Street Machine - August 2002

Book Review: Superchaged! Design, Testing and Installation of Supercharger Systems – Corky Bell

“If you like technical manuals to bury your head in, this is definitely something you’ll enjoy, although anyone with an interest in supercharging will gain something valuable from it. The book’s a whopper, at just over 340 pager, and is all in black and white, but it’s very informative. It begins with a guide to the purpose of supercharging, which may seem obvious but it’s the detail here that counts. This initial chapter takes the reader through the history of supercharging, the theory behind it and a general overview of the factors to take into consideration when planning to add a blower. Further reading gives you the physics behind this form of power adder, a separate chapter for each type of supercharger (centrifugal Toots and screw compressor), and later there are chapters on preparing your engine and, as an example, what pistons to choose and how to make sure your engine is ready for boost. What we found most useful about this book, having supercharged our own project vehicle, were things like dispelling myths which have come about as superchargers have grown in popularity, and information on how to read your engine’s head gasket once it has failed. The complete and definitive guide to all supercharger systems, and highly recommended…”