FAQ

1. What is supercharging?
Supercharging refers to a mechanical pump, belt driven from a pulley on the engine's crankshaft, which forces a pressurized fuel/air mixture in to the engine. This additional volume of fuel and air dramatically increases the work output of each power stroke. The pressure of the supercharged mixture is called boost, which is usually measured by a gauge calibrated in pounds per square inch (psi). When reliability and durability are more important than sheer maximum power, experience has shown that a reasonable boost of 6 psi should be used. At this level, engine horsepower will be increased by 30% or more. The additional torque afforded by supercharging delivers greatly enhanced acceleration capability, improved highway passing ability, and near effortless hill climbing capability.

2. Why is supercharging better than turbocharging?    
Both supercharging and turbo charging increase horsepower by forcing a denser fuel/air mixture into the engine's combustion chamber. Turbochargers are exhaust driven and depend upon a centrifugal compressor to pressurize the induction system. Because they depend on the exhaust gas energy to drive the turbine wheel, turbochargers are relatively ineffective at low engine speeds and under light load conditions when exhaust gas flow is minimal. As energy is extracted from the exhaust, there is an increase in back pressure and temperature which tends to deteriorate the power output of the engine. Since a turbocharger cannot start to produce boost until there is sufficient exhaust gas to drive the impeller, turbo equipped engines have a delayed response when asked to accelerate from low speeds (turbo lag). i.e. you push the pedal ...and wait, but with a Supercharger you push the pedal and feel the acceleration.

Camden Superchargers are belt driven directly from the eccentric shaft. This means that even when the throttle is opened at low engine speed, boost will be available. You step on the pedal and the response is instantaneous - your car, truck, or boat, will have extra power on demand, and without the tremendous under the hood temperature rise characteristic of a turbocharged engine. Engine torque is increased over the entire operating range of the engine, resulting in better performance in any gear at any speed. Camden Superchargers can provide quicker starts away from an intersection than a turbocharger and greatly improve passing and hill climbing capabilities. The sensation is as though another rotor has been added to your engine. Please note that Superchargers are not emissions legal in California or other emission required areas, and are intended for race applications, or off road use which may never be used upon a highway.

3. Will supercharging shorten the engine life?    
If your engine is in good mechanical condition, the addition of a Camden Supercharger will not harm or shorten engine life. Our superchargers have proven themselves over thousands of miles of use to be safe and reliable. Since a supercharged engine feels so much more responsive, caution needs to be exercised to avoid overreving. As with any engine, whether supercharged, turbocharged, or not, continued abuse can have a detrimental effect on engine life.

4. What will happen to my gas mileage with a supercharger?    
Under normal driving conditions, gas mileage should not be adversely affected by the addition of a supercharger. When you need extra power, remember that it takes more fuel to make more horsepower.

5. How difficult is it to install a Camden Supercharger?    
Each Camden Supercharger kit is specifically designed for the application. The existing inlet manifold must be replaced with a new supercharger manifold and a new crankshaft pulley substituted for the original. With ordinary hand tools, a supercharger installation can be completed in 10 hours or less, with no cutting, no welding, or additional machine work. All work is outside the engine. A step by step instruction manual is provided to assist you in the installation process. The final look is clean, and normal maintenance is not impaired.

6. What different kinds of superchargers are there?    
A roots type of supercharger is literally a pump, where as the centrifugal is more like a fan, or a literal blower. The roots traps and moves a given volume of air through it with each revolution of the rotors (not accounting for leakage): consequently it is known as a positive-displacement pump. Its pump output (again not counting inefficiency) is directly proportional to the speed at which it is being turned. A centrifugal blower is an inertial compressor. Its one primary moving part is a fixed-blade fan called an impeller, which actually looks like a disk with fan blades protruding on one side. Whereas the roots blower is similar to a typical engine oil pump, a centrifugal blower is similar to a typical engine water pump."
(Ganahl, Pat, A Do it Yourself Guide to Street Supercharging. SA Design, 1999)

7. Can I supercharge a street ported rotary engine?    
Yes.

8. Can I run nitrous and supercharge at the same time?    
You can use nitrous and supercharge at the same time but keep in mind that running nitrous in any applications can be unstable as far as the life of the engine and its related parts is concerned.

9. Should I use a Holley or Webber carb setup with my supercharger?    
We have adaptors for both setups so you could use either.

10. Can I run a Camden Supercharger on a 12A or a 13B?    
You can run our superchargers on either the 12A or the 13B.

11. Can I go with either a fuel injection setup or a carbureted setup?    
You can do either setup, we also supply the kit to go from naturally aspirated to fuel injected.

12. How much boost can I get out of the five and seven inch superchargers?    
The superchargers produce between 6 and 11 pounds of boost depending on the pulley used, the seven inch supercharger will move more volume and is capable of more boost than the 5 inch supercharger.

13. Do Camden Superchargers pass California's emission standards?    
No, superchargers are not intended for emission controlled highways.

14. Is the Camden Supercharger a positive displacement or a centrifugal force blower?    
It is a positive displacement roots type blower.

15. How can I get more boost out of my supercharger?    
Change the drive ratio either by making the crank pulley larger or the supercharger pulley smaller.

16. How much hp will I gain from a supercharger?    
At 6.5 lb. of boost you can conservatively expect 35-50% increase in Hp. You will feel the boost as low as 1500 rpm's as the supercharger is making power, and torque at a lower rpm due to the fact that the Supercharger spools up faster than a turbo. When shifting gears you will not lose your boost.

17. What size jets should i use in my carburetor?    
The Holley 390 comes stock with 54 jets, upgrade those to 59 jets for street use. For race applications using the 650 Holley, the 72 primary stock jets and 78 secondary stock jets should work fine.