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Ok, so a turbo makes modern diesels so much more efficent then naturaly aspirated diesels. Would a supercharger have the same effect?
In other words, has anyone ever seen/heard of a supercharged diesel?
Yeah, a two-cycle detroit. That's where the roots style supercharger derived from. These engines NEEDED a blower to run. Some even had turbos AND blowers that worked in conjunction with one another.
If you're thinking about your truck, IMO a turbo is better than a supercharger. Since superchargers are belt driven they rob the engine of power, although they give you better response from a stop. Turbos don't rob the engine of any power. Part of the engineering behind the new turbo used in the 6.0 makes it work better off the line (if it's working!) and eliminates some of the low end issues.
On heavy duty diesels, like the Detroit that cleatus12r mentioned, I would imagine that power loss from a supercharger wouldn't be as big of an issue. As for me, I want to get as much power out of my PSD as possible so I'll stick with my turbo!
To make a blower work you have to have the power - a turbo is basically free power. The difference is in the turbo "lag" - the time to make the pressure. Why has everyone gone to the turbo ? Even the gassers have gone to the turbo. There are some supercharged gassers out there, but the turbo is about everywhere.
Supercharger: takes power to make power. Turbo: Waste exhaust enhances power. Turbo more efficent. Supercharger is makes cooler, and thus thus, sometimes, denser air.