Turbochargerpros.com

I intend to purchase a Volkswagen turbo and fix it up a bit--to my taste--but I found I didn't know as much as I thought about engines and turbochargers. I didn't want to be taken advantage of so set about surfing the web and found a site called turbochargerpros.com. After viewing the site, I learned the difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger.

The key difference between a turbocharger and a supercharger is its power supply. Something has to supply the power to run the air compressor. In a supercharger, there is a belt that connects directly to the engine. It gets its power the same way that the water pump or alternator does. A turbocharger, on the other hand, gets its power from the exhaust stream. The exhaust runs through a turbine , which in turn spins the compressor

There are trade offs in both systems. In theory, a turbocharger is more efficient because it is using the "wasted" energy in the exhaust stream for its power source. On the other hand, a turbocharger causes some amount of back pressure in the exhaust system and tends to provide less boost until the engine is running at higher RPMs. Superchargers are easier to install but tend to be more expensive.
I recommend anyone looking for this stuff go to the site first, then make a decision.