Supercharger feeding Turbocharger on 7.3l?

[C.I. ME]

I am new to this forum and joined because I have had this idea stuck in my head for a long time and i have even drawn some variations up. I have a 2000 f250 with the 7.3l powerstroke. the only thing done to it is a 4in turbo-back straight pipe exhuast and the wastegate is wired shut. The truck comes stock with an 80mm turbo and gets plenty of air as it is but i was wondering if it would be beneficial to add a centrifugal supercharger onto the belt assembly feeding the turbo? I have done some research but most of what i could find is on small gas cars that are looking to make 5psi at 5000rpms. My theory behind this is that (with the right size supercharger and gear ratio) the supercharger would be producing some boost all the time, even at idle, helping to spool the turbo faster and improve throttle response.

Not really interested in the cost. this is more of a concept.
Any input on this idea??

[jesilvas]

Wired the WG shut?
There's been some threads on it, and even youtube videos. I think it was kind of a good idea but only in theory. It didn't seem to work to great.

[Turbostang500]

If any at all, a roots blower would likely work better but only if you are working with a lot of fuel. There are single turbo setups that will work fine.

The roots blower was originally on detroit 2 stroke diesels. I have a friend that had a pulling tractor with twin turbos pushing into the throat of the blower on a 92 series. It was mean but I feel fairly unnessecary.

[PGreenSVT]

It's been done on the 6.0 a few times and most who tried it ripped it out and went back to turbo only. I always questioned the reasoning behind it because a centrifugal charger makes boost in direct relation to engine rpm. It would make more sense with a twin screw since that design makes more boost right away. Anyway the right turbo setup will spool almost instantly and ultimately make more power.

[mcantar18c]

I'm actually collecting parts to do exactly this. I don't know why more people haven't chimed in on this, its actually an idea that's been gaining a lot of ground recently. With the supercharger feeding the turbo, you have almost instant boost on the bottom end and throttle response improves tremendously. The thing is a lot of blowers out there will end up robbing the engine of too much power to make the end gain worth the cost and work. A Procharger on the other hand only uses up 30hp, if that, and you get a much more effective set up... not to mention it takes up a lot less room than a more "standard" blower. Empire actually offers a kit with everything you need to run a Procharger to turbo setup for around $5k.
I'll come back and post a link to the build thread I make when I start the build in a few weeks. FWIW I'll be using an F1C or F1D Procharger and a Garrett GT42 ball bearing turbo.
Hop on google and search for "procharger 7.3 diesel" or similar and you'll find plenty of info and videos.

[jesilvas]

Gaining ground? The 7.3 just in SDs is 13 yrs old, not going all the way back to the 94.5s. It's been done but just not a lot because of what's involved and because it's not just super amazing.

[20046.0]

Anything is possible and totally depends on how deep your pockets are

[TwinTurboStroker]

Been done......check out Empire Diesel

Empire Diesel 7.3 Ford - YouTube

Empire Diesel 7.3 Ford - YouTube

Empire Diesel procharger Ford 7.3 - YouTube

Empire Diesel procharger Ford 7.3 - YouTube

Originally Posted by PGreenSVT

It's been done on the 6.0 a few times and most who tried it ripped it out and went back to turbo only. I always questioned the reasoning behind it because a centrifugal charger makes boost in direct relation to engine rpm. It would make more sense with a twin screw since that design makes more boost right away. Anyway the right turbo setup will spool almost instantly and ultimately make more power.

But Mitch is right.......

[PGreenSVT]

I remember a few years back a guy in Fla doing a twin turbo setup on a Ford GT (GT40) that made 1400 some odd HP. When it blew he built a new motor and twin turbo'd it through a twin screw blower. That setup didn't quite reach 1100HP.

A twin screw is nice for instant torque but it is always going to run out of steam on the big end compared to a turbo setup. That and the more boost you try to run thru a supercharger the more parasitic hp you loose trying to spin it. I don't know of any supercharger setups out there capable of making 50psi or more boost and it is pretty easy to do that with turbos. And I am not talking about Funny Cars and Dragsters.

A really big twin screw like a 4.3L would be a neat experiment all by itself but making an intercooled manifold for it would be really expensive.

A centrifugal blower makes no sense to me at all since it is basically a belt driven turbo. It suffers the parasitic loss that all blowers suffer from and it makes it's best power at max rpm. A turbo doesn't suffer the parasitic loss and once spooled is making full boost. A centrifugal blower makes some sense for a hot street/race car but other than that they suck.

And when they ran a GT500 KR at Sebring a couple years ago it couldn't complete 1 circuit and it was heat soaked and done.

I'll stick with the turbo myself.

[dentexpowerstroke]

The procharger feeding into a turbo is an awesome design. You just have to know what turbo and procharger to run. Empire has done it. OP What truck are you referring to that has an 80mm turbo stock? To have a truck with supporting mods to handle a procharger and the cost of the kit you are north of $10k. Unless you are wanting serious power and having the capability of 0 lag off the line, this route is pointless.