[legion]

Someone at work was asking me about forced induction. I explained how turbochargers and superchargers worked. I explained about the major types of supercharges (centrifugal, roots, and screw-type).

"So a supercharger is like an air compressor?" she asked.

"Kind of, except that most air compressors use piston-type compressors."

"Couldn't you use that as a supercharger?"

"I suppose you could, but there is probably a good reason that it is not."

Now, my idea is not a piston-type supercharger...at least not completely...

I was thinking about my truck's engine. It is a V8 that shuts down 4 cylinders to conserve gas.

See where I'm going here?

Would it be possible to use the non-combustion cylinders to supercharge the combustion cylinders? An engine that can run as a V8 or supercharged V4. I realize this would take some elaborate piping. The exhaust on the super-cylinders would have to be routed to the intake of the combustion cylinders when the engine is running in V4 mode, and to the exhaust collectors when in V8 mode.

Thoughts?