Eli5: why do diesel engines tend to be turbocharged rather than supercharged or even N/A?

Question

Eli5: why do diesel engines tend to be turbocharged rather than supercharged or even N/A?

In: 7

Answer 1

Many older diesel engines were supercharged. Old 2-stroke Detroit Diesels were commonly supercharged, and sometimes supercharged and turbocharged. Normally aspirated versions were available too.

One of the old workhorses was the Detroit 71 series (71 cubic inches per cylinder). The supercharger used on the 6 cylinder, 71 series was one that became the hot rodders’ standard of the past to use on their engines (that’s where “6-71” blowers get their name).

These days, for all of the great reasons previously mentioned, superchargers aren’t as common anymore.