Are you planning to add a ProCharger to your vehicle, and you’re wondering how much additional horsepower it could give your car? You’ve come to the right place, for we have researched this question, and we have the answer for you.
ProCharger has different models of different sizes. Bigger models have larger impellers with increased capacities, and a bigger air capacity can provide more boost in horsepower. On average, a ProCharger should be able to provide your car an additional 40-100 additional horsepower.
However, installing a ProCharger will change the way you maintain your car. Learn all about it in the succeeding sections. Read on!
How does a ProCharger increase the horsepower of an engine?
Let’s talk briefly about how a ProCharger increases the engine's horsepower. ProCharger focuses on centrifugal supercharger designs.
A centrifugal supercharger looks and works similar to a turbocharger. However, instead of using the energy from the engine exhaust as its source of power, a centrifugal supercharger uses a belt and a pulley to get power from the camshaft. A ProCharger uses the energy from the engine to spin its impeller.
An impeller is the mechanical opposite of a turbine. A turbine extracts energy from fluid movement or airflow. An impeller, on the other hand, applies energy to a fluid or air to increase the pressure on them instead of extracting energy.
The faster the impeller spins, the more air is compressed and forced into the engine. Since the faster the engine goes, the faster the impeller spins, a ProCharger pushes more air into the engine at higher RPMs and less at lower RPMs.
Because ProCharger gets its power from the engine, there is no delay in power boost like in turbochargers as they wait for the car’s exhaust to build up speed inside the turbo.
The steady stream of compressed air that a ProCharger feeds the engine increases fuel combustion. An increase in fuel combustion also increases the power output of your car.
How to maintain a car with ProCharger?
All cars need maintenance. And the maintenance needs of a stock car are different from the maintenance needs of a car that has a ProCharger installed. Here are some of the things that you need to consider when it comes to maintenance once you install a ProCharger on your car.
Oil Level
A ProCharger will increase the stress and pressure that your engine is exposed to because of the increase in fuel combustion. An increase in fuel combustion means that the parts of your engine are also exposed to more friction and heat.
Think about it this way—if your car gained 40% more horsepower, that means your engine was exposed to 40% more stress and pressure that matches the horsepower gain.
This means that your car will need more frequent oil and oil filter changes. Check your oil level frequently. It is a good idea to replace your oil twice as often once you have a ProCharger installed.
Modifying The Cooling System
Being able to increase combustion in your engine means that your engine will become proportionately hotter. This means that your cooling system will need to keep up with the increase in temperature and be able to get your engine to safe temperatures faster than usual.
It is a good idea to replace your thermostat with one that opens at a lower temperature. A thermostat maintains a specific operating temperature for your engine. Unless that temperature is exceeded by the engine, the thermostat will prevent the coolant from going to the radiator to be cooled.
However, if you have a ProCharger installed, the temperature in your engine will get hot a lot faster. Having a lower coolant temperature will allow the coolant to better cool your engine.
Here is an illustration of how this will work:
Imagine that you have a cup of water heated to boiling point and then transferred to a larger container. If you add a cup of lukewarm water to cool it down, it will not be able to cool the boiling water a lot.
However, if you add a cup of solid ice, it will be able to drop the temperature a lot more and faster.
It is also important to keep track of your coolant levels. An engine that constantly runs at high temperatures is more likely to develop leaks in the cooling system where the coolant might leak into the engine and mix with the fuel or oil.
If you’re constantly losing coolant, bring your car to a service center to check your engine for coolant leaks.
The Mishimoto MMTS-F2D-96L Silver low-temperature thermostat is available on Amazon. Check it out through this link.
Fuel Supply Modification
Having increased fuel combustion means that your car will also have an increased fuel flow. An increase in the fuel flow rate will also increase the rate of wear of the fuel filter. So, it is important to replace the fuel filter much more often when you have a ProCharger installed.
Cleaning Carbon Build Up
Carbon buildup in the combustion chamber is one of the downsides of a direct injection engine.
A direct injection engine is more fuel efficient because it sprays compressed fuel into each engine cylinder where no fuel is wasted. However, fuel overspray does happen, and a small amount of fuel gets to the intake valve and ports.
The extreme heat inside the engine eventually makes overspray fuel gummy and sticky, and this accumulates over time.
An increase in fuel combustion means that more fuel is sprayed into your car’s cylinders. This also increases the rate that fuel overspray accumulates on the valves and ports.
This means that you will need to bring your car for carbon build-up cleaning more often.
What happens if you do not clean the carbon buildup in your engine?
The carbon buildup in your engine decreases the flow of fuel into your engine.
Carbon buildup inside the engine also increases the effective compression ratio. An increase in the compression ratio also increases the temperature in some piston areas during the engine's compression stroke.
Carbon deposits can lead to a decrease in performance because the fuel injectors get clogged. In extreme cases, the additional heat and effective compression ratio inside the combustion chamber can lead to detonation.
Belt Maintenance
A ProCharger is powered by a belt. This is an additional belt that you need to maintain and keep track of.
Belts have a specific number of miles before you need to replace them. Follow their replacement schedules and replace them slightly earlier.
The additional engine power means that these belts are also working extra hard to keep up with the additional horsepower. The additional heat inside the engine bay can contribute to the faster wearing of belts.
Use Premium Fuel
The type of fuel that you use for your car is important when you have a ProCharger installed.
Premium fuel helps extend the longevity of the engine. This can be significant since your engine is under a lot more stress and pressure with the installation of a ProCharger.
Premium fuel has fuel additives that lessen or remove carbon deposits inside your engine. Fuel enhancers that you add to your fuel can help keep the engine clean and can also help get rid of carbon deposits.
The Techron Complete Fuel System is available on Amazon. Check it out through this link.
Is a ProCharger better than other superchargers?
One of the biggest advantages of ProCharger is its size. It is smaller, thus taking up less space inside your engine bay.
Since it is smaller, it is also lighter than most superchargers that you can find on the market. A lighter weight means that the additional horsepower you gain goes into acceleration and not into carrying the additional weight.
The compressed air that is supplied by ProCharger is proportional to the RPM. This makes it more fuel efficient compared to a regular supercharger.
The additional power—and noise—of most superchargers can be illegal for street use in some states. ProCharger has street-level models and race-level models.
Is a ProCharger a supercharger?
ProCharger is a division of ATI (Accessible Technologies, Inc.). ATI is a manufacturer of superchargers and turbomachinery that is based in Kansas City. ProCharger is a company that is focused on supercharger development and manufacturing.
What is the smallest ProCharger?
The A-1 is the world’s smallest self-contained, centrifugal, gear-driven blower, according to ProCharger. This small ProCharger was able to double the horsepower of a Polaris UTV.
Does a ProCharger need an intercooler?
ProCharger superchargers can be used without an intercooler. However, ProCharger has air-to-air intercoolers that can be added to your ProCharger supercharger setup.
Adding an intercooler will lower the compressed air temperature before it enters your engine. Cooler air increases the volume of oxygen that gets into your engine and improves the performance further.
Conclusion
The additional horsepower that a ProCharger can give your car depends on the model. Bigger models—race-level models—can provide more extra horsepower to a car.
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Hello and thank you for this information. For a layman, it was very easy to understand. I do have one question: I have a 2016 Challenger R/T 5.7 HEMI. My hood scoops are functional, I have open ports in both parking lights, and an INJEN Evolution Cold Air Intake. Would you recommend my changing out the hood for say a Hellcat hood or is it unnecessary? Thanks again!
Dave