History:
The G-Lader was invented in 1905 by the Frenchman Le Creux. When Volkswagen decided to achieve power by means of superchargers, they continued developing Le Creux’s concept. Around 400 different versions were developed before VW developed the older generations of the G-Lader (Golf / Corrado / Polo G40 and G60).
Operation:
The G-Lader is a mechanical compressor driven by the crankshaft. The advantage is that the compressor is already working as soon as the accelerator pedal is touched; in contrast to the turbo, which first has to be spooled up by the exhaust gases. The G-Lader therefore has a very fast response time. As a result, the driver has the feeling of driving an engine with a much larger displacement.
A G-Lader is internally a double spiral-shaped chamber (snail shell). The incoming air that reaches the left outer spiral-shaped chamber of the G-Lader is, by means of an eccentric movement, displaced by the air displacer through the right outer spiral-shaped chamber and discharged to the intercooler with a standard pressure of 0.7 bar. When compressing, the air temperature can rise to 100 degrees Celsius. The intercooler then cools it down to approx. 65 degrees. The cooled air is then forced into the intake manifold.
The operation of compressing the air is shown by the animation
A G-Lader must be overhauled approximately every 50,000 km. It was taken out of production by Volkswagen because of its vulnerability (dirt particles in the intake air), maintenance sensitivity and high repair costs. A Roots-type supercharger is a better alternative, which is still regularly used by car manufacturers today.
In the image below, all the parts of a disassembled G-Lader are shown. Below that are two images of an overhauled G-Lader.
1: Long sealing strips.
2: Short sealing strips.
3: Bolts from the housings.
4: Circlips
5: Oil seals (sealing of the oil channels).
6: Exhaust housing
7: Intake housing
8: Oil seals
9: Balance shaft
10: Dowel pin
11: Main shaft
12: Displacer
13: Bearings of the main shaft
14: Counterweight
15: Toothed belt
16: Gears of main shaft and balance shaft
17: Spring plates
