Altitude and the RL's supercharger

on the contrary

I actually think it would be the other way around. If an engine aspirate freely, the intake pressure would be whatever the atmospheric pressure is. With a charger, the air is compressed to a pre-determined gauge pressure at the intake, but of course, your supercharger would have to work a little harder to reach that pressure with the thinner air.

Just my two cents...

Hawflake said:

I actually think it would be the other way around. If an engine aspirate freely, the intake pressure would be whatever the atmospheric pressure is. With a charger, the air is compressed to a pre-determined gauge pressure at the intake, but of course, your supercharger would have to work a little harder to reach that pressure with the thinner air.

Just my two cents...

Click to expand...

I agree. F/I is not my strong point however.

It does matter. At an altitude like Denver. There air is about 15% - 20% thinner so to get the same boost levels you would need to spin the SC 15% faster. That is what the top fuel guys do.