Where do you refill your bottle? How much is it to fill a 10lb bottle? Or do you run a larger size?

 

A nitrous motor making 600 flywheel hp is making just that, 600 hp.

On the other hand, a blower motor making 600 flywheel hp is in reality making quite a bit more since it takes a considerable amount of hp to turn the blower.

 

I fill my bottles at Nitrous Supply in Huntington Beach. 3.50 per pound. Thier number is 714 373 1986. If you dedcide to go with nitrous they have everything you need, great guys too.

 

I think it's unfair to call it "visceral." I don't even hate it.

For a drag car, nitrous is a smart way to go. For a guy who's looking to snooker the ricers for a street-race, it's also a viable alternative.

But we're not talking about race-only cars!

And you're exactly right- I've never run nitrous on any car I've built. Because I drive what I build, on the street. What does THAT matter, you may ask...?

Simple!

For a street-car, I want to *always* have the power available, whenever I stand on the pedal, not only at WOT, but at ANY throttle position.

In that context, nitrous is a stupid idea. Having to refill the bottles, having to open the valve, and THEN only having it at WOT, to me, is dumb. Can you imagine going through all that crap, just so you can extra power when merging with traffic??? And YES, those situation DO happen... In such a situation, nitrous can't help, because it's an all-or-none proposition, for most of us mortal men (who don't have water-cooled checkbooks for a multiple-stage nitrous system).

With a Roots-type blower, boost is linear, you can dial in as much as you want with your foot, at any RPM. WOT is not required. And there's no bottles to fill.

And finally- from a "cool" factor- nitrous just ain't there, like a blower is...

 

True, for 4# of boost. For 6#, you should be closing in on 600HP, especially if your heads/exhaust system are free-flowing, and you have a blower cam.

The throttle-response will amaze you, it'll be dead-on reliable, and feel just like a VERY healthy big-block, in terms of linear power... In terms of manners, it will be VERY mild-mannered, very reliable.

Your biggest expense will be rear tires!

 

There you have it.
And with an infinite array of pulleys you can dial in just what level of you want and where you want it
I think maybe those who berate blown cars have never driven one.....

 

Personally, I'd rather be blown than gassed

 

Well I have to disagree on a few points. My new hydraulic roller 383 shows around 500 HP on the dyno sim. 4.11 gears and M22. I will have plenty of power at all throttle positions. Should be no problem merging with traffic. The Dyno Sim shows 650 + HP with a 150 shot. I put a blower on that will give me 650 HP out of this it will be straining the bottom end all the time. A lot harder on internals because of the parasitic loss. I don't need that much power 99% of the time but it is nice to have it available when you want it. On a street car only running the lower power numbers most of the time makes more sense to me as far as longevity, economy and maintainance. As for the cool factor this is good enough for me.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1859740

 

I confess, I disagree with this particular point. A NA 383, to get 500 HP out of it, will have to spin to fairly high RPMs, yes? With a blower, you're faking the engine out, making it *think* it's bigger than it actually is, so (assuming 100% efficiency, for the sake of discussion) a 383 with 7# of boost will make it think it's actually 565 cubic inches... Thus, it will behave like a very healthy 565-inch BBC.

The parasitic losses are essentially neglible for most driving conditions, and when they do become a factor, it's only during boost conditions, when you're really getting into it. Even then, the parasitic losses are irrelevant, because the *net* increase in effective engine displacement overcomes those losses.

As to stresses on the engine, a NA 383 making 500 HP will see far more stressing on the various components, than a supercharged 383 making the same HP, because the blown application can make that HP number at much lower RPMs, whereas the NA 383 will have to spin a lot higher to make the same number. Stresses due to RPMs increase by the square of the RPM (IIRC), so that a 7000 RPM motor will have to have a LOT of "sexy" machine-work done to it. A blown engine will not need to have *any* sexy machine-work done to it, if RPMs are kept <= ~5500 RPM, and make the same HP as that 7000RPM engine.

Keep in mind, I'm NO engineer. But I've researched this extensively, over quite a few years, and these conclusions are strictly based on that research (written by guys who ARE engineers, and far better than I, at such technical issues). So, JMHO.

Besides... I think big honkin' blowers are COOL...

 

If this comment is directed at me; I have never berated blown cars. I think a roots blower on a street car is a great choice for all the reasons you guys have listed. Instant tq, good power, great looks, etc.....believe me I get it. That being said they are expensive and for the listed combo I think nitrous is a viable option that will deliver at least as much power, more tq, and do it a lot cheaper

 

No, it wasn't even directly at anyone in this thread.
And for the combo in question I agree with you

 

Breathial, 4 lbs of boost on 91 without methanol injection is the limit for my engine. So how much power I'd make with 6lbs is irrelevant.

There's a good point for the nitrous guys, you wont have to rejet the carb with a wet system as you would with a supercharger.

 

If you run an electric fuel pump I think you can use that area to return the oil with a modified block off plate.

 

That's a great idea. You are my hero.