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Old 03-07-2012, 06:25 PM   #59 (permalink)
Nixlimited
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike@GTM View Post
Back when I first learned of CVT's, a supercharger was my first thought for an off the wall, awesome application.

Unfortunately, CVT's are expensive. They're also not super lightweight either. Controlling one is also complicated. Complication adds more cost (as well as more things to go wrong).

Therefore, adding a CVT system to a supercharger is going to be heavy, expensive, complex and while it will give you a broader powerband, the cost/benefit ratio doesn't pencil out.

All that said, however, Rotrex is working with another company to develop a compact solution to do exactly what you and I both want. The key difference between what they're doing and simply adding CVT, is that the variable drive ratio will be integrated into the supercharger unit itself. By fully integrating that inside the casing, it will be light, efficient, compact, and more cost-effective. Don't hold your breath though, the R&D on that has been going on for two years now, and there hasn't been a word on any progress. It may end up that it the cost/benefit ratio isn't worth following through though.
There are already several companies that have done this with superchargers, but I believe they are for more industrial applications. I have thought about this quite a bit and like you mention, a major issue is efficiency in packaging.
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