Supercharger
![Roots type supercharger on AMC V8 engine for dragstrip racing](/Images/godic/202501/07/1968_AMX_blown_and_tubbed_e5203.jpg")
![An Eaton MP62 Roots-type supercharger is visible at the front of this Ecotec LSJ engine in a 2006 Saturn Ion Red Line.](/Images/godic/202501/07/2006_Saturn_Ion_Red_Line_engine5204.jpg")
![Lysholm screw rotors with complex shape of each rotor, which must run at high speed and with close tolerances. This makes this type of supercharger expensive. (This unit has been blued to show close contact areas.)](/Images/godic/202501/07/Lysholm_screw_rotors5204.jpg")
![Supercharger CDT vs. Ambient Temperature. Graph shows how a supercharger's CDT varies with air temperature and altitude (absolute pressure).](/Images/godic/202501/07/CompressorDischargeTemperatureVSAmbient5204.jpg")
A supercharger is an air compressor that increases the pressure or density of air supplied to an internal combustion engine. This gives each intake cycle of the engine more oxygen, letting it burn more fuel and do more work, thus increasing power.
Power for the supercharger can be provided mechanically by means of a belt, gear, shaft, or chain connected to the engine's crankshaft. When power is provided by a turbine powered by exhaust gas, a supercharger is known as a turbosupercharger – typically referred to simply as a turbocharger or just turbo. Common usage restricts the term supercharger to mechanically driven units.