Twincharger

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Volkswagen calls its combination of a turbocharger and supercharger a twincharger. The 1.4 L TSI engine used in the Mark V Golf employs both methods of forced induction, with the supercharger boosting low-end power while the turbocharger takes over at the high end. VW family of TSI engines also employs direct fuel injection.

The concept of a twincharger was pioneered by Lancia in the 1980s on the Delta S4 rally car and picked up by Nissan in the March compact car. In addition multiple aftermarket companies have made twincharger kits for cars like the WRX and Mini Cooper Type S.

The most common type of twin charging system is a roots type supercharger paired up with a medium-large sized turbocharger. The supercharger will give better power at low RPM while the turbocharger will give better power at medium-high RPMs. The main drawback of this configuration is that at high speeds, the supercharger (as it is driven by belts) will increase drag upon the engine, limiting the top end power. The Volkswagen Twincharging System overcomes this by locating the supercharger's pulley on a clutch system, which is automatically engaged and disengaged by the computer. This allows the car to keep its top-end performance and automatically switch to supercharging at low RPM. The only drawback is that the supercharger still creates drag in the airflow system, even when the clutch is off and the turbocharger is on. To overcome this, complex piping must be used to bypass the supercharger at high RPMs.

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