While normal engines may suffice for some, some people like to go for something more. And that’s when these things called “supercharged” and “turbocharged” engines pop up. Let’s discuss the two.

First, both of these fall under the forced-induction category. They boost the power by compressing the air that the engine will eventually oxidize. This means that each cylinder has more oxygen molecules to combust with gasoline molecules, which means more power at your disposal.

But how that induction is forced varies between the two. In a turbocharged car, the air forces a turbine to spin, which then causes an air pump to spin. You’ll have a turbo lag because the system is not in a linear fashion; engine builds power exponentially as the air accumulates in the initial phases. This also means that the car will continue to accelerate even if the throttle isn't getting your input. On the other hand, you have the supercharged engines, which are more predictable. They deliver power linearly because the mechanism is engine-driven. It increases compression by a belt that’s directly connected to the crankshaft. Here, there’s no lag. You get what you tell the throttle what to do (Jalopnik; Carthrottle).

Supercharged cars, however, suffer from worsening fuel economy because of the immediate boost available, which doesn’t happen for turbochargers at idle or at low revs. But then superchargers are easier to install. The first supercharger was actually made in 1878.

So let’s dive into some of the best and some of the worst supercharged cars.

20 2018 CHEVY CAMARO ZL1

The beauty of this car is that it’s a daily driver. It’s one of those cars that looks fancy, but is available at a decent price of $61K. However, just because it’s a Camaro doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t pay the car its due respect. Much like high-end brands such as Ferrari, which spend countless hours and manpower into making sure the clutch doesn’t lag even by a millisecond or that the curve on the sides doesn’t look skewed, the creators of the Camaro ZL1 put in an equal amount of time honing this car. The end result? A beautiful beast with a 650-HP supercharged V8.

19 2017 AUDI S4

Here’s a high-performance version of Audi’s A4. The S4 looks pretty solid, although don’t be fooled by what the exterior has to show, as it doesn’t quite much show all that it has.

Don’t go to a chiropractor if your neck is strained; drive the 333-HP supercharged 3L V6, and it will get the alignment of your neck back to normal.

And if the driving experience doesn’t, then the massaging seats will hopefully definitely ease the pain. Or at least the awesome, well-equipped interior won’t give you a headache, should you be afflicted with chronic migraine. It’s a well-appointed car.

18 2015 PORSCHE CAYENNE HYBRID

The Cayenne is special in several regards. One is that it’s a Porsche, so the name reverberates class and luxury. Another reason why the Cayenne is a bit special is because Porsche was the first one to put out an SUV that was not a chore to drive back in the early ‘10s. The supercharger is equipped on the 3L Hybrid V6. The beauty of this is the 47 MPG. The hybrid offers some additional goodies to make the Cayenne look even more rugged. Currently Cayenne is in its third generation, which means you don’t have the third hybrid option discussed as brand-new.

17 2018 JAGUAR F-TYPE

The car looks pretty good. The long hood and the vents on the hood impart beauty that’s highly appreciated by Jaguar customers. The vents on the side fenders add another layer of beauty, and the back has a gracefully sloping roofline. Overall, the car looks good from all the sides, especially from the side profile.

The standard package is turbocharged, but of course a 3L supercharged V6 also exists.

The rear wheels receive all the 340 horses in the supercharged. The interior is pretty good, which makes the sharp handling and responsive engine even more enjoyable. The car does feel a little heavy, though (C/D).

16 2018 VOLVO XC90

I have been always floored by the exterior styling of this car. I mean, just check out how smooth it looks. That grille is a perfect thing for this car. It’s like the design is impeccable. No single perspective can compel you to find anything wrong with the design. It starts smoothly and ends smoothly.

The same holds true for the interior. It has some abundant space inside for a midsize SUV. But the achievements don’t stop there. It also has a precise handling that makes you want to find an excuse to drive this car again and again. The 2L four-cylinder has the magic of both a turbocharger and a supercharger.

15 2018 AUDI A6

It’s not necessary that the more expensive you go in a make, the better the product will be. But the Audi A6 is. For a sedan, it looks nice and exotic. As good as the front of the car looks, the rear is also becoming more and more stylish with each new model year. That’s also happening with some of the other makes too.

C/D couldn’t stop boasting how Audi A6 had continuously been doing better time and again ever since 2009. The styling is snazzy, the powertrain, smooth and the handling, responsive. The supercharged V6 also allows for near-4.5-second 0-60 time.

14 2018 CADILLAC CTS-V

This is the type of Cadillac you’d want. It looks nice from the outside, looking all serene, yet powerful.

The Brembo brakes are powerful enough to stop the 640-HP supercharged 6.2L V8 that can go to 0-60 in just 3.8 seconds.

The interior is quite a thrill, and the driving experience itself is the best part. The wheels respond smoothly and turn however you ask the steering wheel. It looks like a Caddy that is meant for youngsters. It should be duly noted that it’s the only Cadillac that reaches the 200-mph club. Considering the price figure of $88K, that’s a bargain.

13 2018 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06

Here’s another backyard-built beast. While Corvettes in general are drama-free and thrilling, the best trim, the Z06, is a whole other species of animal. There was a time when the producers of the Corvette had no clue what was going to happen in the future. GM was on the brink of folding hands, and all future plans were on hold. But GM managed to pull through, and now here we have, a Corvette Z06 that sings like a supercar, drives like a supercar but doesn’t cost like a supercar. So that’s one of the best things about this car, in addition to the performance delivered by the 650-HP supercharged 6.2L V8.

12 2018 DODGE CHALLENGER SRT HELLCAT

The name itself sounds muscular, powerful and diabolical. Hellcat. There’s a 6.4L Hemi V8 that generates good figures—485 horses and 475 lb-ft of torque—in the base models, but then there’s the supercharged 6.2L V8 for the Hellcat.

And it’s so named because that powerplant, folks, produces 707 HP and 650 lb-ft of torque.

This car beats every other production V8 on this globe. Despite how heavy the car is, that engine is potent enough to give the car a sub-four-second 0-60 time. In addition to the insane amount of power, the exterior looks all hipster and retro, ready for drag racing.

11 2018 JAGUAR XJR

This is one sleek sedan. The side profile gives an amazing view, and while I think the front fascia could have done a better job with the mediocre grille, the sloping roofline in the rear makes up for a lot of the demerits. Plus, the Jaguar logo is pretty cool. As C/D put it, the car has a performance that’s unbeatable in the clothing of luxury that’s very luring.

This big cat comes in with a 575-HP supercharged 5L V8.

All the power goes to the rear wheels. It doesn’t sell as much as it should compared to the competitors, but that doesn’t mean this car isn’t a beast.

10 2003 MB CL55 AMG

Despite officially being a C-Class car, the car is basically an S-Class coupe that is liked by the enthusiasts. The exterior, of course, looks a little dated, especially in light of all the new designs that MB has come up with, but it still retains those classic curves, headlamps, grille and the like, which make it look pretty likable even after all these many years. It boasts a supercharged 5.4L V8 engine that is nothing short of magic. This is the same car and engine that can easily give the Dodge Hellcats a bang for their buck. Not bad, not bad.

9 2018 VOLVO S90

Here we are in the same lineup, “90,” except this time it’s a sedan. The exterior of this beast is also beautiful. It’s like Volvo found one piece of DNA for good looks and inserted that into the immature cells of upcoming lineups. They all look beautiful, regardless of the classification. And that’s not to say Volvo always had it—just look at the outgoing model, and it becomes easy to understand what I mean. The outgoing model looks bland and stodgy. The ride is not on par with the European competitors, although everything else is top-class. It also has a supercharged and turbocharged 2L four-cylinder

8 2014 TOYOTA TUNDRA

These are not available anymore, having been offered from 2008 through mid-2015. It was a good deal. People liked it, although they liked the idea more than they liked the actual truck.

The thought of pickup trucks has become more tantalizing in the past decades and slapping a supercharger on the truck—with the warranty status being unchanged—was just icing on the cake for some people.

So Toyota placed a TRD supercharger kit on the Tundra, and that meant a total of 504 ponies were being generated by the 5.7L V8. So here you had not only a hauler but a fast one at that.

7 1989 TOYOTA MR2

The only complicated thing about this car was its name. No one is sure whether it means “mid-ship, run-about two-seater” or “mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-seater.” Not sure. Or does it just mean “Mister Two?” But besides that, it was a straightforward car. It looks simple and acts accordingly.

Toyota wanted to render the world a car that was fun, yet economical. To make it fun, they added a supercharger on the hood. Just because it has a supercharged engine doesn’t mean you’d know about it though, as it’s only once you’re inside the car do you start recognizing the subtle differences.

6 2003 MB E55 AMG

This car looks nice and has that classic MB headlamp. This one was special because it was the direct competitor of BMW E39. And as you might have already known, the E39 was hailed as one of the best cars in the automotive industry.

It did offer more power and torque than what the Bimmer offered, thanks to the supercharger. Plus, the interior was really posh.

It had an array of high-tech features which left one wondering how to use them all. Oh, by the way, you can get this bad boy for well under $20K nowadays; of course, the maintenance will eat you (Jalopnik).

5 2018 JAGUAR F-PACE

I don’t know why, but I don’t think the exterior of this car suits it. Perhaps I’m expecting something more from a luxury car manufacturer, and when all I see is average looks, I question why one would go after this than, say, another manufacturer with a similar price range? The top half of the car resembles the Range Rover Evoque, but the front fascia screams “help me, please, help me.” A car enthusiast, Doug DeMuro, reviewed this car and called it an average on every front. And while that wouldn’t have been sufficient to place the supercharged 3L V6 here, J.D. Power’s overall ranking of 2/5 was.

4 1999 BUICK RIVIERA

The year 1999 marked the end of the personal luxury-car from Buick, and believe it or not, this clunker was supposed to rival Lexus SC. I don’t know what Buick was thinking, but this car looks like a swollen human body. It’s almost like someone put it under water and then the sheetmetal absorbed all the water. The interior seems a bit more bearable though, so I guess Buick was probably counting on that. And while the engine was also powerful—it was a supercharged 3.8L V6—the car didn’t exactly make a lasting impact. It’s a hard thing to decide whether this Buick sucks or the modern Buicks.

3 1998 ASTON MARTIN DB7

While current DB cars seem to be doing fine, that wasn’t always the case. And if you had always wanted to know which DB generation was corrupted by Ford, well, meet the Aston Martins of 1994-2004.

Financial constraints forced Aston Martin to ask for help, and instead of a high-end brand like Jaguar, Ferrari or the like helping the high-profile brand Aston Martin, it was Ford who took Aston Martin under its wing.

Despite sporting a 335-HP supercharged 3.2L V6, the car was ditched as soon as the V12 came out, because the car looks like a confused mixture of the Miata, Jaguar XJS and some Fords (sub5zero.com).

2 2004 NISSAN XTERRA

In production since 1995, the car didn’t exactly have much to it by the end of its life in 2015. The fuel economy wasn’t getting better by 2015—16 mpg city and 22 highway—when other truck-based vehicles were faring much better. And that was just the standard engine, not even the supercharged, which is bound to consume more gas. The car was supposed to be a competition to the Jeep Wrangler; forget that, it couldn’t even keep up with the safety and emissions standards. The 2002-2004 model years had a supercharged VG33ER, and as you can see, that didn’t last long.

1 2018 RANGE ROVER

As far as the looks are concerned, this car has them, being rugged and dashing. And it doesn’t just stop there.

This car is one of the best off-roaders on the planet, with a wide range of engine options that consumers can choose from.

For instance, the supercharged 5L V8 can generate 510 or 550 horses. And since it’s an offroading vehicle, it’s four-wheel drive. So the beast is beautifully clad. But Range Rover has had a troubled past, and the 2018 Range Rover didn’t exactly escape it. If you check out J.D. Power’s rating, you’ll be shocked to see a reliability rating of 2.5/5.

Sources: autobytel.com; jalopnik.com; sub5zero.com