need to be changed at normal vehicle maintenance intervals anyway.

2. I've seen some posts that supers require oil. Is this different than the oil in the engine? Do turbos require oil?

This would actually relate directly to our product, though you can specify the option of a vehicle lubricated (engine oil) system as opposed to a self contained if you so desire. We feel that a self contained (read: separate oiling system) is the better, or should I say safer option in that if there is a failure in any part, there is no cross contamination of oil. It also makes for a much simpler installation, and easier to reverse the system out of your vehicle out on the trail if there is a problem. The oil change interval we recommend with our Vortech V3 system is every 2nd oil change.


3. Someone mentioned "rubber band effect" in regard to 4 wheeling with forced induction. What is that and is that specific to supers or turbos or both?

This would be more noticeable in a turbo application than a centrifugal SC. In our system, boost is directly related to engine rpm where in a turbo it would be engine load based.

4. In regard to axle gearing, I've seen some people keep stock gearing, others have 5.13 or 5.38, and some vendor websites say not to regear because it would spin the super or turbo unnecessarily high. If I went with FI, I don't think I want to regear (I have 4.10s now) since I think my crawl ratio may be too low already for the kind of wheeling I do. Is there a rule of thumb on gearing with supers or turbos?

For best results we recommend, re-gearing your vehicle to match your corresponding tire size. It will allow your vehicle to operate through the power band more efficiently. Though it is not necessary.

5. In regard to heat, I've seen various posts discussing heat related performance, but I haven't seen anything specific to the JK. Has anyone had personal experience with excessive heat produced in a JK from either a super or turbo?

Because turbochargers use exhaust gasses to power them, they will generally introduce much higher under hood temperatures than a supercharger would. Also, exhaust back pressure needs to be taken into account - when the turbo loads up, there is a lot of heat being generated on the manifolds as well the down pipe (as much as 1300deg)

6. I've seen a VIAIR on board air system with tanks that mount in between the radiator and engine. Would this interfere with having a super or turbo installed?

Have not seen how this specific system mounts. Maybe it will, maybe it won't.

Thank you, in advance, for any helpful responses. I appreciate it.

Turbo's and Superchargers use different means to accomplish the same goal. They each have their own specific advantages and disadvantages. It all depends on your personal preference.

Questions welcome.

RIPP

 

A. Of the Two Systems, Which works best;

1.At Sea Level?

2.5000 ft above Sea Level?

3.10000 ft above Sea Level?

Thank You in Advance for helping to answer my inquiries.

 

Bump...Any info on how altitude affects SC or TC?

Also, if I buy a SuperChips tuner, will it become useless once I bolt on FI since I need to run a tune specific to the FI? Or can I still use it for non-engine related changes such as gears, speedo, etc? Thanks.

 

You will not be able to use the Superchips tuner for a supercharged application. They use Diablo Sport Predator. I think the new Avenger SC uses HyperTech tuners.

 

Can't speak re the TC, but I know the "thinner" air at higher altitude mildly affects the performance of a SC. I'm running a RIPP SC, and didn't notice a big difference when driving over the Rockies a couple of years ago while headed to and from Moab. RIPP does offer a slightly smaller pulley for those in mountainous areas to compensate for the performance loss.