thomas knight : turbo upgrades + superchargers

Electric Supercharger

Maybe you've seen the tires melt on our ESC™-charged test vehicles at Moroso Motosports Park. Maybe you've seen our feature article in Turbo Magazine and the full-page ads in Power Pages, Turbo, and Sport Compact. Or maybe you've seen the buzz across hundreds of message boards and want to know why everyone is so excited about "another POS bilge pump fan that cannot possibly work."

Well, we have news for you. This is real technology. From a real company. With real test results to back our claims (see "Additional Files" to the right). This is not another eBay leaf blower...

Then what is it?

Our patented ESC™ 350CM is a high-performance electric supercharger powered by extra batteries instead of your engine's belt. It can add huge hp gains on stock engines up to 3.0L.

What's it made out of?

The core of our ESC™ 350c is a centrifugal type supercharger. This durable unit flows up to 6 psi** in less than a second and is rated up to 400 hp. Its impeller is turned by a custom-wound electric motor. Most components are CNC-machined, 60-16 T6 aircraft aluminum. Every unit is made-to-order by Thomas Knight, thoroughly tested and backed by our competitive 1-year warranty.

Electric motor? Then it must run off your alternator, right?

Wrong. For years, drawing current straight from an alternator was the misguided approach of engineers unable to think outside the box. It simply isn't possible for an alternator to produce enough current to power a real supercharger.

Then where does the power come from?

At the push of a button, an ultra-lightweight battery bank injects the drive system with bursts of pure energy. And you can use either regular car batteries, or MIL-SPEC type, specifically designed for hardcore use and fast recharge. Most importantly, they're totally independent from your vehicle, so you don't suffer the parasitic loss under boost that a turbo or supercharger robs from your engine. Because this is a universal system, we do not supply these batteries, but we can help you customize your setup towards a specific application. For the average user, we suggest two regular batteries; for competition racers, we recommend the awesome BATCAPs, or Odyssey high-CCA batteries (only 13 lbs each).

Why only short bursts?

Think of these batteries as your Nitrous tanks. Like Nitrous, the ESC's instant boost is currently limited in duration, but unlike Nitrous, that restriction will gradually disappear as battery technology improves. Eventually, high-volume capacitors will allow for almost perpetual usage. Until then, a typical battery bank will yield several runs before recharge. And unlike Nitrous, our system will not cost you thousands of dollars in long-term refilling expenses. Most Nitrous users go through at least 1 bottle/week, and at $30 to $45 per bottle, that's a hidden charge of $1,560 a year, every year, forever. Think about it! With our system, you will never deal with costly refills again.

No more refills?

Well, not quite. There is no such thing as free energy. Even our system needs to be recharged, but in this respect, the universal, open-ended design allows for hundreds of ways to do so. It could be as simple as hooking up to a regular battery charger in your garage twice a week, or as futuristic as solar panels. You can upgrade to a high-output alternator like those that power competition audio systems in the future. With a 200-amp alternator, you'll fully recharge quickly while the ESC™ is off. So while you're waiting in the staging lanes or cruising along the strip, you can relax and hurl insults at the Nitrous guys while your system preps for another power burst of awesome boost.

There's more than enough power to remind those high school kids with the neon muffler bearings who their daddy is.

What about the extra weight?

It's a non-issue. Our new centrifugal ESCs weighs 17 lbs, (battery weight varies). In comparison, a full turbo kit can easily weigh 100lb, while most belt-driven superchargers weigh 90 lbs. As you can see, the "extra weight" is not a real argument Plus, no parasitic loss means greater horsepower, so our ESC™ more than makes up for the difference.