I would disagree here. Having the knock sensor is imperative to getting the most out of your forced induction, be it turbo or supercharger. It is possible to supercharge successfully without computer control, but a computer controlled setup is ALWAYS better with forced induction and pump gas.

The problem is preignition. Increasing boost has the same effect as increasing compression ratio in that they both cause the fuel/air mix to reach much much higher temperatures during the compression stroke. Avoiding auto-ignition temperatures is very difficult with pump gas. If you do not have a knock sensor, you will have to retard your timing to avoid preignition.

With computer controlled ignition and a knock sensor, the computer will continuously push the timing advance up and up until it detects a knock, at which point it will retard the timing a bit, then it starts the advancing again. It keeps doing this several times a second assuring that you are running as much advance as you can at all times without preignition.

This was the primary reason that the 301 Trans Am turbo setup made lousy power. The engine compression was so low and timing had to be retarded so much to avoid preignition, that it negated all benefit of even having the turbo present. You look at the rice grinders out there with their tiny displacement engines making big horsepower and wonder, "How does 301 cubic inches of turbocharged engines run so poorly?" ANSWER: no computer control with knock sensor present...

There's a highly tunable ECM made by Haltech which can be retrofitted onto nearly ANY engine of 4,5,6,8, or 10 cylinders called the E11. You can find it and other useful information for forced induction and EFI retrofits at www.force-efi.com. It's pricy, but extremely tunable,, and does allow you to use multiple different map sensors that ARE capable of reading boost.

The supercharger you are talking about is a screw type charger like the Whipple brand superchargers. This is an excellent choice for 2 reasons. First they make nearly constant boost from just off idle throughout the entire power band. Second, they produce the most boost with the least amount of heat added to your air charge. If you're considering going the carbed boost route, I would strongly consider an intercooler as well. This will minimize the negative effects of charge heating that I was speaking of above.

Also keep in mind that a different cam grind will be necessary to fully take advantage of a supercharged setup, computer controlled or not.