What term describes a supercharged engine in hot rodding?

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In hot rodding, a supercharged engine is described as blown.

The term comes from the older word “blower,” a common hot-rodding name for a supercharger. A supercharger compresses the incoming air before it enters the engine. Because denser air allows the engine to burn more fuel, the engine can produce substantially more power than a naturally aspirated engine of similar size.

In practical hot-rod language, builders might say a car has a “blown small-block” or that it runs a “blown Hemi.” The word usually describes the engine’s forced-induction setup, not a particular brand or type of supercharger. Roots-style blowers, such as those visually associated with dragsters, are especially prominent in traditional hot-rod imagery, although centrifugal and twin-screw superchargers can also produce a blown engine.

The answer is sometimes confused with “stroked.” A stroked engine has a crankshaft modification that increases piston travel and displacement. “Chopped” refers to lowering a vehicle’s roofline, while “channeled” describes lowering the body over the frame. Also, in broader motorsport speech, “blown” can mean an engine has failed, but in this question its hot-rodding meaning is supercharged.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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