schpenxel

After spending the better part of a decade wanting a supercharged Corvette, I'm looking at going the ECS or A&A SC route late this year on a higher mileage 2005, M6 (150K miles). (Please, for the love of all things holy, don't turn this into an ECS vs. A&A thread)

I am curious how many miles some of the more average'ish "mild" builds really put on their cars each year and if they have any issues from sheer mileage after putting on the SC. I would say somewhere in the high 500's RWHP wise would be fair comparisons to what I am looking at doing. Perhaps low 600's after I throw in some forged pistons.

How long do belts last, any issues with engine temps on the interstate, etc. I understanding trying to make 800HP on a stock block is going to cause issues, and that isn't what I'm really asking about. I am more asking about regular day to day issues of actually driving a high (but not ridiculous) HP supercharged car.

While I still do have a Honda to put miles on when needed, I put probably 20K miles on a year on the corvette and don't want a SC to change that. It needs to be reasonably reliable, especially when I'm taking it easy. It's not unusual for me to drive 1000 miles in a week when I'm traveling. A 500 mile tow does not sound like a lot of fun to me

I do intend on doing a basic forged build not too long after installing the SC, just some stronger rods/forged pistons, new bearings, etc. but for the first few months I'll probably just be on the stock engine and ECS SC. Perhaps meth for safety. Oh, and I'm sure the original stock clutch won't last long at all, but that comes with the territory

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

ATLS2

I drove 2000 miles in 2 days, twice, since I've had my ECS kit. I have 650 whp. No issues

schpenxel

Good to hear! Thanks

D&C vette

06, Z51 options, ECS SL1500 kit, car made 589whp / 566wtq on 1st, drove it like that for about 25K miles with no issues. I got it tuned again, made 711hp / 675tq but tuner backed it down some and ended at 644hp / 610tq. ECS kit was initially installed at 32K on car and it now has 88K, no issues experienced just normal wear. I replaced belt twice as part of routine maintenance. I changed oil in blower every time I changed motor oil.

schpenxel

Nice. Hopefully that is the norm

Was meth or anything else added prior to the 711hp re-tune?

D&C vette

I added meth after the initial install. Car has LG big blower cam, mild head work and headers.

Unreal

I know there are ECS kits with 100k miles on them.

I only have 8k on mine. All good and I wouldn't mind driving cross country or daily it as long as temps are in check.

schpenxel

Good deal. Figured there were some with that many miles

ajrothm

With a GOOD install and a GOOD tune, the only downside/reliability concern is engine coolant temps when idling in traffic on a hot day with the AC on... That is always a concern...

Other then that, they can be pretty reliable on mild builds..

DOUG @ ECS

We have many customers who have over 100k since the SC install from every major brand of centri kit. Ours, A&A, and Procharger. When set up correctly they really last very long with routine maintenance, way more so then not.
Yes there is always "that car", but that happens stock too. Plus you're more apt to hear about those cars since the interwebz loves drama.

schpenxel

Good to hear. I've been leaning towards yours, but that's a different topic altogether

What route maintenance would be recommended? Change supercharger oil with engine oil changes + belt every year or something along those lines?

DOUG @ ECS

Correct, belt changes does depend on how hard you are on the car though. Some every year, some have gone 25k plus.

Nosferatu

I have only had mine for a month. ECS Novi 1500.

Car is an LS3 with 47,500 miles on it when I threw blower on.

Car is my daily driver and typically sees 15-20K/year put on it. So far I'm 1500 miles in on a month. Other than having to get the car re-tuned from the get go (went to speed density) the car drives just like it did when it didn't have a blower on it.

Mustang Dyno ~575rwhp. Dynojet that's probably something north of 600RWHP.

MPG took a hit but hey, it's new and I'm having fun with it.

SteveDoten@ARH

Let's get a pair of them going, my 2007 Atomic Orange clocked over 130,000 miles.

It's bone stock and boring as all heck.

Time for a change (the good change, like towards the right and with over 600hp ).

Unreal

How does your car not have headers?

schpenxel

By end of year l'm planning on doing mine.. Then we can see who lasts longer

Seadawg

This thread also talks about supercharger reliability for LS3's:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...lity-list.html

schpenxel

Saw that... format is pretty bad, but still interesting data nonetheless. Pretty reliable even stock given the power some of these cars are putting down

schpenxel

What does your MPG look like now? I've been getting mid 20's on the interstate, sometimes even a little better than that (calculated, not by the display)

What was the reasoning behind going speed density (not saying it wasn't needed, just trying to learn)

Nosferatu

I have yet to really get a good MPG because I have a lead foot.

Before supercharger: 28-31mpg highway and 18-21mpg city
After supercharger: I haven't done any long highway trips but DIC thinks I did 28-30mpg on a 50 mile trip all highway.

City....

14.5mpg
17.8mpg
19.2mpg

Those were my three fill-ups I got that I actually bothered checking (set trip meter and then how many gallons to fill up).

Biggest problem, and I'm not kidding, two hits at full throttle in a gear or two and the gas tank gauge moves!!! . It's as if you burn literally a full gallon of gas after a pull or two. Otherwise it's not bad and I'm sure those pulls destroyed the MPG I have listed above.

Ask Matt @ FSP he's a bit more educated on it than me.

When he tuned the car initially on the MAF the car ran fine at full throttle but it would stumble at idle and light load. The MAF was reading random spikes so the car would stumble holding a steady RPM whether idle or at speed. It would stumble under acceleration. The feel was similar to having a misfire (although engine wasn't missing). Only cool part was at idle made the car sound cammed.

The MAP (speed density) smoothed everything out. Idles like stock, cruises fine, and smooth/linear power delivery. The only problem I have on it is if I go from no throttle to just ever so slightly hitting the gas (so maybe 5% throttle) it'll "stumble" for a fraction of a second. Speed density much better. Lastly, I have a DashLogic so with speed density I have a boost gauge now on the DIC or HUD.

Lengthy response but hope that helps.

EDIT: I'll snap photo of boost gauge thing later when I take the car out. Overall MPG should be about the same as long as you keep your foot out of the throttle.