gimmick or for real?

[WELSHH]

hi, i seen on ebay these so called "turbo" things, obviously there not a turbo, but they say they give more power and save fuel, i know most people will say if its true then holden would put them in at the factory, but ill ask anyway, can they work?

Turbo Supercharger Holden Barina Calais Ute Berlina | eBay

[Jonno]

i think all they do is they have a fan in it possibally making the air cooler.

but i wouldnt say its worth it

[some_guy]

[ParkwayDrv]

Stuff like this has been covered a million times before.

[sweefu]

I'd say you'd see a 50rwkw gain at a minimum.

[kcpwns]

I'd say you'd see a 50rwkw gain at a minimum.

With all seriousness more liike a 100rwkw gain at a minimum..plus chirping into every gear

[Pickle']

Do these come with free chev badges?

[FstStig]

No even better free Ricer badges

[WELSHH]

good to see everyone has a sense of humor, love the sarcasim too. lol thanks guys, i know its been talked about before but i thought i would ask the question to settle my curiosity

[D3CID3R]

love how the dyno sheet on the ebay ad shows the supercharger made it lose power lol

[Vt_vic]

and if you look at the dyno graph it says pooper charged lol!!

[Kieran263]

This makes me want to rage quit life.

[Sabbath']

Buy it, you never know when you might need a hairdryer when you're out and about with the lads

[wraith]

Buy it, you never know when you might need a hairdryer when you're out and about with the lads

The lads who drink machiattos?

[TMM]

Short answer: No.

Long Answer:
No it won't work. Reason being that electric fans don't generate enough static pressure to create boost.

If you look at a 'real' mechanical turbo and you will see that there is a very tight tolerance between the impeller (the blades) and the housing, so tiny that when the bearings wear out the impellor/compressor blades can start grinding on the housing. This tight tolerance allows it to prevent air escaping back through the turbine, thus creating boost.

If you look at any 'electric supercharger/turbo' i.e. electric fan (axle or radial) you will see that there is a fair gap between the impeller and the housing, usually a couple mm on a small fan and a few cms on a large one. This is so that if there is a restriction, the air can escape back through the gap and the impeller will continue to spin. It also makes it a lot quieter. Thus if you put one on an engine, even if it can flow significantly more air then the engine needs, it will still not create any meaningful boost because all the extra air will just escape back through the gap. The reason electric fans are like this are so they can't be stalled or slowed down. If the impeller is spinning slower then it should be, all the extra power will be wasted as heat, burning out the electric motor.

Secondly, even if you built an electric fan with a very tight tolerance, it would need to be hugely powerful to create boost. A supercharger or a turbo charger rob many kilowatts of power from the engine in order to create boost. You aren't going to be able to get that much power constantly from your battery and/or alternator.
Say a supercharger robs 10% of the power from the engine (i.e. a very efficient supercharger). That's still 15,000Watt+ on a V6.
The 'electric supercharger' in the OP is a mere 36Watts... not nearly powerful enough.